Terrelle Pryor and the greatest high school state championship performance of all-time
Terrelle Pryor did everything (and then some) in a game for the ages.
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I'm not breaking new ground here by saying that most –if not all– college football stars were probably the best player on their high school fields. Or that they were likely dominant in high school playing a position we never saw them at in college. A rare few continue to do it (Travis Hunter), but 99% of guys refine their focus on one position by the time they get to campus. It's too much of a workload to handle, and quite honestly, you just can't out-athlete other teams in college to the degree you can in high school. That's the main reason we don't see things like Jadeveon Clowney, running back - despite how much fun it'd be:
Players excelling at multiple positions in high school has always made for great legend-making, though, and that's what we're doing today with the story of Terrelle Pryor and the 2007 PIAA (Pennsylvania) Class AA State Championship Game.
If you're of a certain age, you remember how wild Pryor's recruitment was before he signed with Ohio State, and with good reason. He was the second-ranked football recruit nationally in 2008, a top-100 prospect in basketball, and was coming off one of the greatest high school football careers of all-time. Pryor was essentially unstoppable, becoming the first quarterback in Pennsylvania history to both throw and run for 4,000 career yards, leading Jeannette High to a 16-0 record as a senior in 2007. He was the driving force behind the Jayhawks scoring a then-state record 860 points (53.7 per game), mercy-ruling 15 of their 16 opponents:
For those interested: Here's Pennsylvania's Mercy Rule definition.
Jeanette capped their spectacular season with a 49-21 beatdown of Dunmore High for their first-ever state title, but it wasn't just thanks to Pryor. Running back –and future Ohio State teammate– Jordan Hall scored on the first play from scrimmage, setting the tone for the rest of the day:
