ALICE, TX — The playoff hunt ended early for the Alice Coyotes, falling to Port Lavaca Calhoun in pouring rain, but it was the performance, led by their senior quarterback, that kept Alice in the game.
Texas high school football players dream of winning for their school, and on the rare occasion an athlete will break records along the way surpassing some of the best to ever play.
"You know seeing these big names on that list you just want to go as high as you can," Cutter Stewart, Alice senior quarterback, said. "When you pass those big names it kind of puts you in perspective like man that happened."
Alice senior Cutter Stewart is now among legendary quarterbacks, like NFL's Colt McCoy and Kyler Murray. Between his time in Alice and Orange Grove, Stewart passed for 11,003 yards and 117 touchdowns while completing 830 of 1,420 pass attempts. That makes Stewart 17th all-time in passing yards, 15th all-time in touchdowns, 7th all-time in completions and 5th all-time in attempts.
"Quick release, quick throw, so a lot of the short stuff trying to be really accurate," Stewart said. "You know it's kind of my game."
But it's also his leadership and calmness under pressure that helped lead Alice to playoffs.
"He's a second coach on the field you know," Kyle Atwood, Alice football head coach, said. "There's times that he came off the field and I questioned some things that he did. He told me what the reason behind it, and then I go watch film and I'm like he's 100 percent right."
The 6-foot quarterback managed to accomplish huge milestones all while playing through pain for the second season in his career.
"I did it my sophomore year during the middle of the season I tore my ACL," Stewart said. "I played the rest of the year on it. I had a good run in the playoffs, and this year unfortunately at the very beginning in a scrimmage I tore it early in the game. What we had on the line this year I knew we had a really good team. I just couldn't, it would eat myself up if I didn't play."
Stewart's competitive drive, staying undefeated at Alice Memorial Stadium, are just some of the memories that he will carry on to the next level.
"I like to see myself one day as people look like oh well you passed Cutter Stewart's record, and I hope one day they're like you know that's a goal I want to achieve," Stewart said.
Stewart will graduate early and sign to play college football on Dec. 21, so he can get a jump start this spring. Stewart is currently undecided on where he will ink his commitment.
Check out the Texas high school football record book from Dave Campbell's Texas Football here.
