Mills now has to share TD pass record with Heuer
Freeport's Randy Mills Credit: Lee S. Weissman
Randy Mills' now has to share the title as king of touchdown passes for Nassau County, but the former Freeport quarterback showed he hasn't lost his timing.
"I've always known that records are made to be broken," Mills said Saturday as he watched his Red Devils defeat Oceanside, 41-38, in overtime. Then he paused, like a comic about to deliver the punch line. "I just thought it might last for 20 years, not seven!"
Mills threw 30 touchdown passes in 2003. Saturday, Oceanside's Tyler Heuer tied Mills with his third TD pass of the game, a 42-yard strike to Gene Garay with 10:01 left in the third quarter.
"Tyler did it in eight games. It took me 11. He deserves it. He's an amazing player," Mills said. "I came out today because I was curious. I wanted to catch a glimpse of him. It's pretty cool. I was a part of history."
When Heuer caught Mills, the Red Devils were trailing, 27-7. But when his old school mounted a comeback, Mills didn't hide his allegiance - even though he currently is an assistant football coach and head lacrosse coach at Lawrence.
"This is perfect," he said, between shouts of encouragement to the 2010 Red Devils. "I'd rather have Freeport win then keep the record."
For one more week, at least, Freeport's current team prevented Heuer from erasing Mills' name in the record books.
Another pause for comic effect, then Mills delivered this exit line: "Once he breaks it, I'm forgotten. I'm gone!"
