Kenton (Ohio) football coach Mike Mauk says that the biggest strength of his veteran wide receiver,
Max Morrison, is consistency.
Max Morrison
Photo courtesy of Kenton Times
That consistency enabled the 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior to catch 142 passes this year, which is among the top four performances all-time nationally that we could find.
According to the 2009 NFHS National High School Record Book, Morrison's reception total bettered its previous mark of 138 set by Brian Langford of
Pulaski Academy (Little Rock, Ark.) in 2006.
The book, however, hadn't yet recorded the national mark of 165 set last season by Mark McDonogh, of
Riverside-Brookfield (Riverside, Ill.) or the 150 by Robert Joseph of
Northwestern (Rock Hill, S.C.) reported in 2009 to MaxPreps.com.
According to Dave Campbell's Texas Football Record Book,
Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) Jason Bird receiver had 153 catches in 2007.
No matter, Morrison's name will be liberally sprinkled throughout the national records in the future, because this year alone he also has tied for No. 4 with 29 touchdown catches and is No. 8 with 2,033 yards. Career-wise he ranks No. 5 with 293 catches and No. 8 with 57 touchdown catches.
During his brilliant four-year career, he had 4,170 receiving yards.
"Obviously, it's an honor, but at the same time it wouldn't have been possible without my teammates or my coaches," Morrison said. "We don't run five-wide to set records, but I think it just comes along with it."
Morrison and his best friend, junior quarterback
Maty Mauk, have worked tirelessly on football since they attended grade school together. He also credits his father, Rick Morrison, who was a standout football and baseball player at Ball State University, for being a great mentor.
"We're excited about it (the records)," Mike Mauk said. "But he did it winning championships and helping our team be successful. When you do that in the process that's what makes it even more significant. He's as good as anyone we've had. I don't think anybody has been as productive year in and year out as Max has been."
Morrison missed one full game this year and in many others he sat out the entire fourth quarter because the Wildcats held a comfortable lead.
The Kenton star runs 40 yards in 4.55 seconds and has a 36-inch vertical jump. His athletic skills carry over to basketball where he led the Wildcats in assists as a junior point guard.
He has a 3.1 GPA and has been looking at Air Force, Vanderbilt and Kent State. However, the head coaches at Vanderbilt and Kent State have resigned recently and Morrison admits his choice is wide open at this time.
