Levelland coach Jared Sanderson knew he needed a balanced offensive attack to get past Andrews in last week’s Class 4A Div. I regional round.
So, he used the Gerber scale.
Senior quarterback Nick Gerber has soared up the record books in passing yards and touchdowns, but it was younger brother Chris, a sophomore running back, who grabbed the limelight last week in the Lobos’ 53-22 win.
Chris had 176 yards on 21 rushing attempts with three touchdowns — he even intercepted a pass on defense. Chris Gerber is second on the team with 1,012 rushing yards this season behind senior Qualin Miller’s 1,141 yards.
But everyone in the state is talking about Nick Gerber, who entered the Andrews game already holding the state’s single-season touchdown passing record with 73. He added three more to that, bringing his mark to 76.
He’s closing in on the single-season passing yards record, too. He’ll have a chance to break it when the Lobos face Abilene Wylie on Friday in San Angelo. Kickoff for the state quarterfinal is set for 7:30 p.m.
Nick passed for 365 yards in the Andrews game to bring his season total to 5,401, which is third all-time in a single season. He trails Navasota’s Shelton Eppler (2014) by 43 yards. He needs 157 yards to break the all-time record (5,557) set by Refugio’s Travis Quintanilla in 2013.
Other names on the top 10 include Graham Harrell (Ennis), Garret Gilbert (Lake Travis), Kyler Murray (Allen) and Greg McElroy (Southlake Carroll).
The way Levelland has thrown the ball this year, Gerber could find his name at the top of the passing yards list by halftime. Gerber has averaged 415.5 yards and nearly six touchdowns per contest.
If he hits those marks this week, then he’ll become the first Texas quarterback to throw more than 80 touchdowns in one season and he would tie Booker’s Hunter Lile for third-most career touchdown passes (162). Lile completed the feat over four years whereas Gerber is doing it in just three. Graham Harrell is second with 167 and Quintanilla tops the list at 184.
Brought to you by:
