High school football: Mater Dei's mini-dynasty and other Friday fun facts

With Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) mowing over every opponent in sight, we may be witnessing the greatest mini-dynasty in high school football history. When we say "mini-dynasty," we're referring to dynastic runs of about five to seven years.

Obviously, Mater Dei has been a powerhouse for decades, but the past six seasons have been particularly impressive. Consider the CalPreps "Top Single Season" list has Mater Dei with three of the top four teams over the past 20 years, four of the top eight and five in the top 25.

The 2017 and 2018 teams both finished as national champions while the 2019 team finished No. 2. The 2016 team finished No. 3. Even the 2020 team, in a shortened five-game season due to COVID, finished the season No. 1 in the nation (It did not qualify for the top single seasons list due to a seven-game minimum requirement.)

Only a few other schools can match that type of domination over a 5 to 7-year period. They include:
•  Mater Dei, 2016-21, 56-3, three state championships, three national championships (and counting?)

Spreading the Wealth

We mentioned last week that  Trinity League teams in California's Southern Section have the top preseason strength of schedule in the nation, according to CalPreps, but we should have mentioned that this is not a one-season anomaly.

Since CalPreps first started listing preseason strength of schedule ratings in 2009, every team in the Trinity League, except for Orange Lutheran, has started the season with the toughest schedule in the nation at least once.

The preseason strength of schedule is an average of the team ratings for the upcoming season schedule. CalPreps arrives at those team ratings by contacting nearly 16,000 head coaches to ask about returning starters, team strengths and weaknesses while also analyzing D1 recruiting data and checking on returning/graduating statistical leaders.

Servite (Anaheim, Calif.) had the toughest schedule to start the 2013 season while Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) had the toughest starting schedule in 2014 and 2018, St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in 2016, Mater Dei in 2019 and JSerra Catholic (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) in 2021.
Triple Threat

Nicholas Coronado of Kimball (Tracy, Calif.) moved into the top four in national passing yardage with 500 yards passing in a 58-41 win over Manteca last week. The game marked the third time this season that Coronado has thrown for 500 or more yards in a season, which is unique in its own right.

Coronado threw for 516 yards in a 54-14 win over Escalon in the third week of the season and he also threw for 508 yards in a 63-56 win over Oakdale. Coronado has 3,321 yards on the season.

The trio of 500-yard passing games puts the 5-foot-10 senior among rarefied company. Of the 10 quarterbacks who have thrown for the most yards in a single season, only one has had more than three 500-yard passing games and only three others have had at least three. Here's a look at the list:

• Ben Mauk, Kenton (Kenton, Ohio), 2002 | 6,450 season passing yards, 500-yard games — 3
• Alex Huston, Glendale (Springfield, Mo.), 2016 | 6,131 yards, 500 — 7
• Grant Sherman, Kenton (Ohio), 2013 | 5,920 yards, 500 — 3
• Corey Robinson, Lone Oak (Paducah, Ky.), 2007 | 5,872 yards, 500 — 2
• Myles Brennan., St. Stanislaus (Bay St. Louis, Miss.), 2014 | 5,797 yards, 500 — 0
• Jake Browning, Folsom (Calif.), 2014 | 5,790 yards, 500 - 2
• Will Grier, Davidson Day (Davidson, N.C.), 2012 | 5,785 yards, 500 — 3
• Layne Hatcher, Pulaski Academy (Little Rock, Ark.), 2017 | 5,779 yards, 500 — 1
• Ben Mauk, Kenton (Ohio), 2001 | 5,770 yards, 500 — 2
• Jake Browning, Folsom (Calif.), 2013 | 5,737 yards, 500 — 1

Huston had a ridiculous junior season, with totals of 706, 631, 581, 563, 557, 515 and 502. He's the only quarterback to average more than 500 yards a game at 511 in 12 games. His lowest total was 341 yards, and that came in a third-round playoff loss. A deeper run into the playoffs might have allowed Huston to break Ben Mauk's single season record. Mauk, incidentally, was the offensive coordinator at Glendale.

Kimball plays a final regular season game East Union (Manteca) tonight and heads to the postseason next week giving Coronado at least two, possibly more, chances to add to his 500-yard totals.

Punt return peculiarity

Mekhi Wall of Dudley (Greensboro, N.C.) leads the nation, according to the MaxPreps leaderboards, with an average of 41.4 yards per punt return. He has also returned four punts four touchdowns this year and nine for his career. Which reminds us of a particularly peculiar punt return performance.

According to an Alabama Journal report in 1950, Jack Golson scored six punt returns in one game for Fort Deposit in a 61-13 win over Loretto Academy. The performance is listed in the National Federation of High Schools record book and in the Alabama High School Athletic Association record book. In fact, the AHSAA record book notes that Golson's six punt return touchdowns are the only punt return touchdowns he scored all year.

All of this would make for a truly remarkable and ironic story, except that it's not quite true. Golson did indeed have six returns for touchdowns against Loretto, but they were five punt returns of 65, 50, 90, 73 and 75 yards (four of them the first quarter), and a 75-yard kickoff return. He also scored on a pair of runs and kicked seven extra points for a total of 55 points.

While the Alabama Journal got it wrong in its account of the game, the Lowndes Signal reported Golson's five punt returns and one kickoff a few days later. The book "Tales from Alabama Prep Football," published in 2006, also chronicles Golson's feat and concurs with the Signal.

Golson also had another punt return in the final game of the season and had several other kick returns on the year. He finished with 27 touchdowns and 199 points while earning all-state honors. He signed to attend Alabama, but did not play for the Crimson Tide. He ended up as the sheriff and coroner in Lowndes County and died at the age of 37 from an automobile accident. His father was former state senator Carl Golson.

Six-man Sensation

While six-man football national records aren't well maintained, the numbers put up by Travis Robertson of Stephenville FAITH (Stephenville, Texas) have to be some kind of record. In a 102-72 win over CHANT HomeSchool, the FAITH sophomore completed 8 of 10 passes for 270 yards and rushed 26 times for 735 yards. That's a whopping 1,005 yards of offense in one game.

For the season, according to stats reported to MaxPreps, Robertson has 3,241 rushing yards and 2,102 passing yards. His 5,343 yards of total offense would break the total of 5,242 yards, set by Gabe Loehr of Summit Christian Academy (Cedar Park, Texas) in 2015, which is believed to be the national record.