Max Browne didn't just close out a state championship season, he finished one of the great prep seasons -- and careers -- of all time.
Browne's successes have been chronicled far and wide throughout his senior season, the kind of attention that comes with the territory when a quarterback commits to play at USC. Still, the Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline High star's greatness goes far beyond his selection as Gatorade Player of the Year for a second consecutive year, or his presence on the U.S. Army Player of the Year national award final candidate list. Rather, the best testament to Browne's excellence comes from cold hard stats.
As noted by the Seattle Times, in his senior season, Browne passed for an incredible 4,526 yards and 49 touchdowns. He completed 277 of 377 pass attempts, good for an incredible 73.5 percent completion percentage, the fourth-highest ever compiled in high school football. He threw just five interceptions. His season-long QB rating was a 147.
To put that QB rating in perspective, the most efficient quarterback rating for an entire NFL season was turned in by Steve Young during the 49ers 1994 championship season. Young accumulated a 112.8 QB rating that year, a distant shadow of what Browne just achieved this year.
Yet Browne's career statistics are even more impressive. The senior set a Washington state career passing-yardage record during the first quarter of Skyline's 49-24 victory against Bellarmine (Wash.) Prep School in the Class 4A state title game. Browne eventually finished with 4,526 yards. Considering the fact that he only played significant minutes in three of his four seasons competing for Skyline, that's a pretty impressive achievement.
Here's what Browne told Rivals.com's USC affiliate, USCFootball.com, about the record:
"They actually talked to myself and my coach, whether we wanted to stop the game, and we said no," Browne said. "We knew that I would probably break it on my first completion, which was true. My first completion was a 13 yard gain and I only needed nine, so that got it.
"We just wanted to keep the tempo going. That's what I wanted. It was obviously awesome to get the record itself, but it was about Skyline and the state championship.
"It's awesome to note with a record like that, you can't get it without having a lot of games and playing with great teams. I think it is a huge testament to everyone involved with Skyline football and the offense specifically."
Even more stunning is Browne's career completion record. Across four years, the Skyline star completed an almost unfathomable 70.39 percent of his passes. Officially, he threw the ball 1,253 times and completed 882 of those attempts. That 70.39 completion percentage is the fifth-best career completion percentage in prep football history.
Of course, like his teammates, Browne was focused on just one thing during his senior season: Winning a state title. The Spartans achieved that, and did so in style, cruising to a perfect 14-0 season and demolishing nearly each team in their wake … including nationally touted Bellarmine Prep in the state title game.
"It's all about Skyline tonight," Browne told the Times after the state title game. "This is all I could ask for."
Lane Kiffin will be asking for just as much come fall 2013, Browne can rest assured of that.
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