BIG19
12-12-2003, 09:10 AM
McGee and Shipley -- the best ever?
Burnet quarterback, receiver prepare to play their final game after record-breaking careers
By Rick Cantu
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, December 12, 2003
BURNET -- An uncommon bond was created when freshmen Stephen McGee and Jordan Shipley became teammates three years ago.
McGee had already established himself as a gifted quarterback with a promising future. Shipley, the new kid in town, was a precocious wide receiver hoping to make an impression with the varsity football team.
Three years later, after leading Burnet High School to the Class 3A state championship game for the second straight season, McGee and Shipley have become arguably the greatest pass-catch tandem in the rich history of Texas high school football.
On the eve of the title game against Gainesville, their legacy with Bulldogs football is secure. Yet they believe their record-busting careers will not receive proper validation unless they win Saturday night at Texas Stadium. Both teams are 14-0.
"I'm thinking of this game as a way to win state, not that it's my last game in high school," said McGee, a 6-foot-3-inch senior who will graduate next week and enroll at Texas A&M in January. "Win or lose, this has been pretty awesome."
McGee and Shipley have combined for 218 pass receptions, a state record, high school football historian Joe Lee Smith said Thursday.
In their careers, McGee has thrown for 8,076 yards and Shipley has caught 5,300 yards worth of passes. Combined, that's 13,376 yards -- the most ever for a quarterback-receiver combination in Texas. Decatur's Phillip Daugherty and Joseph Krebs combined to put up 13,288 career yards from 2000-02, and former Stephenville stars Kelan Luker and Cody Cardwell -- who is No. 2 on the state's career list for receiving yards and No. 4 for career receptions -- had 12,538 combined yards.
In the past two seasons, Burnet's record is 28-1. That's the second-best mark in Texas, behind only Southlake Carroll's 30-0 record in Class 5A (the Dragons play a Division II state semifinal at Texas Stadium in the game before Burnet's title game). Galena Park North Shore is 25-1 over the past two seasons, Denton Ryan is 28-2 and Highland Park is 25-2. Burnet's lone loss in that span came against Everman in last year's state championship game in San Antonio.
McGee has had a phenomenal senior season, throwing 46 touchdown passes against only three interceptions. In his career, he boasts 100 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.
Shipley, a 6-foot senior bound for the University of Texas, set career state records this season for receptions (259), yards (5,300) and touchdown catches (72), regardless of classification.
Did someone say awesome?
"It's their timing between quarterback and wide receiver, their belief in each other and their will to win," said Reagan Coach Todd Patmon, whose Class 4A Raiders were beaten by Burnet 47-0 earlier this season and 33-6 last year.
"Plus," Patmon said, "they are very gifted athletes that happen to be very good football players."
McGee and Shipley were fortunate to find each other. Burnet's football team was fortunate that the pair moved to the Hill Country town of 4,735. They each starred for their respective middle school teams in other cities -- McGee in San Antonio, Shipley in Rotan.
McGee moved from San Antonio to Burnet before his freshman season to join his father, Rodney, the school's longtime varsity basketball coach.
Shipley moved from Class A Rotan to Burnet when his father, Bob, was named Burnet's varsity football coach in 2001. At the time, Bob Shipley was noted for his "wide-open" offense and was thrilled to return home. He graduated from Burnet in 1978, and even then he aspired to someday coach his old team.
"It was a pretty good year to transfer to a new school," Bob Shipley said of the move from Rotan. He quickly learned about his budding quarterback-receiver connection.
Jordan Shipley, who figured to play quarterback when he moved to Burnet after spending the fall semester in Rotan, learned quickly that McGee was a special player. Shipley accepted his move to receiver.
"It was obvious by seeing (McGee) throw that he's fundamentally sound. I could tell right away how awesome he was," Jordan Shipley said. "Not everyone gets to come to a new school and play with a quarterback like that."
Shipley showed his versatility last season when he became the only player in Texas to be named All-State on both offense and defense. For good measure, he returns kickoffs and punts and also is the team's chief kicker.
"It's pretty weird how all this came together," McGee said.
McGee and Shipley provided late-game heroics last week to keep Burnet's quest for its first state football championship alive.
Trailing Jasper 14-7 in the fourth quarter -- the first game the Bulldogs have trailed all season -- Burnet rallied for two touchdowns, including a McGee-to-Shipley pass with 17 seconds remaining, to advance to Saturday's title game.
"We've got a sixth football sense that comes from hours of summer and spring practice," McGee said. "We lean on each other a lot."
Their final act is Saturday night.
Burnet quarterback, receiver prepare to play their final game after record-breaking careers
By Rick Cantu
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, December 12, 2003
BURNET -- An uncommon bond was created when freshmen Stephen McGee and Jordan Shipley became teammates three years ago.
McGee had already established himself as a gifted quarterback with a promising future. Shipley, the new kid in town, was a precocious wide receiver hoping to make an impression with the varsity football team.
Three years later, after leading Burnet High School to the Class 3A state championship game for the second straight season, McGee and Shipley have become arguably the greatest pass-catch tandem in the rich history of Texas high school football.
On the eve of the title game against Gainesville, their legacy with Bulldogs football is secure. Yet they believe their record-busting careers will not receive proper validation unless they win Saturday night at Texas Stadium. Both teams are 14-0.
"I'm thinking of this game as a way to win state, not that it's my last game in high school," said McGee, a 6-foot-3-inch senior who will graduate next week and enroll at Texas A&M in January. "Win or lose, this has been pretty awesome."
McGee and Shipley have combined for 218 pass receptions, a state record, high school football historian Joe Lee Smith said Thursday.
In their careers, McGee has thrown for 8,076 yards and Shipley has caught 5,300 yards worth of passes. Combined, that's 13,376 yards -- the most ever for a quarterback-receiver combination in Texas. Decatur's Phillip Daugherty and Joseph Krebs combined to put up 13,288 career yards from 2000-02, and former Stephenville stars Kelan Luker and Cody Cardwell -- who is No. 2 on the state's career list for receiving yards and No. 4 for career receptions -- had 12,538 combined yards.
In the past two seasons, Burnet's record is 28-1. That's the second-best mark in Texas, behind only Southlake Carroll's 30-0 record in Class 5A (the Dragons play a Division II state semifinal at Texas Stadium in the game before Burnet's title game). Galena Park North Shore is 25-1 over the past two seasons, Denton Ryan is 28-2 and Highland Park is 25-2. Burnet's lone loss in that span came against Everman in last year's state championship game in San Antonio.
McGee has had a phenomenal senior season, throwing 46 touchdown passes against only three interceptions. In his career, he boasts 100 touchdown passes and 16 interceptions.
Shipley, a 6-foot senior bound for the University of Texas, set career state records this season for receptions (259), yards (5,300) and touchdown catches (72), regardless of classification.
Did someone say awesome?
"It's their timing between quarterback and wide receiver, their belief in each other and their will to win," said Reagan Coach Todd Patmon, whose Class 4A Raiders were beaten by Burnet 47-0 earlier this season and 33-6 last year.
"Plus," Patmon said, "they are very gifted athletes that happen to be very good football players."
McGee and Shipley were fortunate to find each other. Burnet's football team was fortunate that the pair moved to the Hill Country town of 4,735. They each starred for their respective middle school teams in other cities -- McGee in San Antonio, Shipley in Rotan.
McGee moved from San Antonio to Burnet before his freshman season to join his father, Rodney, the school's longtime varsity basketball coach.
Shipley moved from Class A Rotan to Burnet when his father, Bob, was named Burnet's varsity football coach in 2001. At the time, Bob Shipley was noted for his "wide-open" offense and was thrilled to return home. He graduated from Burnet in 1978, and even then he aspired to someday coach his old team.
"It was a pretty good year to transfer to a new school," Bob Shipley said of the move from Rotan. He quickly learned about his budding quarterback-receiver connection.
Jordan Shipley, who figured to play quarterback when he moved to Burnet after spending the fall semester in Rotan, learned quickly that McGee was a special player. Shipley accepted his move to receiver.
"It was obvious by seeing (McGee) throw that he's fundamentally sound. I could tell right away how awesome he was," Jordan Shipley said. "Not everyone gets to come to a new school and play with a quarterback like that."
Shipley showed his versatility last season when he became the only player in Texas to be named All-State on both offense and defense. For good measure, he returns kickoffs and punts and also is the team's chief kicker.
"It's pretty weird how all this came together," McGee said.
McGee and Shipley provided late-game heroics last week to keep Burnet's quest for its first state football championship alive.
Trailing Jasper 14-7 in the fourth quarter -- the first game the Bulldogs have trailed all season -- Burnet rallied for two touchdowns, including a McGee-to-Shipley pass with 17 seconds remaining, to advance to Saturday's title game.
"We've got a sixth football sense that comes from hours of summer and spring practice," McGee said. "We lean on each other a lot."
Their final act is Saturday night.