Area's top single-game passing performances

Sheffield's 683 leads the pack, but several have thrown for at least 450 yards

When I was growing up, it was 300.

A quarterback throws for that many yards, and you catch yourself saying, “Must have had a great game.”

But my younger years occurred during the time of Joe Montana, Troy Aikman and John Elway. Montana surpassed the 300-yard mark 39 times in his career. To put that in perspective, Matt Ryan almost doubled that total with 76.

So at least to me, 400 is the new 300. Does that make 500 the new 400?

This is what I know. Seven times an area quarterback has broken the 500-yard passing mark, and all those occasions have happened since 2011.

Sixteen times the 450-yard mark has been surpassed. With the exception of Blake Szymanski’s 451-yard game against Denison in 2004, they’ve all occurred in the past 15 years.

I’ve been fortunate enough to witness the area’s top two passing records in person. The first was an early-district game featuring Wichita Falls High School and Denton at Memorial Stadium.

I wasn’t supposed to be there, but the Texas Rangers were hosting a playoff game so that shuffled coverage plans around.

The 2011 Coyotes under Jayson Lavender finished 3-7 and gave up almost 40 points a night, but they could score. Dylan Sheffield wasn’t a running threat, but give him some time in the pocket, and he’d pick you apart.

That’s what happened that fateful night. Denton did have a dual-threat quarterback named Dentton Hudspeth who passed for 280 and rushed for 224 yards. It was a hell of an effort.

But the Broncos had no answer for Sheffield. Old High didn’t even try to run (12 carries, 4 yards), and Sheffield time and again picked up big chunks through the air.

The senior had 373 yards and three TDs at halftime. His 148-yard third quarter was the lowest he had in any quarter.

“I told the kids all week that we were going to push the ball down the field and score a lot of points,” Lavender said afterward.

With a minute left, it all looked for naught. The Coyotes trailed 49-46 and were 81 yards from the end zone after another Bronco touchdown.

But Denton wasn’t dropping as many in coverage as you’d expect a team that had already allowed 602 passing yards would. And Sheffield hit Chance Gary on a third-down wheel route for an 81-yard touchdown that gave Old High a 53-49 victory.

It wasn’t until I was writing in the Memorial Stadium press box that I realized Sheffield’s 683 was a state record. It didn’t last long – the next year Marble Falls’ Mike Richardson threw for 724.

Sheffield’s 683 stands in fifth place now, but what’s interesting is how close most of the games were from those quarterbacks who surpassed Sheffield. The exception is the record holder. Stamford’s Peyton Bevel threw for 789 yards in a 90-62 shootout over De Leon. And even still, that’s not completely a rout.

Richardson’s team pulled out a 62-55 win over Boerne Champion in 2012, while the 719 yards that Hutto’s Will Hammond had against Liberty Hill in 2023 came in a losing effort as the Hippos fell 82-80. Refugio’s Travis Quintanilla recorded 712 yards in a 2013 playoff game against Rogers that ended with a 73-72 overtime victory.

The second-highest passing yardage game in the area’s history came during the 2017 playoffs. Graham entered its state quarterfinal matchup against Bushland undefeated as Tucker Horn was enjoying a tremendous senior year.