Greencastle's Stephens on verge of breaking passing record

There is a saying that records are meant to be broken.

And, for over two decades, the record of most career passing yards in Indiana high school football has belonged to Evansville Mater Dei's Jake Schiff. 

Schiff threw for 12,195 yards in his career, and was a key force in the Wildcats winning the Class 2A state title in 2000 and playing in back-to-back state title games. As a senior, he threw for 4,468 yards. 

The career passing yards record is in jeopardy of falling, as Greencastle senior enters the Class 2A Sectional Tournament 346 yards away from the record. 

For his career, Stephens has thrown for 11,850 yards. 

After starting as a freshman and throwing for 2,675, the Lehigh commit threw for 2,812 as a junior and 3,747 last year. This season, Stephens has thrown for 2,616 yards and 25 touchdowns, while guiding the Tiger Cubs to a 4-5 regular season record. In addition to the passing yards, Stephens has rushed for 788 yards and nine touchdowns this fall. 

"It is one of those things we have tried to not talk about because we don't want to jinx it. With us getting to one guaranteed game left, everyone is aware of it now and what we need to get. We are allowing ourselves to talk about it a little bit," Greencastle coach Dave Stephens told The Putnam County Post.
Stephens said he has been pleased to watch the progression of his quarterback, who is also his son. 

"As a freshman, he got to come in at 155, real skinny and had the benefit of playing with some really good guys who were amazingly talented. That was huge and he had to be a facilitator for us. His sophomore year, he got the first time experience of being the guy that every defensive coordinator is game planning for and he had a bit of a sophomore slump. Teams were stopping the run and taking things away. By the time he got to his junior year, he understood game plans and led the state in passing, touchdowns and passing yards. As a senior, he's had to change what he needs to do for us to win. Coming into this year, he had around 280 yards rushing and right now he is around 600 something. It's not for show, but we needed that to scrape by some of these one possession wins," Stephens said. 

The elder Stephens has had an interesting vantage point for every single pass, as he has been both head coach and dad. 

"As a coach, I am extremely competitive. When we led the state in scoring at Owen County, I was so proud for our guys. As a coach, you are always excited for your guys. As a dad, it is really exciting to see the journey he has been on and the testament to his durability and being the focus of a lot of game plans. It is a neat accomplishment to see him achieve something like that. He handles it so well and is probably the most indifferent out of everyone about it. As a dad, it is exciting to see and root for it to happen, hopefully," Stephens said. 

Cole Stephens will get an opportunity to set the record Friday when the Tiger Cubs travel to South Vermillion (5-4) for the opening round of the Class 2A Sectional 38 Tournament. The winner will play the winner of South Putnam and Cascade. 

"We hope to get a win and whatever it takes to get a win. If we can find a way to get 346 yards passing, Cole and his teammates will have a chance to break a record that has been standing for 21 yards. You have to play a lot of games and have a lot of talent around you. It would be remarkable for Cole and cool for Putnam County to have a guy like that. We will come out, give it our best and see how it shakes out," Stephens said.