By Stephen Spiewak
MaxPreps.com
Every year some of sports’ most compelling stories rise from the high school level. The past 10 months have been no exception.
From a Pennsylvania two-sport star who remained headline news from September to March, to a Florida wrestling program that suffered its first defeat in nearly 35 years, high school athletes made life easy for the editorial staff here at MaxPreps.com, providing one memorable moment after another.
We have attempted to narrow this year’s best storylines down to the top 10;
1. Kentucky QB Throws 91 Touchdown Passes
Lone Oak (Ky.) quarterback Corey Robinson threw 29 touchdowns as a junior. A reasonable expectation for Robinson’s senior season would have been to surpass 30 scoring strikes and possibly reach 40 touchdown passes. Instead, the Kentucky gunslinger erupted for 91 touchdown passes, shattering the previous national record of 77. Also a potent runner, Robinson scrambled for five touchdowns. The most amazing part of Robinson’s season? He threw only four interceptions, leading the Purple Flash to a 14-1 season. [Full Story]
2. The Terrelle Pryor Show
No individual athlete was a bigger story through the course of the school year than Jeannette (Pa.) superstar Terrelle Pryor. Pryor led the Jayhawks to an undefeated state championship season on the gridiron, and gained MaxPreps National Player of the Year honors in the process. After another state championship in basketball, Pryor announced his intentions to enroll at the Ohio State University in the fall, ending one of the most highly publicized recruitments ever. [Full Story] [Video]
3. Sacred Heart Cathedral Overcomes Tragedy
Perhaps no story is more compelling than that of the Sacred Heart Cathedral Fightin’ Irish (Calif.). Coach Brian Harrigan’s squad banded together to overcome the tragic loss of Terrell “Terray” Rogers – father of star junior Tierra Rogers – who was senselessly gunned down outside of the school at halftime of a January matchup against Archbishop Mitty. The Fightin’ Irish finished 33-0, including victories over Long Beach Poly (Calif.) and St. Mary’s (Calif.) to claim the top spot in the girls’ basketball MaxPreps National Rankings. [Full Story] [Video]
4. Brandon Wrestling Program Tastes Defeat
Flashback to 1973: Richard Nixon was in the oval office, the New York Mets were in the World Series and Hulk Hogan was still four years from even entering the wrestling ring. That was the year when the Brandon High School (Fla.) wrestling winning streak began. “The Streak” ended Jan. 5, when South Dade High School (Fla.) edged Brandon 32-28 at the “Beat the Streak” Tournament that the school held every year. The streak – 459 matches long – spanned over 12,000 days and six presidents, and will likely never be surpassed. [Full Story]
5. Friars Are Nation’s Best
Bob Hurley’s St. Anthony Friars (N.J.) are accustomed to national recognition: they were national champs in both 1989 and 1996. The 2008 Friars matched the feat of their predecessors, going 32-0 and capturing the No. 1 ranking in the final MaxPreps National Rankings. The small Jersey City school featured six Division I-bound seniors, including New Jersey state player of the year Mike Rosario. The Friars notched wins over John Carroll (Md.), American Christian (Pa.) and St. Patrick (N.J.) in the process. [Full Story] [Video]
6. Year of the Bulls
Miami-Northwestern (Fla.) had a season for the ages. Coming off an undefeated state title campaign in 2006, and returning a plethora of highly-recruited Division I-A talent, the Bulls overcame the firing of coach Roland Smith to rattle off a second undefeated state championship year. This one was extra special, as the Bulls flew to Texas to knock off powerhouse Southlake Carroll (Texas), helping them earn mythical national titles in several polls. [Full Story] [Video]
7. German’s Double
Riverbank High School (Calif.) running phenom German Fernandez had arguably the greatest day a high school runner has ever had on May 31. Hours after setting a meet record in the 1,600 with a time of 4:00.29 – less than a second behind Alan Webb’s NFHS record time of 3:59.51 – Fernandez recharged his batteries and ran the 3,200 in a time of 8:34.23, a NFHS record by more than eight seconds. More than 10,000 fans cheered on Fernandez, who slapped hands and gave hugs while doing a victory lap for the extremely supportive crowd. [Full Story]
8. Star Recruit That Never Was
Perhaps no high school sports story reached a more mainstream audience than the tale of Kevin Hart’s faux recruitment. The Fernley High School (Nev.) offensive lineman “committed” to head coach Jeff Tedford and California Feb. 1, in a ceremony witnessed by the student body, two television stations and a local newspaper. When people around the Golden Bear program began to question whether he was actually being recruited, Hart’s story unraveled and he apologized, admitting that he fabricated the entire story. [Full Story]
9. 109-and-Done
When the De La Salle Spartans’ (Calif.) run of 151 consecutive wins came to an end in 2004 at the hands of Bellevue (Wash.), many people around high school football thought the streak would never be challenged. However, the Independence Patriots (N.C.) came pretty darn close, tallying 109 straight wins before losing to Elder (Ohio) in the Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Classic. It took overtime—and an incredible performance by Elder’s Kyle Rudolph—for the Panthers to end the streak. The loss was devastating to Independence head coach Tom Knotts, who admitted afterward he had his heart set on 151. [Full Story] [Video]
10. Loyola Upsets No. 1 Gilman
There’s no doubt that Maryland is the center of the lacrosse universe. So when Gilman and Loyola squared off in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association finals, both local and national bragging rights were on the line. After losing to Gilman by 10 goals earlier in the season, Loyola exacted revenge, edging national No. 1 Gilman 12-11 in a thrilling game that ruined the Greyhounds bid for a perfect season and its claim as perhaps the best lacrosse team of all time. [Full Story]
