Flipping through the records book to begin high school football season

So, you think you know high school football?

Then, surely you know which school has won the most state championships, which school holds the longest winning streak, and the name of the player with the most rushing touchdowns. Hint, it’s not Darren McFadden.

In case you’ve forgotten or are unaware of the leaders, here is primer on a few state records before the start of the 2017 high school football season.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

People toss around the word “dynasty” way too much and I heard it again after Fayetteville won its fifth state championship in 10 years last December. Even with Billy Dawson now at the helm, the Bulldogs have a long way to go before threatening Little Rock Central, which has won 32 state championships. Central won 10 titles under Wilson Matthews in the 1960s and another one under Bernie Cox in 2014.

RUSHING INTO HISTORY

McFadden ran for 27 touchdowns his senior year at Pulaski Oak Grove before heading to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he was a two-time runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. But Cedric Houston is the career leader for scoring touchdowns (97) after he averaged 24 TDs during four years at Clarendon.

Houston kept on running and signed with Tennessee, where he was a three-year starter and finished 2,834 yards rushing. Houston played two years in the NFL with the New York Jets before retiring at age 24.

UNBEATABLE BEARS

Barton has won only eight games combined the past two seasons, but the Bears were absolute brutes for years when Frank McClellan was the head coach.

Not only does Barton hold the state record for consecutive wins with 63, but McClellan leads all coaches in Arkansas with 367 wins. Barton held the nation’s longest winning streak until losing 27-20 to Rison in the Class A finals at Little Rock in 1990.

“We’re disappointed,” McClellan said after the loss. “But we’ll take a 63-1 record any time.”

Those Barton teams consisted of mostly small, country-tough players who received very little attention from college recruiters. But old-timers will remember Jonathan Bradley, who played at Arkansas State, and Jerry “Bruiser” Pryor, who played briefly at running back for Arkansas.

STILL STANDING

Players are bigger, stronger and faster, and the game has changed, which explains why most of the individual records have been set in the last 20 years. But there’s one man still in the records book 87 years after he left high school.

He is Don Hutson, who played one year of football at Pine Bluff and set a state record with five touchdown catches in a single game in 1930. That record stood alone for 77 years until Zach Turpin of Greenwood tied it in 2007. Five players now share the record, which isn’t surprising considering how the passing game has evolved. But none of them will match the career for Hutson, a true Arkansas legend.

Hutson became an All-American at wide receiver for Alabama before turning pro with the Green Bay Packers. He ended his career with 488 receptions for 7,991 yards and 99 catches for touchdowns. He also intercepted 30 passes while playing on defense.

In 1999, Hutson was ranked sixth on the Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players of All Time. He was voted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1963.

PASSING FANCY

Pulaski Academy doesn’t punt and rarely calls a running play, apparently.

No one should be surprised the Bruins hold the record for most passing yards in a season with 6,280 yards set in 2001. But the Bruins are also second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth on the list.

Ninth on the list is Shiloh Christian, which threw for 5,221 with Josh Floyd at quarterback.

WHERE’S THE DEFENSE?

Glad you asked.

It might be boring football to most, but fans tired of hurry, hurry offenses that face little resistance would’ve loved watching Carlisle in 1993 or Cabot in 1976. Both teams allowed only one touchdown in those years.

Ironically, neither team won state championships with those dominant defenses. Carlisle lost 7-0 to Barton in the state championship game in Class A while Cabot lost 7-6 to Arkadelphia in the semifinals in Class AA.

So, defense wins championships? Not always.

Rick Fires can be reached at rfires@nwadg. com or on Twitter @NWARick.

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