What’s in a number?

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Was bored as can be this afternoon, so instead of doing something constructive for a change, like going to the gym, I decided to stick with my normal routine, which is sitting in front of my laptop and scouring the internet in search of uncovering the next hidden gem of a statistic. And low and behold, I found one, thanks in part to Zach Kaplan.

I had to blink a couple of times to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me at first. And they weren’t. Kaplan, a senior from North Hollywood Campbell Hall (3-5), actually ranks among the state’s top 10 quarterbacks in passing yardage, according to Maxpreps.com. It is, of course, Halloween, so I instantly thought this was a trick, not a treat.

I mean think about it, Kaplan has more yards in the air than highly-touted prospects such as Dayne Crist, Nick Crissman and Matt Scott. He’s just 365 short of surpassing Matt Barkley heading into Friday’s Alpha League game against Downey Calvary Chapel (4-3). How does something like this happen?

It’s a fluke, of sorts. Come on, I’m a realist, I know Kaplan doesn’t play against the same type of competition as those in the aforementioned group do week in and week out. He doesn’t garner the same type of attention from NCAA Division I recruiters either. That, however, doesn’t make his totals any less interesting. The numbers don’t lie.

-- Sean Ceglinsky