Davis Must Wait for His Record to Get Noticed

After four years of waiting, what’s another nine months?

In the Mira Mesa-Rancho Buena Vista football game Friday night, Mira Mesa’s Chad Davis set a national high school career passing record, his goal since he was a freshman at Palm Springs in 1988.

After finally reaching his goal, it turns out that Davis must wait until next summer to get his accomplishment officially recognized and into the record book.

According to Fred Mares, assistant editor for the National Federation of High Schools record book, the mark is “pending official documentation of application.”

Davis’s coaches must supply proof of his feat--statistic sheets, newspaper articles, etc.--to San Diego Section Commissioner Kendall Webb, who has until April to forward the application to the national federation in Missouri.

“It’s unlikely, but there could be someone in New Jersey who’s done the same thing,” Mares said.

Webb said the national record committee will approve or disapprove of the record at its summer convention.

“Then, unless there’s reason to doubt, they’ll approve it and tell us,” Webb said. “I don’t think there’s anything fishy going on.”

Davis broke Todd Marinovich’s record of 9,182 yards when he completed eight of 20 passes for 102 yards in a 28-21 victory over RBV. He has 9,188 yards with at least one playoff game remaining.

Same Criteria: La Jolla Country Day’s Eric Abrams, who broke the national record for extra point kicks two weeks ago, is subject to a similar process for having his record verified and qualified, but his is much easier to document.

Abrams, by the way, set a state record for points scored by a kicker on Saturday. His 213 career kicking points broke the record held by Scott Webb of Helix.

Stopped Short: Grossmont’s Jason Eskridge, the county’s leading rusher, missed by about the distance of one penalty of becoming only the sixth back in section history to top 2,000 yards in a single season.

Eskridge, who ran for at least 100 yards in every game, finished with 1,987 yards in 261 carries. The Foothillers (9-1-1) were upset by Orange Glen, 19-18, in the first round of the playoffs on Friday.

Eskridge, who set a new Grossmont Conference single-season rushing mark, missed the career record by 81 yards. Eskridge had 3,469 yards. El Capitan’s Fred Hight, third in the section record book, had 3,550 from 1966-68. Eskridge did set new conference career marks for touchdowns (42) and points (356).

Trivia: In addition to Eskridge and Hight, name the only other Grossmont Conference rusher to gain more than 3,000 career yards.

Hint: He had a Big Game on Saturday.

Shooting the Lights Out: Valhalla’s 21-16 water polo victory over The Bishop’s School was the highest scoring section final of all time.

Valhalla goalie Ryan Humphrey had eight second-half saves and a rare goal, but defense was otherwise scarce in Saturday’s 2-A final.

Just 28 seconds into the match, both teams had scored. In the first 9:33, there were 12 ties or lead changes.

Excluding the final 2:56, the longest period between goals came in the first quarter. That dry spell lasted 1:48.

Goals were scored within 20 seconds of the previous goal seven times, within 10 seconds three times. The shortest came in the third period, when John Haller pulled Bishop’s to within 12-9 and Humphrey scored his long-range goal six seconds later.

Valhalla, which won its seventh title since 1978, was playing without its second-leading scorer. Cleis McLaughlin had to miss the final after suffering facial injuries in the Norsemen’s semifinal victory.

Humphrey(s) Day: While Ryan Humphrey savored Valhalla’s 2-A championship, Matt Humphreys of Coronado scored a match-high four goals to lead the Islanders to a 13-7 victory over Monte Vista in the 3-A final. It was Coronado’s fifth consecutive title and seventh in nine seasons.

Trivia Answer: Tommy Vardell had 3,068 yards for Granite Hills from 1984-86. Now a senior record-setter at Stanford, Vardell had a college career-high 182 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-21 victory over Cal in the 94th Big Game.