Reviewed by: Pat Byington
McKenize tops Elba in rainy, record-setting high school football game
Reading time: 4 minutes
The beginning of region play marked a difficult road for McKenzie High School, traveling to take on preseason No. 1 Elba Tigers and their five-star running back Alvin Henderson.
The night brought plenty of rain but also plenty of points as the two teams needed four overtimes to settle a winner, breaking plenty of Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) records along the way including:
- Most combined points in AHSAA football history
- Most 2-point conversions in a game (one team + combined)
- Individual record for points scored in a game
- Individual record for rushing touchdowns in a game
Keep reading to find out more about the historic night including how Henderson added his name to even more spots in the AHSAA record book.
Four (4!) overtimes
The scoreboard may have made Friday night seem more like a basketball game but it wasn’t always easy for either offense. There were six total turnovers in the game and both teams saw two-touchdown deficits before the end of regulation but battled back.
McKenzie held a 20-14 lead at halftime but both offenses found some extra rhythm in the second half. After Elba erased a two-score deficit of its own in the fourth quarter, Henderson added another touchdown to send the game to overtime at 48-48.
Rain finally slowed down at the end of regulation but the offenses stayed hot throughout overtime. In the four overtime periods alone, the two teams combined for:
- 8 touchdowns
- 7 2-point conversions
- 62 points
The night would finally come to an end when McKenzie stopped Elba quarterback Cayden Adkins rushing attempt on the 2-point conversion. The final score was 80-78, making it the highest scoring game in AHSAA history.
“For our program, it’s huge. McKenzie has always been good in the past but in the last couple of years, we’ve underperformed. We haven’t had the kind of success we wanted so for us to be able to do something like that, it’s still a success. We talk all the time about stacking small Ws and that just helps in our confidence and build the program in the direction we’re going.”
~ Brian Bradford on the McKenzie win getting into the record books
Here are some of the final individual numbers from the high-scoring affair in Elba:
- McKenzie QB Quay Jackson: 345 passing yards, 6 TDs; 113 rushing yards, 3 TDs; 6 2-point conversion passes
- McKenzie RB Ayden Wilsey: 153 rushing yards, 2 TDs
- McKenzie WR Skyler Sanders: 180 receiving yards, 4 TDs
- Elba QB Cayden Adkins: 100 rushing yards, 2 TDs
- Elba RB Alvin Henderson: 389 rushing yards, 9 TDS; 3 2-point conversions
“I’ve never experienced a game like this before. It was a wild one.”
~ Brian Bradford, McKenzie head coach
A new Mr. Football?
During Friday’s loss against McKenzie, Auburn commit Alvin Henderson entered his name into more spots in the AHSAA record book including:
- 9 rushing TDs (state record)
- 60 total points (state record)
“One of the best I’ve ever seen. He’s good. We knew we couldn’t stop him. We were hoping we could contain him better than we did but he’s awesome.”
~ Brian Bradford, McKenzie head coach
Before entering his senior season, Henderson already made his mark on the state’s high school football world. In 2023, he finished with:
- 69 total touchdowns (state record)
- 3,523 rushing yards (state record)
- 15.7 yards per carry (3rd all-time)
- 4,217 all-purpose yards (7th all-time)
This season has been more of the same for Henderson. Despite two losses through Elba’s first three games, Henderson already has 895 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.
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