National Highlight Reel: Texas football teams combine for 121 points

Hold on to your seats. It's been a frantic week of record-breaking marks, landmark wins and gigantic numbers. Especially in football.

* In six-man football, records tumbled as Paint Rock (Texas) outlasted Novice (Texas) in a wild 112-109 contest that did not go into overtime. It was a state record for combined points. Tony Diaz set national records with 621 rushing yards (44 carries) and 72 points and tied a record with 12 rushing touchdowns. He either ran or passed for all 16 touchdowns.

* Somerset (Texas) senior quarterback Stevie Dorman has a pair of famous uncles, former NFL players Ty and Koy Detmer. However, he already has surpassed both of them with 8,367 career passing yards. Koy threw for 8,221 yards at Mission (Texas), while Heisman Trophy winner Ty totaled 8,006 at Southwest (San Antonio, Texas). This year, the 6-4, 215-pounder has completed 134 of 215 passes for 2,411 yards and 32 touchdowns, with just eight interceptions. Somerset is 8-2 and has a Class 3A playoff game on Saturday.

* Phoebus (Hampton, Va.) defeated Bethel (Hampton, Va.), 60-7, to tie the state record with its 40th consecutive victory.

* Quarterback Jacob Rudock broke the school record of 56 career touchdown passes when he fired five scoring strikes as St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) blanked South Broward, 56-0.

* Adam Sheffield blocked five extra-point kicks as Independence (San Jose, Calif.) defeated Branham (San Jose, Calif.), 51-33.

* Woodbridge (Va.) nipped Gar-Field (Woodbridge, Va.), 37-34, during a six-overtime thriller on a 27-yard field goal by senior Sam Brew. He also forced the first overtime with a 21-yard field goal at the nine-second mark, knotting the score at 10-10.

* Gaithersburg (Md.) rolled past Bethesda-Chevy Chase (Bethesda, Md.), 50-34, as Zack Fetters passed for 365 yards and five touchdowns and also made three interceptions.

* Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.) defeated Freedom (Fla.), 56-13, to set a Class 6A regular-season state record with 476 points. The record was 473 by Northwestern (Miami).
 
* Austin Miele rushed for a school-record 448 yards on 29 carries to spark Mars (Pa.) to a 52-20 victory over Hollidaysburg (Pa.).

* Guyer (Denton, Texas) defeated Carroll (South Lake, Texas), 28-14, to end a nine-year, 47-game home winning streak.

* Senior quarterback Tanner Roderick accounted for 601 yards and six touchdowns as unbeaten Bozeman (Mont.) defeated Butte (Mont.), 63-41.

* St. Mary Prep (Orchard Lake, Mich.) rolled past Avondale (Auburn Hills, Mich.), 71-44, as junior Mitch Robinson completed 38 of 65 passes for 497 yards and six touchdowns.

* Wilcox County (Rochelle, Ga.) senior Nick Marshall threw two touchdown passes during a 48-20 win against Irwin County (Ga.) to run his career total to 94, a Georgia state record.

* Rocky Mountain (Meridian, Idaho) out-gunned Eagle (Idaho), 70-42, behind the passing of Levi Altinger, who completed 28 of 33 for 430 yards and five touchdowns. Eagle star Tanner Mangum was nearly as effective with 23 of 36 passing for 438 yards and five touchdowns – but he also threw three second-half interceptions.

* Mark Hiben of Glenbard West (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) made 12 catches for a state-record 319 yards during a 42-28 victory over Lincoln-Way East (Ill.). The 6-4 standout had four touchdown catches. The record of 317 yards had stood since 1971.

* Allen Simon fired seven touchdown passes for 367 yards as Denbigh (Newport News, Va.) defeated Gloucester (Va.), 49-13.

* Bishop Amat (La Puente, Calif.) junior Rio Ruiz tied a CIF Southern Section record when he completed 20 consecutive passes during a recent 52-7 rout of Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.). The 6-2, 190-pounder also is an outstanding baseball player.

* Legendary Tom Jaworski retired from Creighton Prep (Omaha, Neb.) as the state's winningest coach with 343 victories in 39 seasons.

* David Hewett has retired after 39 years of coaching. The Ransom Everglades (Miami) skipper compiled a 181-152 record in football and was the longest-tenured active coach in any sport in Dade County.

* Clayton (N.C.) defeated Smithfield-Selma (N.C.), 38-13, to give Gary Fowler his 200th coaching victory.

CROSS COUNTRY: VERZBICAS JUST MISSES RECORD
Sandburg (Orland Park, Ill.) superstar Lukas Verzbicas won the Illinois Class 3A state cross country title in a blazing 13 minutes, 54 seconds on Saturday. However, he was unable to lower the record of 13:50.6 set by three-time Olympian Craig Virgin in 1972.

Virgin, who was present for the race, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "His stride is one of the most beautiful running styles I've ever seen. He's a tremendous champion. I just pray he can figure out how to dance this dance in college where he can still run and do the triathlon (his favorite)."

York (Elmhurst, Ill.) won the boys team title, 162-164, over Lake Zurich, even though its No. 2 runner was disqualified. It marked the 27th state title for 81-year-old coach Joe Newton.

Woodstock (Ill.) senior Kayla Beattie recovered from Lyme disease in a big way by winning the Class 2A race in a state-record 16:22. Beattie, who has committed to the University of Iowa, dropped the record by 15 seconds and was 49 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

* Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) senior Annamarie Maag won the Class 6A state cross country crown for a record third year in a row with a time of 18:11. She also helped her team win for a state-record ninth consecutive year.

* Rochester (Rochester Hills, Mich.) senior Brook Handler won the state cross country crown in the second-fastest time ever, 17:00.2. She barely edged runner-up Gabrielle Anzalone of Grand Blanc, who was clocked in 17:01.7. The state record of 16:54.8 was set last year by Rochester's Megan Goethals, who also won the Foot Locker national championship.

* Mason (Ohio) senior Zach Wills has made a commitment to defending NCAA Division I cross country champion Oklahoma State University, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Wills has won two state titles in cross country and two in track.

SWIMMING: ARIZONA TEEN BREAKS GARY HALL'S RECORD
Desert Edge (Goodyear, Ariz.) senior Tyler Messerschmidt set two records in the Division II state swimming meet. He won the 100-yard freestyle in 43.71 and the 200-yard freestyle in 1:36.33. The previous 100-yard record of 43.85 was set by Olympian Gary Hall Jr. in 1994 and should make the University of California-bound Messerschmidt famous for years to come.

* Deer Valley (Glendale, Ariz.) junior Erica Stock was unable to defend her state titles in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley because her entry was turned in to the meet director instead of the specified Web site.

BASKETBALL: STOKES PICKS UCONN
Linn-Mar (Marion, Iowa) star Kiah Stokes has committed to defending NCAA women's basketball champion Connecticut over the University of Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register. The 6-3 senior center averaged 19.5 points and 13 rebounds last year for the Class 4A state champions.

* Remember the name Brianna Turner. She's a 6-4 freshman at Westbury Christian (Houston) and already is drawing great interest from major colleges.

* Ronnie Daniels, who was the Class 5A state tourney MVP as a junior, is giving up basketball so he can graduate early at La Cueva (Albuquerque, N.M.) and pursue college football.

VOLLEYBALL: BURRIS STREAK AT 95 NOW
Muncie Burris (Muncie, Ind.) defeated Fairfield (Goshen, Ind.), 3-0, to notch its 14th consecutive Class 2A state volleyball championship and 95th consecutive tourney victory. Ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps, the Owls have won 87 straight matches against all competition. They lost a mere six sets all year while posting a 39-0 record.

* Steele (Amherst, Ohio) senior Deme Morales, who has committed to the University of Wisconsin, was one short of the state record when she had 44 kills during a match against Olmsted Falls (Ohio).

* Jeni Houser has been named Kentucky's Miss Volleyball after leading Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) to a 37-4 record and the Kentucky state championship. The 6-3 standout has committed to the University of Notre Dame.

POTPOURRI
* Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) nipped eight-time champion Kent Denver (Colo.), 1-0, to win its first state field hockey title. Winning coach Brian Nutter can thank Jenell Murphy, who scored the game's lone goal, for bragging rights, because his wife, Kathy James, was the losing coach.

* Edison (Huntington Beach, Calif.) baseball star Henry Owens has made a commitment to the University of Miami (Fla.), according to the Baltimore Sun. The 6-7 left-hander posted a 9-2 record as a junior and is expected to go high in next spring's Major League draft.