There's bad news for
Kayleb Wagner of
Baker (Fla.). For the second straight game, his average yards per carry went down. Of course, when you start out averaging 66 yards per rushing attempt in your first game, it's bound to happen.
Wagner is among the national leaders in yards per carry, averaging 19.5 yards per carry. After gaining 267 yards on four carries (all touchdowns) for a 66.8 yard average in Baker's first game, Wagner averaged "just" 21.4 yards per carry in breaking Derrick Henry's single-game mark with 535 yards against South Walton.
Last week, Wagner averaged a very respectable 12.5 yards per carry, gaining 426 yards on 34 attempts. He's now averaging a ridiculous 409 yards per game.
Average rushing yard records are not a well-maintained category. The National Federation of High Schools record book lists average yards per carry in a single game (with a 10-carry minimum). Ken Hall of Sugar Land (Texas) holds that record at 47.3 yards per carry.
The record book also has the record for most rushing yards per game. John Giannantonio of Netcong (N.J.) is listed as the record holder with 594.5 yards per game. That record, however, comes with a heavy dose of skepticism as multiple stories about Giannantonio (including several on MaxPreps) report that his 4,756 yards gained in eight games in 1950 is not for rushing only, but for total yards gained (returns included).
Wes Danaher of Calallen (Corpus Christi, Texas) thus has the likely record for yards per game at 356.9 with 3,569 yards in 10 games in 1995.
Kayleb Wagner of Baker is averaging nearly 60 yards per TD run and a national-best 409 yards rushing per game.
Photo by Matthew Christopher
There is no mention of average yards per carry for a single season, however.
Perhaps an even more interesting record, which is not listed in any record book, is "average yards per touchdown run." That's where Wagner is blowing away the competition.
Based on our calculations, Wagner has 15 touchdown runs totaling 908 yards. That's an average of 60.5 yards per touchdown.
While no records exist for this category, the only player our research that has a total close to Wagner's is Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice from Asheville (N.C.). A college All-American at North Carolina, Justice played four seasons in the NFL with the Redskins in the early 1950s.
While in high school, Justice averaged a state record 14.1 yards per carry for the season and a reported 45 yards on his scoring runs.
Wagner still has over half of his season left to play, but it will be interesting to see if his streak of long touchdown runs continues.
And now for four more Friday fun facts
Wagner not the only state record-setter
Wagner wasn't the only state record-setter in Baker's 49-48 win over
South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.) two weeks ago.
Pearce Spurlin III a 6-foot-6 South Walton junior receiver, is believed to have tied the state record touchdown catches in a single game.
In grabbing 13 passes for 318 yards and five touchdowns against Baker, Spurlin tied Ryan Sousa of Lake Nona (Orlando) for most touchdown receptions in a single game. Single-game receiving records are not well-documented in Florida, but there are no Florida receivers reported with more than five touchdown receptions. That being said, Sousa and Spurlin might not be the only Florida receivers with five touchdown catches in a game.
Spurlin also became one of the few Florida receivers to go over 300 yards. Sousa also holds that record with 358 yards in 2011.
Justin Tucker in high school
Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens broke the NFL record for longest field goal with a 66-yard kick against the Detroit Lions. The most accurate kicker in the NFL with a career field goal percentage of 90.58, Tucker actually connected on 68 percent of his field goals (30 of 44) in high school.
While at
Westlake (Austin, Texas), Tucker's longest field goal is believed to be a 49-yarder kicked in the playoffs against San Antonio Reagan in 2007. Of the 30 field goals Tucker kicked in his career, nine came as a sophomore, 11 as a junior and 10 as a senior.
A four-time first team NFL All-Pro selection, Tucker was only third team All-Central Texas as a senior and third team Class 5A All-State. He was selected to play in the US Army All-American Game, however, and he was ranked No. 2 in the nation by Chris Sailer's Kicking Camps.
Manning family records on the horizon
Arch Manning is off to a hot start for
Newman (New Orleans), throwing for 576 yards and seven touchdowns in two games. The yardage total gives Arch 4,936 career passing yards and 62 career touchdowns.
While he ranks ahead of grandfather Archie Manning on the yardage and touchdown list, he could surpass uncles Eli and Peyton by the end of the season.
Peyton holds the family touchdown record with 92 while Eli holds the yardage mark with 7,389 yards. Peyton threw for 7,207 yards and Eli had 89 career touchdowns.
Archie was more of a running quarterback while at Drew (Miss.) in the mid-1960s. He ran for 16 touchdowns as a senior and had about 10 passing touchdowns.
Washington 8-man football records crushed
An 8-man game between
Tri-Cities Prep (Pasco, Wash.) and
Liberty Christian (Richland, Wash.) earlier last month resulted in a 92-60 win for Tri-Cities Prep and a bundle of state 8-man records.
Liberty Christian quarterback
Keegan Bishop threw for 694 yards in the loss, breaking the old record of 639 yards set by Will Hoppes of Tri-Cities Prep in 2008, according to records researched by Washington historian David Maley.
Liberty Christian receiver
Connor Newell obliterated the single-game receiving yardage mark with 499 yards. The previous record was 373 yards. Newell also tied the touchdown reception record with seven.
Tri-Cities Prep, which normally plays 11-man football but dropped down to 8-man to play Liberty Christian, also got a big night from quarterback
Caleb Sherfey, who threw for 587 yards (sixth most all-time) and a state record 10 touchdowns.
