Bristol, Connecticut — ESPN Offices
Saturday, October 11, 2010
POV Jacob Brown
I'd only been at ESPN for about a year, working in the data production department, long enough to know that on a Saturday morning, the offices were rarely this loud… unless the NCAA or NFL had played.
But neither college football nor the pros had been in action. The constant buzz in the hallways was coming from somewhere unexpected: a high school football game. Yes, high school. And not even a state final or a long-scheduled interstate classic. No. Just an ordinary league matchup: Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco.
Although "ordinary" was no longer a word anyone could use after last night.
Rumors were flying early on that the audience numbers had been historic. At the very least, higher than the usual average for high school games ESPN broadcasts nationally, which typically pull between 200,000 and 500,000 viewers.
The real question was whether it had crossed the half-million mark, and by how much. That would put it in the top five most-watched high school games ever. The bigger question: where in that top would it land?
"Did you see it last night?" a coworker asked, leaning against the wall with a coffee cup in hand.
"Yeah, of course. Seven touchdowns… insane," another replied, still in disbelief.
"Producer Michael wasn't wrong pulling strings to get this one aired nationally," the first added, nodding with respect.
I understood the comment. Nationally televised high school games are rare: one or two in September, another couple in October or November. And almost always interstate showdowns, with appeal across multiple states. Few dare to air a regular league game.
Not because the teams are bad, the Trinity League is the most competitive in the country. The issue is that someone in Texas, Alabama, or elsewhere won't bother tuning in. Ratings won't hold up, no matter how elite the programs.
That's why they stick to playoff games, finals, interstate clashes, or anything with strong media juice.
Michael gambled on this one for that last reason: the media pull. And it came specifically from a single player, QB #19, Andrew Pritchett-Tucker.
The kid wasn't just torching defenses with stats straight out of a video game. He carried unprecedented media power: over two million YouTube subscribers. An entire generation was watching him as if he were some mix of athlete and digital creator.
"How high do you think the rating went?" one asked.
"Hmm… not sure, maybe 0.5 or 0.6. That'd be insane, that's usually what top state finals draw," the other guessed.
That would mean about 600,000 to 700,000 viewers.
"And you, Jacob?" they turned to me, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I took a few seconds before answering.
"It's already confirmed he broke the average. So, he cleared half a million. And with all the buzz, plus seven touchdowns live, I doubt we're talking about anything minor. My prediction… it's close to the 2008 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Byrnes game."
They both stared at me wide-eyed. They knew exactly what I meant.
That had been the game. Florida vs. South Carolina. Aquinas, a historic powerhouse ranked number one in the nation at the time by USA Today and MaxPreps. Byrnes, a legendary program with five state titles in eight years under Bobby Bentley. Two giants colliding in prime time. That game had drawn nearly a million viewers, something once thought impossible for high school.
Only one game had ever surpassed it: Nease (FL) vs. Hoover (AL) in 2005, which hit a 1.0 rating (1 million viewers).
Aquinas vs. Byrnes had come very close, landing second all-time.
"That much?" one of my coworkers raised an eyebrow. "I mean, yeah, last night was big, but at the end of the day it was just a league game. That was interstate, a titans' clash, this no."
I smiled, twirling my pen between my fingers. "I know. But they didn't have this kid Andrew. People tune in not just for his play and stats, his fanbase online is massive. Way more powerful than we realize."
A brief silence followed, then they nodded.
"We'll know soon," I added at last, with anticipation.
Around ten o'clock, while I sat in the meeting room with higher-ups and coworkers, the door swung open. Karen walked in, the audience data manager. Firm-voiced, fast-paced, always carrying a folder under her arm. The fact that she showed up at that hour said it all: she had the number.
The entire room went silent.
Karen set the folder down on the table, adjusted her glasses, and calmly said, "We have the official figure from last night's game."
The tension thickened.
"Come on, Karen, don't kill us with suspense!" someone blurted, drawing light laughter.
Karen only gave the faintest smile. When the chuckles died down, she dropped it:
"One point three million."
The silence was sepulchral. For a moment, I could have sworn I heard the buzz of a fly.
But the only thing echoing in my head was that number.
1.3 million.
That shattered every projection. It left behind the legendary St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Byrnes and the Nease vs. Hoover matchups, games long cited as the impossible ceiling for televised high school football. And now they'd been surpassed by a regular league game.
The murmur turned into an uproar. Overlapping voices, exclamations, disbelief. Karen raised her voice to cut through the noise:
"It's official. This is a historic record. Mater Dei vs. Bosco is now the most-watched high school football game on national television to date."
A sixteen-year-old kid with a YouTube channel had achieved what even the most historic programs never could: pulling more than a million people in front of their TVs on a Friday night.
The rest of Saturday was a whirlwind. ESPN's hallways boiled with a single thought: how to capitalize on the Andrew phenomenon. Producers, executives, and marketing people all agreed on the same thing, Fridays were gold. No direct competition: no NCAA games on Saturday, no NFL on Sunday, and now they had a 1.3 million rating as living proof.
What had begun as a game slated for regional coverage had turned into a historic event. And it was almost confirmed: the league's final clash, Mater Dei vs. Servite, both 4–0, would also be broadcast nationally. Something unheard of: two straight weeks with the same team on national prime-time TV.
Mater Dei, with Andrew at its media epicenter, had become the new gold mine of Friday night sports television.
...
📰 Los Angeles Times
Sports | High School Football
"Mater Dei and Andrew Crush Bosco in Historic Game"
Veterans Memorial Stadium witnessed a spectacle rarely seen in high school football last night. Mater Dei defeated St. John Bosco 54–31 in a Trinity League showdown that will go down in history.
The reason: Andrew Pritchett-Tucker. The junior quarterback threw six touchdown passes and ran for another, totaling seven scores, 470 yards of offense (415 passing, 55 rushing), and zero interceptions. No quarterback had ever put up such a performance against Bosco.
With this game, Andrew reached 30 touchdowns in just six games (an average of 5 per contest), improving on the 4.6 he had been averaging. He has already surpassed the full-season total of his teammate Max Wittek (24 TDs in 9 games last year) and now sits just five touchdowns shy of matching the historic campaign of Matt Barkley (35), current USC starter, whose record year at Mater Dei earned him the title of Gatorade Player of the Year.
Andrew also set a precedent never before seen: six consecutive games with 4 or more touchdowns and at least 300 yards. No elite California program had ever witnessed anything like it.
And as if that weren't enough, the media impact was overwhelming: 1.3 million viewers nationwide made it the most-watched high school football game in history, surpassing legendary clashes such as St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Byrnes (2008) and Nease vs. Hoover (2005).
Next Friday, Mater Dei will face Servite, both undefeated at 4–0. The Trinity League champion will be crowned in that game, which is already generating strong rumors of another national broadcast.
...
📰 Orange County Register
"A Perfect Friday for Mater Dei: Records, Spectacle, and Historic Ratings"
The promised "beatdown" delivered. Andrew Pritchett-Tucker not only backed up his words, he did it with a show already etched in the CIF Southern Section record books.
-First QB ever to score 7 touchdowns against Bosco.
-6 straight games with 4+ TDs and 300+ yards.
-5 TDs per game average in an elite program, without an inflated short-pass system, but with medium and deep throws.
-30 total TDs in 6 games, just five shy of the historic season by his predecessor, Matt Barkley.
What seemed like a risky gamble for ESPNU turned into a television phenomenon: a 1.3 million rating, a new record for a high school game.
The Trinity League finale will be even bigger: Servite vs. Mater Dei, both undefeated and already playoff-bound. In ESPN's hallways, the idea of another national broadcast is already circulating.
...
🖥️ ESPN – High School Sports
Pritchett-Tucker Makes History: 7 TDs, Record Ratings, and Numbers Putting Him Alongside Barkley and Leinart
LONG BEACH, Calif. — What unfolded Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium was no ordinary league game. Mater Dei defeated St. John Bosco 54–31, and its 16-year-old quarterback, Andrew Pritchett-Tucker, delivered one of the most dominant performances ever seen at the high school level:
📊Final Stats
7 total touchdowns (6 passing, 1 rushing)
415 passing yards, 55 rushing yards (470 total)
0 interceptions
Season average through 6 games: 30 TDs, 5 per game, 300+ yards in every contest
With this output, Andrew became the first QB in history to score 7 touchdowns against Bosco.
[Historic Comparisons]
-Matt Barkley (Mater Dei, 2007): 35 TDs in a full season, Gatorade National Player of the Year. Andrew already has 30 in just 6 games, only 5 shy of matching that mark with half a season still to play.
-Max Wittek (Mater Dei, 2009): 24 TDs in 9 games as a sophomore. Those numbers positioned him as a four-star recruit and earned him a verbal offer from USC. Andrew, only with just six official games, has already doubled his average.
-Jimmy Clausen (Oaks Christian, 2006): Nicknamed "The Kid with the Golden Arm," he also competed in the CIF Southern Section, the same elite level where Mater Dei plays. In his senior year, he posted 49 touchdowns in 14 games, a Southern Section record for QBs in a single season (3.5 per game). But Andrew, with 7 games and a 5-TD average, is on pace to obliterate it.
[Beyond the Numbers]
The official ratings released Saturday confirmed that Mater Dei vs. Bosco drew 1.3 million viewers on ESPNU. That makes it the most-watched high school football game in televised history, surpassing classics like St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Byrnes (2008) and Nease vs. Hoover (2005).
But what truly broke barriers was a gesture outside the stat sheet: after his rushing TD, Andrew looked into the camera and traced a "J" in sign language. In his interview, he explained it was a shout-out to John, a mute child subscriber on his YouTube channel. In seconds, high school football became a platform for inclusion.
[What's Next]
Next Friday, Mater Dei will face Servite (also 4–0). The game will decide the Trinity League champion and, according to internal ESPN sources, could once again be nationally televised, an unprecedented scenario: two consecutive weeks with the same high school team in prime time.
With just six games as his résumé, Andrew Pritchett-Tucker is no longer simply "the junior who displaced a USC-bound senior." Today, his stats put him on par with the great quarterbacks who came through Mater Dei and other elite programs across the country. And if he keeps this pace, he'll surpass them all.
-------------------------------------------------
You can read 15 chapters in advance on my patreon.
Link: https://[email protected]/Nathe07