In the last two years, a player from the CIF Central Coast Section used that section’s final week of the regular season (which is one week later than the rest of the state) to earn a top spot as a regular season state stat champion. That wasn’t close to happening this season. Two players this year also will be listed in the state record book as leaders in two categories – QB Kaylor Sullivan of Fort Bragg and WR Derrion Grim of Stockton McNair.
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Here is a rundown of this year’s state stat champions (credit to MaxPreps for almost all of these totals but we do double-checks to look for duplicated or incorrectly input numbers):
Fort Bragg QB Kaylor Sullivan may not add to his totals too much in this week’s NCS D4 playoff game vs. Marin Catholic. Photo: Brittaney Dondanville.
Passing Yards
Kaylor Sullivan (Fort Bragg). He went over 4,000 yards passing over the weekend, but his regular season total of 3,750 still was tops in the state. The last QB from the CIF North Coast Section to lead the state for regular season pass yards was Ricky Lloyd of Concord (2010).
Passing Touchdowns
Kaylor Sullivan (Fort Bragg). With Jake Browning now playing as a true freshman at Washington, this is another category that opened up to someone else after Browning owned it for three years. Sullivan’s total of 46 means he’s the first from the NCS to lead this category since Dan Calcagno of San Leandro in 1984.
Rushing Yards
Mikey Dean (Chaffey, Ontario). His regular season total of 2,475 yards comfortably topped Isaiah Jones of Porterville, who had 2,376. Jones, however, missed one game and it’s likely if he got to play a full 10-game regular season that he would have had more than Dean. Still, Dean is the second straight rushing leader from the Inland Empire area, following Freddy Holly of Riverside Norte Vista from last year.
Scoring
Najee Harris (Antioch). There are others who scored more TDs than the sensational Panthers’ junior, but he had a whopping 28 two-conversions to go with his 32 TDs for 248 points. That was enough to top Ryan Robards of Elk Grove (36 TDs, 230 points) or Sultaan Sullivan of Phelan Serrano (39 TDs, 234 points). Harris is not the first Antioch player to lead the state for regular season scoring, either. Worth Shaw did it in 1945. In case you’re wondering, the state record for two-point conversions is 41 by Greg Oliver of Bloomington (1994). He also had 32 for that regular season. Harris is now second in both lists.
Derrion Grim set two regular season state records, but will have settle for a tie in the category he really wanted. Photo: Mark Tennis.
Touchdown Catches
Derrion Grim (McNair, Stockton). His total of 31 was ignited right at the start of the season with a six-TD outing in his opener. He ended up breaking the regular season state record previously held at 25 by Earvin Johnson of L.A. Cathedral (1999). He did not break the overall state record of 34, however, since McNair’s 10th regular season game vs. Bear Creek (Stockton) was cancelled and then in last Saturday’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section D2 playoff game vs. Sacramento he had three TD catches in McNair’s 85-46 loss to the Dragons. Grim therefore ends with 34 and will be listed in a tie in the record book with Folsom’s Cole Thompson, who had 34 last year. It doesn’t matter that Grim only played 10 games compared to Thompson’s 16 as it relates to who’s listed first in the book. It’s always the player who reaches the total first who is listed first.
Receiving Yards
Derrion Grim (McNair, Stockton). The Nebraska-bound standout also set a regular season state record in this category with 1,767, but he barely edged Devin Baldwin from Cordova of Rancho Cordova (who finished with 1,760). Again, Grim’s total is for nine games.
Receptions
Guillermo Cordova (Franklin, Los Angeles). This is one pass catching category that Grim did not lead. Cordova had a 19-catch, 202-yard outing vs. L.A. Wilson early on and kept up the pace to finish the regular season with 98 catches for 1,099 yards. Grim had 87 in his nine games, one less than Baldwin in his 10 or Lucas Triplett of Fort Bragg in his 10.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
