Riverside-Brookfield (Riverside, Ill.) senior slotback Mark McDonagh broke the national record for pass receptions in one season Friday night during a 42-0 rout of Elmwood Park.
The 6-foot-1, 178-pounder snared 15 passes for 143 yards, running his senior total to 143 receptions. The listed national record is 138 catches by Brian Langford of Pulaski Academy (Little Rock, Ark.) in 2006. Jason Bird of Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) had 140 catches in 2007, but officials just recently were notified that it should be turned in for consideration.
“It feels great – pretty cool,” McDonagh told MaxPreps. “It’s nice to have a record that’s long-term. I didn’t expect these kind of numbers. It’s been fun and my teammates have been doing a great job. We’ve had a lot of great blocking on screen passes and our other receivers are starting to play to their potential.”
Quarterback Billy VandeMerkt, who completed 28 of 35 passes for 308 yards and four touchdowns Friday night, also is a key part of an air assault which uses screen passes in place of a running game.
Because opponents know what’s coming on practically every play, execution is all-important for the Bulldogs. As McDonagh puts it, “If one block slips, the play goes away.”
McDonagh, who earlier set several state records, has been double-teamed since the third game of the season.
“It’s been tough," McDonagh said. "It’s a lot of work to get open. In the off season, one thing I really worked on was route running.
“I’ve taken a couple of good shots (having his helmet knocked off). In week three against (Chicago) Robeson, I was really sick. A kid hit me in the ribs. I came out and puked. He did me a favor because I felt a lot better after that.”
McDonagh tallies many of his receptions on catches near or at the line of scrimmage, leading some to criticize the legitimacy of his gaudy statistics.
"What they don’t realize is that’s our running game," he said. "I get tackled (sometimes) before they even throw the ball to me.”
Still, he averages a solid 9.5 yards per catch (143 for 1,365 yards and eight touchdowns) despite being a marked man on every play.
McDonagh has no college scholarship offers at this time.
“I’m a little surprised,” he admitted. “The numbers I have don’t come around too often. I had more letters last year. Hopefully, somebody will notice my work ethic and give me a shot.”
