East/West/North/South Xtra: OK, it's a record, but ...
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When a player sets a national high school single game record in a blowout victory, one question is always asked: What the heck was he doing on the field in the fourth quarter of a contest that had already been decided?
The answer is simple: Trying to set a record.
Gehrig Dieter of Washington High School in South Bend, Ind., caught 12 passes for a national record 447 yards this past Friday in a 63-10 victory against Elkhart Central. Dieter, who is named after the late New York Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig -- Ya gotta love that -- pulled in a touchdown pass of 90 yards in the fourth quarter and broke the record with a 39-yard reception despite triple coverage on the final play of the game.
It should come as no surprise that there was an on-the-field fight involving players during the contest.
J.D. Felice of Rose Bud, Ark., had set the single-game reception mark of 421 in 2008.
A senior, Dieter's pass-catching prowess didn't just materialize. Last season, he hauled in 43 passes for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns. This season Washington has a quarterback with a good arm in Daigian Morgan and is throwing the football more. Morgan was 17 of 33 for 487 yards with five interceptions against Elkhart Central.
Dieter, who is 6 feet 3 and 210 pounds, isn't a speedster. He has been timed at 4.55 seconds in the 40-yard dash, which isn't bad but would be just ordinary if he lived in Florida.
What he does have are excellent hands. He drops a pass about as often as the South Bend Tribune does not have a story about Notre Dame football at this time of year.
Dieter set the Indiana single-game record of 373 yards on eight receptions in the first game of the season. In three games, all wins, he has 30 catches for 1,168 yards and 11 scores.
Should he have been playing in the fourth quarter? We've always thought it wise to "call off the dogs" and put the starters on the bench once the victory is secured. But it's tough to tell a high school kid he can't go after a national record.
First Published September 8, 2011 12:00 am
