This Week in High School Sports History: Maty Mauk Delivers a Memorable Performance on The Way to a National Record

High-scoring games and receiving records take center stage in this week's look back at high school football history.

Maty Mauk, after 16 years, remains the nation's all-time high school passing yardage leader after tossing for 18,932 at Kenton (Ohio) High School from 2008-2010. Ironically, the second player on that list his brother Ben, who passed for 17,364 in the early 2000s, also for Kenton. The brothers, who both went onto successful college careers, combined for 36,296 yards in their high school careers and set multiple Ohio and national passing records. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

High school sports history is filled with remarkable moments that have mostly disappeared from the larger story of American sports. This Week in High School History looks back at significant, unusual, and sometimes forgotten events in high school athletics.

For the Week of Nov. 2-8:

In the early 2000s, the Mauks emerged as the First Family of Passing.

The two high school sensations took turns rewriting Ohio's high school passing records, producing some of the most prolific passing performances in high school football history.

First, it was Ben Mauk, who led Kenton (Ohio) to back-to-back state titles in 2001 and 2002. When he graduated, he held state records for passing yards in a game, season and career, as well as touchdown passes in a season and career. His 6,540 passing yards in 2002 remain a national record. His 17,364 career passing yards stood as a national record until his younger brother came along.

Enter Maty Mauk. This week marks the 16th anniversary of his greatest passing performance.

On Nov. 5, 2010, Maty Mauk completed 24 of 46 passes for 592 yards and seven touchdowns in Kenton's 62-20 playoff victory over Carlisle (Ohio). It was his career-best passing total and part of a remarkable run that ended with 18,932 career passing yards, surpassing his brother's total for both an Ohio and national high school record. Mauk also set national career records in passing completions (1,353), attempts (2,110), yards, and total offense (22,681). 

Despite the increasingly wide-open passing attacks of the modern era, the Mauks remain No. 1 and 2 on the all-time career passing yardage list.

Taking a closer look at Mauk’s performance against Carlisle, initial game-night reports credited him with 537 passing yards on 21-of-42 passing. Those numbers were later revised to 24-of-46 for 586 yards before the final passing total was settled at 592 yards. There was one report crediting him with eight touchdowns that night, but the box score in the Nov. 6 Dayton Daily News confirms seven touchdowns. The confusion might have come as Mauk did complete a two-point conversion pass.

Mauk finished the 2010 season, his junior year, with 5,670 passing yards, the third-highest single-season total in Ohio history at the time. Only his brother's junior- and senior-year totals ranked higher.

Maty Mauk returned for his senior season in 2011, leading Kenton to a state runner-up finish. His 5,413 passing yards ranked fourth in Ohio history at the time, but combined with his prolific sophomore and junior seasons, the total was enough to move him past his brother into the No. 1 spot on both Ohio's and the national career passing yardage lists.

After high school, Ben Mauk played at Wake Forest before an injury-plagued career led him to finish his college career at Cincinnati. He briefly played in the Canadian Football League. Maty, meanwhile, spent three seasons at Missouri before finishing his college career at Eastern Kentucky.

Also This Week in History

Nov. 2

2012 – Kraig Pruett of Waldport (Ore.) set a national record with 456 receiving yards in a football game against Culver (Ore.). The mark was tied one year later.

Nov. 3

1888 – Marston University School (Md.) and Carey School (Md.) – now known as Boys' Latin – played to a scoreless tie in what is believed to be the first football game between two Maryland high schools.

Nov. 5

1920 – Two Oklahoma schools recorded their second consecutive 100-point football performances on this date. Sapulpa (Okla.) routed Broken Arrow (Okla.), 131-0, while Heavener (Okla.) overwhelmed DeQuesne (Okla.), 119-0. Remarkably, both victories came exactly one week after each team had already eclipsed the century mark. Sapulpa crushed Guthrie (Okla.), 153-0, while Heavener defeated Wilburton (Okla.), 119-0.

Nov. 6

1886 – Peekskill Military Academy (N.Y.) became the first high school football team to score more than 100 points in a game, overwhelming Mount Bacon Academy (Conn.), 136-0. Peekskill Military Academy closed in 1968, and much of its campus was razed to make way for the current Peekskill High School. Before closing, the campus also served as a summer training site for the New York Jets in the late 1960s, when Joe Namath was the team's quarterback. Local historians have also connected the academy to one of literature's most famous paths. According to local lore, a tan-brick road leading from the academy to a steamboat dock inspired the Yellow Brick Road in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by former academy student L. Frank Baum. A portion of the original road remains today.

Nov. 7

1998 – Earvin Johnson (not the Earvin "Magic" Johnson of NBA fame) of Los Angeles Cathedral (Calif.) set a national record by catching eight touchdown passes in a game against St. Genevieve (Calif.). The record was later tied in 2011.

This Week in High School History is compiled by Sheldon Shealer, a sports historian and lecturer at Mount St. Mary’s University, whose research focuses on the history and development of American high school football. Shealer compiles entries from newspaper accounts, state and school records, historical publications, archival collections, and other documented sources. Special thanks to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), whose records help preserve high school sports history.