In final high school game, Kennedy Catholic quarterback Sam Huard breaks state’s career passing record
Sam Huard attended his final high school football practice Friday evening on the turf field behind the school for which he has spent the past four years lighting up scoreboards.
Perhaps that is when the finality of this started to hit. He said he woke up Saturday morning, hours away from Kennedy Catholic’s game against Kentwood, anxious to get to Highline Memorial Stadium, knowing it would be his last with the Lancers.
There was much in front of him. It was senior day, with Huard and several more four-year standouts set to be recognized pregame. It was the Lancers’ home opener, and the first time they would have their fans in the stands in this COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season. It was Huard’s last high school game, with him set to enroll at the University of Washington, where both his father and uncle once starred, early next week. He was also on record watch, only 333 yards away from passing Shadle Park’s Brett Rypien as the state’s career passing leader.
But, when Huard arrived at the stadium he has become so familiar with the past four years, he was focused on the task in front of him — lead the undefeated Lancers to a win over a tough Class 4A North Puget Sound League opponent that had already topped them twice in his career.
“The minute I got off the bus and we got going, it was business as usual, and we just had to lock in and do what we do, and just stay focused on the present, and stay in the moment,” Huard said.
He did. The result was one of the best performances of his remarkable four-year career at Kennedy. Huard finished 40-of-56 passing for 514 yards — the seventh such 500-plus-yard passing game of his career — and eight touchdowns before he left the game late in the fourth quarter to an ovation.
The state passing record? That fell moments before the first half came to a close, when he marched the Lancers offense 90 yards down the field in less than two minutes to score his fifth touchdown just before the break.
The throw that rewrote history came midway through the drive on a 12-yard swing pass to running back Leland Ward, giving Huard enough to eclipse Rypien’s record (13,044 yards in 39 games from 2011-14). The game was briefly paused to recognize Huard on the field for the achievement.
He continued on to shatter the previous mark in the second half of Kennedy’s 60-17 win over Kentwood, and finished his career completing 847-of-1,356 passes for 13,226 yards and 153 touchdowns in 35 games.
When asked about the record following the game, Huard reflected not on his personal accolade, but on the opportunity to play this year at all, after the pandemic wiped out the usual fall season.
“It’s really more important to me knowing that we really finished this the way we wanted to,” he said. “Obviously we wanted to be holding up a state championship trophy right now, and that’s the goal, and I’m going to have to live with not being able to go compete and win a state championship, but to be able to come out here and do what we did today and just play really the best we could — I love all these guys so much.
“ … Just being able to get this opportunity to play with these guys the past four years, I’ve been truly blessed, and I couldn’t be more thankful for all of them. For Coach (Sheldon) Cross. For all of these guys. They just mean the world to me.”
Huard was on pace to top the state’s all-time list in every passing category when his junior season ended back in 2019. That wasn’t his focus, though. He and Kennedy’s other incoming seniors — including his top three targets in Pac-12-bound receivers Junior Alexander (Arizona State), Jabez Tinae (Washington) and Reed Shumpert (Washington State) — wanted to avenge their stunning 4A state quarterfinals loss to Woodinville.
When it became clear their final season with the Lancers would be delayed and shortened, the seniors still opted to return. That season-ending loss couldn’t be the end.
Huard said earlier this season he remembers that loss to the Falcons “like it was yesterday.” The Lancers spent nearly 500 days before their season opener against Tahoma two weeks ago using it as motivation.
“We really don’t talk about the records,” Huard’s father, Damon, said pregame Saturday. “It’s great, but what’s really special is this opportunity to get to play. I didn’t know if I was ever going to get to see him wear the Lancer red again, and that was a really tough deal for our family. Sam held out hope, and Coach Cross instilled a hope in all of these kids that they were going to get to do it one last time.
“They worked all fall, right in January they came back to work, and they’re taking advantage of this opportunity. And it’s just been, more than anything, forget the records, forget the wins and losses, he’s out there with his buddies that he’s grown up playing the game he loves with, and they get to do it this spring. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Knowing Saturday would be his son’s final game in a Lancers jersey, he told him to cherish the day, and said Huard was “really excited to do this one last time with his buddies.”
Huard connected with six different receivers in his final game. Alexander (11 catches, 143 yards) caught three touchdown passes of 14, 11 and 10 yards. Tinae (nine catches, 155 yards) caught two touchdown passes of 35 and 32 yards, and Ward (14 catches, 152 yards) caught two touchdown passes of 6 and 20 yards. Maclane Watkins caught a 7-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter on the final completion of Huard’s career.
With the explosive plays his receivers were making, Huard figured he was getting close to Rypien’s historic mark, but said he didn’t know he had broken it when Kennedy took the timeout to honor him.
“I was just trying not to think about it,” he said. “We were just trying to be locked in and every time someone brought it up, I would just be like, ‘Hey, listen, let’s go score this next drive.’ That’s kind of been our mindset.
“But, when I got it, it was definitely a great moment — hugging Coach Cross, hugging all of my teammates, because it’s not just an individual record, it’s such a reflection of our entire team.
“Every offensive lineman who’s played in this system, every receiver, Coach Cross with the Air Raid system dialing it up every single week and just pushing us to grow as people and as players. It’s just such a great reflection of our entire program and our entire school.”
Huard wrapped up his three-game senior season with 1,481 yards and 21 touchdowns on 101-of-138 passing.
He completed 28-of-37 passes for 515 yards and seven touchdowns in a season-opening rout of Tahoma. Last week in another dominant win over Decatur, he finished 33-of-45 passing for 452 yards and six scores.
Huard threw for 3,432 yards and 34 touchdowns as a freshman, 4,141 yards and 56 touchdowns as a sophomore and a career-best 4,172 yards and 56 touchdowns last season as a junior.
He ends his career ranked third in state history in both career touchdowns and completions.
Prosser product Kellen Moore holds the state’s career touchdowns record with 173 in 44 games between 2003-06, while Rypien still holds completions record (1,006) by a wide margin.
“I can’t even describe what it’s been like to coach him,” Cross said. “I’ve known him since he was a little kid, and I’m so proud of him for always competing. … He’s just so reliable and it’s just so fun to watch him. I’m going to miss watching him throw the ball live every day. It’s so beautiful.”
Huard now turns his attention to the Huskies, and will head to Seattle to move in Sunday. He said he feels “very prepared” for this next step, given his early conversations with UW offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach John Donovan, and believes the rhythm he got into during this shortened high school season will benefit him when spring camp begins next week.
“I think it will definitely be a big transition, but I’m super comfortable,” Huard said. “I’ve lived here my whole life, just right across the bridge, and I have so many people supporting me along the way.
“ … I have a lot of great people around me, just helping me stay focused, helping me put in the work every single day, so I definitely take a lot of pride in preparing and putting in the work, and I know that I’ll be ready to go.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2021 at 2:08 PM.
