Johnathan Gray Named High School Football America's Player of the Year

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

All three of our finalists were deserving of being called the first-ever High School Football America Player of the Year, but in the end Aledo High School's (Texas) Johnathan Gray's three consecutive state titles paved the way to him being named our top player in 2011.

Gray, who set the national record for touchdowns in a career with 205, beat-out Kenton (Ohio) quarterback Maty Mauk and wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham of Hillcrest (Missouri) for the national honor.

The University of Texas recruit finished his career with 10,908 yards, which was just 330 yards shy of the all-time national rushing record.

Click here to listen to my interview with Gray back in October on the High School Football America radio show.

West Tops East, but Recruiting Announcement Still Take Center Stage

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

The granddaddy of national all-star high school football games was won by the West All-Stars 24-12, but ahead of the final score at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl is - which college team won the recruiting game.

Fourteen players announced their verbal commitments Saturday during the nationally-televised game in the Alamodome in San Antonio.

If you were keeping score, the University of California won with three recruits; Louisville and Miami finished second with two players each.

On the field, Mullen High's (Colorado) Cyler Miles and Dorial Green-Beckham of Hillcrest High School in Missouri, who Rivals.com ranks as the nation's top recruit, hooked-up on the longest touchdown pass in the history of the all-star contest.  The 79-yard catch-and-run by Green-Beckham in the second quarter was the key play that led to the players share the game's MVP honors.

Miles, who last year gave his verbal to Washington, finished 7-of-8 for 155 yards and that one touchdown.  He also ran for a touchdown in the first quarter.  Green-Beckham caught two passes in the game for 88 yards.

The game was played before a crowd of 39,011 fans, which set a record.

Below is the players who gave their verbals on Saturday:

QB Anthony Alford (Petal HS, MS): Southern Miss
LB Keith Brown (Norland HS, FL): Louisville
DE Jonathan Bullard (Shelby, N.C.): Florida
S Deon Bush (Columbus HS, FL): Miami
LB Nick Dawson (Phillip O. Berry, NC): Louisville
S Jordan Diggs (Briar Wood HS, VA): South Carolina
DT Ellis McCarthy (Monrovia HS, CA): California
DE Tyriq McCord (Jefferson HS, FL): Miami
LB Brian Nance (Euless Trinity, TX): Baylor
WR Jordan Payton (Oak Christian, CA): California
RB Barry J. Sanders (Heritage Hall, OK): Stanford
CB Kevon Seymour (Muir HS, CA): Southern Cal
S Elijah Shumate (Don Bosco Prep, NJ): Notre Dame
DB Shaq Thompson (Grant HS, CA): California

Just remember, none of this is official until National Letter of Intent Signing Day on February 1st.

Gray, Green-Beckham and Mauk Finalists for High School Football America Player of the Year Award

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

It would be an understatement to say 2011 was a record-breaking year for high school football.

Thanks to the arms and legs of quarterback Maty Mauk of Kenton High School (Ohio), Aledo High School (Texas) running back Jonathan Gray and Hillcrest High School (Missouri) wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, several major national offensive records fell by the wayside.

As a result of their incredible senior seasons, those three are finalists for the first annual High School Football America National Player of the Year Award.

Mauk, who’s given his verbal commitment to play at Missouri next year, set four national passing records 2011, plus he also became the nation’s all-time total offense leader with 22,681 yards during his four-year career as a starter for the Wildcats.

The 6-2, 195-pound Mauk holds the national career record for passing yards (18,932), touchdowns (219), passing attempts (2,110) and completions (1,353). Interestingly, his brother Ben, who served as his younger brother’s quarterback coach the past two seasons, previously held three of Maty’s new records.

In 2011, Mauk passed for 5,413 yards and 68 touchdowns, plus ran for 1,768 and 24 scores.

So where do the Mauks rank against the famous Manning family?

Ben and Maty combined to throw for 36,296 yards, while Peyton and Eli are nearly 22,000 yards behind with 14,596. The Mauks also are head-and-shoulder above the Mannings in touchdown passes with 397 to 181.

In Texas, Gray of capped his incredible four-year career leading his school to its third straight Texas state title. In his final game, Gray scored his 205th touchdown to become the country’s all-time leading touchdown-maker.

Gray, who has given his verbal to the University of Texas, also challenged the nation’s all-time rushing mark set by Ken Hall of Sugar Land High School (Texas). Gray finished with 10,908 yards, 330 yards shy of Hall’s record of 11,232 yards.

Round out the record breakers is Green-Beckham, who many recruiting services rank as the nation’s top recruit.  Green-Beckham set the national record for receiving yards with 6,356 yards.

This year the 6-6, 225-pound wide receiver caught 119 passes for 2,233 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Tune-in to Thursday night's High School Football America radio show to find-out who wins our National Player of the Year Award.  The show airs LIVE starting at 7 PM Eastern Time.

Click here to listen.

Friday Night High School Football Scoreboard - October 28th

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

I've been around this wonderful game of high school football since I was 8-years old, and in the 42-years since, I can't remember a bigger weekend than this one when it comes to milestones.

First there's J.T. Curtis' historic 500th win in Louisiana.  His father's namesake, John Curtis Christian Academy beat Clark tonight 49-6 to improve J.T's record to 500-54-6 in his 43 years of leading the program.

Curtis is only the second coach in American high school football history to reach the 500 win milestone.  John McKissick of Summerville in South Carolina is the all-time leader in wins with a record 592 victories after a 17-7 loss tonight against Beaufort that dropped the Green Wave to 6-3 this season.

I spoke to both of these incredible high school coaches on the August 11th High School Football America radio show.  Click here to listen to those interviews.

Last night, Kenton (Ohio) High School's Maty Mauk set a new record for all-time pass attempts.  Mauk passed his brother Ben's record of 1,905 in his team's 52-32 win over Wapakoneta that also gave the Wildcats a perfect 10-0 regular season and the Western Buckeye League championship.

Mauk did come-up nine yards short of his brother's all-time yardage mark of 17,364 yards.  Mauk threw for 286 yards last night and ran for another 183 for 469 yards in total offense.  Mauk should set the record in his team's opening round playoff game next week.

Already this year, the Missouri-bound QB has set national marks for career completions, touchdown passes and total yards.

Back on July 27th, I spoke with Maty on High School Football America.  You can listen to that interview by clicking here.

Then there is Dorial Green-Beckham of Hillcrest High School in Missouri, who Thursday night became America's all-time leader in receiving yards.  Beckham-Green caught 11 balls for 303 yards and four touchdowns, giving him 6,109 yards in his career.  The senior passed Abram Booty of Evangel Christian (Louisiana), who had 5,867 yards in the mid-90's.

Below is the catch, an 81-yard catch-and-run, that broke the record.



High School Football Scores
Friday, October 28, 2011

Playoffs

Illinois Scores
Maine Scores
Michigan Scores
Wyoming Scores

Regular Season

Alabama Scores
Kentucky Scores
Missouri Scores
New Hampshire Scores
Pennsylvania Scores
Rhode Island Scores
Texas Scores