This year was record-breaking for some local football athletes. Cory Hunter has surged through the all-time ranks, but so has Garrett Leatham. And Louis Wilder, Kameron Bryant and Ben Snotherly should all see their names in next year's record book. We'll take a look at what the NCHSAA football record book has to show as of now (this isn't intended to distract anyone from this Friday's playoff games -- we'll have more on that later):

 

•  Cory Hunter has 35 rushing touchdowns this year. Two more, and he'll be tied for the 8th-most in state history for a season.  

 

• Hunter had 463 yards of rushing against Panther Creek on Sept. 18, and it's the second most in a single game in state history -- but you knew that already. 

 

• Hunter also has 2,073 rushing yards this year. He'll need 37 more to crack the top-100 for rushing yards in a season.  

 

• Hunter has 59 touchdowns in his previous two years, and we're hunting down how many he had in his freshman year at Cardinal Gibbons. If it's not in the range of 8-or-more, he's nowhere to being a threat for most rushing touchdowns in a career. You need about 90 to crack top-10. 

 

• This also depends on the Cardinal Gibbons stats. Looking through some old online archives at the N&O, I could only find 90 rushing yards for Hunter, but some games were missing stats. Nonetheless, if 90 is all Hunter got that year, he stands with 4,051 yards in his career (he ran for 1,888 last year). That'd put him no higher than 65th on the list, and that's assuming somebody leapfrogged him this year (i.e. Ian Bosley). 

 

• On Nov. 6, the final week of the regular season, Garrett Leatham threw for 451 yards in a 41-20 win over Apex. Unbeknownst to everyone at the time, Leatham had just finished with the 12th-most passing yards in a game. 

 

• Leatham has thrown for 3,687 yards this year -- that's 18th-most in North Carolina history for a season. 

 

• With 18 passing touchdowns and 33 this year, Leatham currently has 51 passing touchdowns in his career. He'd need to complete another 50 next year to register on the NCHSAA list (it's nowhere near as long as the yardage list). He'd also need another 12 this postseason to crack the top-5 list for most in a season.

 

• Leatham has 234 completions this year. That's 46 shy of 3rd-most in N.C. history. 

 

• Athens Drive junior wideout Louis Wilder was the only receiver in the Tri-Nine to go over 1,000 yards this year. His 1,114 this year in addition to his 605 last year gives him 1,719. Assuming he played JV as a freshman, he'll need 426 to tie for 28th in state history.

 

• Over the past two years, Leatham has 5,935 passing yards (65 short of 6,000 for a career). Only 23 players in state history have thrown for 6,000 yards, and Leatham currently sits in 25th place (2 yards shy of 24th).

 

• Leatham wasn't the only passer in the conference to place high up on the record books. Again, this is all subject to change because there might be quarterbacks in other areas throwing for more this year, but Panther Creek's Kameron Bryant (with 2,602 yards, tied with Jody Brown, Statesville High, 1990) finished no higher than 59th in single-season passing yardage this year. Athens Drive's Ben Snotherly threw for 2,525, and that's no higher than 64th on the all-time list for a single season.

 

• Who knew Phillip Barren ('09 graduate of Athens Drive) finished his career 21st on the career reception yardage list with 2,591 yards? That's 18 more than Torry Holt!! Athens' offense style certainly has a hand in this, as former teammate T.J. Korenegay ('08 grad) is 16th. 

 

• Former Cary back Josh Adams ('05 grad) has the 11th and 21st most rushing yards in a season in his last two years as an Imp. However, yet he doesn't show up on the career list (and those two years combined should put him in the top-40 range. We've alerted Cary to look up Josh's career stats and report those to the NCHSAA so he gets his due in history. 

Player of the week: 463 yards. Four touchdowns. Second-highest number of rushing yards in a N.C. high school game and I wouldn't be surprised if Cory Hunter is still running somewhere. And they needed all 463 as Panther Creek wouldn't stop scoring. Unreal performance. Outside of the Tri-Nine Conference, I don't think people understand how great of a runner he is. Maybe they do now. Because it's not the system with Hunter. He took 28 carries and averaged an absurd 17.1 per carry. Already over 1,000 yards this year, Hunter — not trying to get too far ahead of myself — is going to be a threat for state career records next year.

Panther Creek Catamounts 

Last year: 2-9 (2-5)

All-Conference players graduated: LB/WR/QB Gray Mazzone

All-Conference players returning: (honorable mentions) OL/DL Tyler Bailey, DB Isaiah Johnson