2027 Evangel QB Peyton Houston becomes nation's single-game passing leader with 800+ yards

Peyton Houston torched single-game record books not only in Louisiana, but nationally, with his performance Thursday in a wild District 1-5A shootout.

The 2027 Evangel Christian quarterback completed 53 of his 68 passes for 817 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 88 yards and two more scores in a heartbreaking 77-76 overtime loss to Captain Shreve.

Coaches, statisticians and reporters from both schools and the Shreveport-Bossier Advocate double- and triple-checked the numbers and conferred Friday morning to confirm the accuracy of the numbers — which actually proved higher than initial postgame reports late Thursday.

According to those numbers, Houston broke multiple Louisiana records and challenged national marks in just his sixth career start for the Eagles.

Houston’s 817 passing yards make him the first high school quarterback in the country to throw for more than 800 yards in a single game, surpassing the previous record of 787 by Matt Miller (DuBois, Pennsylvania) in 2015.

His 53 completions ties for second all-time nationally behind only the 58 by Grant Sherman (Kenton, Ohio) in 2013 — despite his pass attempts not cracking the top 20 listed by the NFHS.

And his 10 total touchdowns ties for 12th all-time nationally behind athletes from nine different states, none in Louisiana.

“The perspective is very simple: that’s only been done one time and history, and it was last night,” coach Denny Duron said. “That Pop Houston just threw for more yards in one game than any high school player has thrown for in history. And that’s an incredible accomplishment.

I think it’s also important to note that he had two receivers over 200 yards and another that was 140 or 145 yards and still another that was in the 80 or 90 yards. So he’s spreading the ball around, and he’s not doing it in what you would call the conventional way, probably. He’s literally playing the game the way that it was meant to be played, and he’s working the offense exactly the way that the offense was created to be worked. And so I can’t say enough for him honestly. It’s been an amazing privilege to stand on the sideline and watch this kid play football. And that is every single week but last night was extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary.”

Another record-setting Evangel star, Louisiana career passing leader Brock Berlin, was on the sideline as the former Florida, Miami and NFL quarterback continues to learn in his role as the Eagles’ junior high offensive coordinator.

“He and I looked at each other last night and said, ‘Have you ever seen anything like this before?'” Duron laughed. “And we both said, ‘No,’ and we have been through a lot of games together, that boy and I, through the years, and some record-setting games. But 817 yards? You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Houston recently added home-state LSU to his already-long list of college offers as one of the stars of Louisiana’s promising 2027 quarterback class.

Captain Shreve running back Jamarcea Plater (2026) and quarterback Brodie Savage (2025) set school records in the Gators’ victory with 352 rushing yards and 462 passing yards, respectively.

“Statistics, especially with the pace of today’s game, can be a process,” said Shreveport-Bossier Advocate reporter Roy Lang III, a long-time and well-respected reporter in the area who covered the game and helped confirm Houston’s numbers. “At the end of games, the numbers we immediately have are often just guidelines. It’s not easy.

“In the case of Thursday’s Evangel-Captain Shreve game, there were a couple of questions about possibly laterals — instead of forward passes — and passing yards gained on plays that included penalties downfield. After a local stat fiasco a couple of years ago, we wanted to make sure the video was reviewed multiple times to ensure 100% accuracy. Twelve hours after the unforgettable game ended, we had the numbers correct.”