High School Football: Inglewood QB Justyn Martin might have set national passing TD record and other Friday Football fun facts

Justyn Martin of Inglewood (Calif.) set a California state record with 13 touchdown passes in a 106-0 win over Morningside and the total ranks No. 2 all-time in the national record book.

Or does it?

Arthur Smith of Cozad (Neb.), is listed as setting the national record of 15 touchdown passes on Nov. 12, 1921 in a 201-7 win over Overton. The huge win was the highlight of a strange season for Cozad, which participated in the three highest scoring games in state history all in the same season. One was the Overton win, the other was a 174-0 win over Farnam (100 years ago to the day of Inglewood's win) and the third was a 176-0 loss to North Platte.

In the Overton game, the Cozad Local gives some information about the game including a quarter-by-quarter score and a list of everyone who scored touchdowns. Smith is listed as scoring 10 touchdowns in the game, but nowhere does the article say that he threw 15 touchdown passes.

The article does mention that Cozad, not Smith specifically, threw 29 "long passes" in the game and 5 "short passes". There is no mention of who caught the passes or who threw them.

While Smith is listed in the story as the team's quarterback, other game stories for the season have players other than Smith throwing touchdown passes. In the article about the Farnam win, the newspaper mentions that nine touchdown passes are thrown, but does not say who threw them.

Smith's 15-touchdown performance was not part of the national consciousness until 2001 when Doug Huff released his National High School Record Book. Prior to that release, the national record for touchdown passes was thought to be 10, first set in 1990 by Clifton Davis of North Panola.

The late Jerry Mathers, a longtime Nebraska high school sports historian who published several state record books, was a contributor to Huff's record book and the likely source of Smith's record, however recent research by MaxPreps has not uncovered any direct mention of Smith's 15-touchdown performance in a newspaper article in real time.

Records from over 100 years ago can be rather nebulous. Extremely high-scoring games rarely gave exact scoring breakdowns. Case in point, national listings of Cozad's win over Overton lists only how Overton scored its one touchdown and gives no rundown of how Cozad scored any of its 30 touchdowns.

Records also change with further research. John Cook of Beatrice (Neb.) is listed in Huff's record book as the all-time national single-game scorer with 98 points on 14 touchdowns and 14 extra points. However, more recent research by Stu Pospisil of the Omaha World Herald has determined Cook's totals to be only 12 touchdowns and 13 extra points.

Pospisil, who has done extensive research on Nebraska sports and helps maintain the record book for the Nebraska Schools Activities Association, also notes that there is no newspaper report that mentions Smith throwing 15 touchdowns. He did add, in a recent e-mail to MaxPreps, that Smith was 21 years old at the time of the 201-7 win and he didn't graduate until he was 23! Eligibility rules were quite different 100 years ago.

So what does all this mean? It means that Smith is still the current national record holder with 15 touchdowns, but the record deserves further research. Until that time, Martin's 13-touchdown performance is still No. 2.
National Receiving Record Threatened

Gabriel Nunez of Beaumont (Calif.) made a huge leap into the No. 1 spot among national receiving leaders after catching 25 passes for 250 yards in a 52-29 loss to Citrus Valley. He leads the nation with 118 catches and 1,562 yards. His 25 catches ranks No. 6 on the all-time national single game list with Larry Bennett of Mogadore (Ohio) holding the record with 32 catches.

However, like Smith's 15-touchdown pass performance, Bennett's record of 32 catches is equally murky. For one, Bennett's record effort occurred in 1942 against Hudson, but it was not officially reported until over 60 years later. His performance is not even listed in Huff's 2001 record book.

The Mogadore High School football record book doesn't really offer any clues. Bennett is listed as the school record holder with 32 catches for 335 yards. However an "E. Capri" is listed among the passing record holders with 32 completions in one game for 335 yards. So that means Bennett caught every pass in the Hudson game. Not impossible, but not probable.

The record was established against Hudson on Oct. 16, 1942. However, Mogadore lost that game 53-7. The Akron Beacon Journal also lists Bennett as the team's quarterback for that game and Capri is the fullback. Other game accounts from earlier in the season have Bennett listed as a halfback. There is no mention in the Beacon Journal about Bennett catching any passes against Hudson, let alone 32.

So like Smith's performance, Bennett's record raises more questions than answers.

How Times Have Changed

Inglewood's 106-0 win was the first 100-point game in California since Bloomington (Calif.) beat Jurupa Valley 108-20 on Nov. 4, 2005. During that 16-year span, there have been eight 100-point games combined in the United States.

According to the website luckyshow.org, on Nov. 5, 1921 — 100 years ago today — there were eight 100-point games in the nation. On that day!

Win Some, Lose Some

Inglewood's 106-0 win was not the first time the Sentinels have been on the winning side of a lopsided score — or the losing end for that matter.

In 1913, Inglewood took on the South Pasadena (Calif.) "second team" and trailed 50-0 at halftime. Unfortunately for the Sentinels, South Pasadena put in the "first team" in the second half, according to the South Pasadena Record, and scored 12 more touchdowns for a 129-0 win.

Inglewood bounced back in 1914 to beat San Bernardino 136-0. According to the Los Angeles Express, "nearly every player on Inglewood scored a touchdown."

The Sentinels weren't as fortunate in 1919, as they got their season off to a rocky start with a 128-6 loss to Los Angeles High School.

Aledo's District Win Streak Hits Triple Digits

While Allen (Texas) saw its district win streak come to an end last week, Aledo continues to breeze through opponents in District 5A-2. The Bearcats take on Cleburne on Friday in search of their 14th straight undefeated season in district play and their 103rd straight district win.

Aledo's total is certainly a Texas state record, according to Texas High School Football History, but what is the national record? League winning streaks are not well-documented, but according to the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book, De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) has not lost a league game since 1989 when it lost to El Cerrito.

While De La Salle has not always played as part of a league over the past 32 years, it is believed to have won 104 straight league games, and counting.