TXHSFB 303: Texas high school football state records set in 2016

[caption id="attachment_28671" align="aligncenter" width="700"]Photo by Robert Martinez Photo by Robert Martinez[/caption] Over the course of January, TexasFootball.com presents The TXHSFB 303, a deep dive into the hidden storylines in the 2016 Texas high school football season. Have an idea for an angle? E-mail DCTF managing editor Greg Tepper.Today: Texas high school football state records set in 2016 In many respects, sports are just a subset of history. Much like traditional historians, sportswriters and fans are borderline obsessed with comparing the past to the present, finding common threads that link what has happened with what is currently happening or will happen. That’s part of the fun. And that’s part of why the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football record book is one of our most popular features. We here at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football are proud to maintain Texas high school football’s most respected and cited record book, as we have for more than 55 years. Over the past week, I undertook the unenviable task of updating the record book with the results from the 2016 season. The result: a lot of new names. (Side note: I mentioned this on Twitter, but it bears repeating — I’m far from perfect. If you see a record missing or some sort of typo, please let me know via e-mail or via Twitter; I’d be happy to get it fixed.) So, who are the new names that have etched themselves into Texas high school football lore? Unsurprisingly, Levelland QB Nick Gerber is all over the passing record books. We already mentioned that he set new single-season records for passing yards (5,617) and passing touchdowns (77), and he’s got all sorts of other marks as well (he’s fifth all-time but his career numbers have come into focus as well. Gerber finishes his remarkable Lobos run third all-time in career passing yards (13,100), just behind Refugio’s Travis Quintanilla, and sixth all-time in career passing touchdowns, comfortably ahead of Lake Travis’ Garrett Gilbert. The next name might surprise you: Odem QB Michael Everett. It’s possible that you’re unfamiliar with the 3A signal-caller, but the Owls’ star was consistently outrageous for four years, helping him land at 4^th on the all-time career passing yards list with 12,631 — more than Garrett Gilbert and Graham Harrell — and 4^th on the career passing TDs list — ahead of Shelton Eppler and Gerber. Not to mention, he’s in the record books for career attempts (8^th) and completions (6^th). It’s safe to say that Michael Everett is one of the most underrated players in Texas high school football history. We quietly saw some additions to the receiving portion of the record book as well. We got two new entries into the single-season receptions list, with Bells’ Hunter Hawthorne (124 catches) tying for 7^th all time and Beeville Jones’ Waydale Jones (115) coming in 11^th. The single-season receiving yards list got a makeover, too — Tyler T.K. Gorman’s Judah Bell (2^nd), Robinson’s Braxton Ashcraft (5^th), Richmond Foster’s Cederian Lamb (6^th) and Beeville’s Jones (8^th) cracking the book. Same goes for single-season receiving touchdowns, where Ashcraft (2^nd), Lamb (3^rd), Jones (5^th) and Levelland’s Jeffrey Elliot (8^th) are all etched into history. We also saw a transcendent individual game performance from a receiver, as Boerne Champion’s Chayce Bolli caught 21 passes in the Chargers’ win over Alamo Heights, tying him for second-most in state history. Lake Travis kicker Cameron Dicker is also a part of Texas high school football history — his 91 PATs this season puts him ninth all-time for single-season extra points. And there’s a bigger record still in play: Dicker will start his senior season in 2017 at No. 11 on the career PATs list. The top spot may be out of reach, though —he’s 146 PATs behind record-holder Adolfo Cordero of Refugio, and the single-season state record is 132. And it was a banner year for six-man record-smashers as well! Crowell’s Tristen Hayes set a single-season six-man record with 3,946 passing yards, as well as setting the six-man single-game passing attempts mark with 68 in Crowell’s loss to Richland Springs. Jalen Helms of Grandfalls-Royalty is the new all-time leader in single-game passing completions when he completed 34 passes against Guthrie, and his teammate Jaren Brooks set a single-season records by hauling in 94 passes and 45 touchdown receptions. We also had the same record broken twice — both Brooks and Aspermont’s Nick Godfrey caught seven touchdown passes in a game this season, setting the all-time mark.