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Woodrow Wilson’s Nick Kargman finishes career with bevy of passing records

The senior quarterback ranks No. 1 all time in South Jersey in single-season passing yards, single-game passing yards and single-game touchdown passes, among other marks.

Woodrow Wilson's Nick Kargman set the South Jersey record for passing yards in a season with 3,963.
Woodrow Wilson's Nick Kargman set the South Jersey record for passing yards in a season with 3,963.Read moreJose Moreno/Staff photographer

Nick Kargman entered the final game of his career needing 23 yards to set the state record for passing yards in a season.

He needed one play to set the mark.

Kargman, a senior quarterback at Woodrow Wilson, completed a 35-yard pass to senior Naiem Simmons on the Tigers' first offensive play of the Group 3 South/Central Bowl Game against Rumson-Fair Haven Saturday at MetLife Stadium.

That play pushed Kargman past Timber Creek graduate Devin Leary for the top spot on the state's all-time list for passing yards in a season.

Leary, now at North Carolina State, threw for 3,688 yards in 12 games in 2016.

Kargman finished this season with 3,963 yards in 13 games.

"It means a lot," Kargman said after Woodrow Wilson's 26-18 loss to Rumson Fair Haven.

Kargman three threw touchdown passes in his final game to jack his season total to 41. That's third on South Jersey's all-time list behind Leary's 48 in 2016 and Pennsauken's Manny Cortez's 43 in 2011, according to state sports historian Chuck Langerman.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Kargman set several passing records this season, including state marks for most touchdowns in a game (eight, vs. Camden Catholic) and most yards in a game (539 vs. Cedar Creek).

Kargman, who played his first two seasons at Pitman before transferring to Woodrow Wilson, finished his career with 8,136 yards. He's just the third quarterback in state history to throw for 8,000 yards, after Leary and Butler graduate Scott Brown.

"He had one of the greatest passing seasons in state history," Woodrow Wilson coach Preston Brown said.

Kargman has scholarship offers from Rutgers and Jacksonville State. He said after Saturday's game that he's not likely to sign his national letter of intent during the early signing period, which begins Dec. 19.

"I'm really proud," Kargman said. "I put in so much work, starting with my freshman year at Pitman. I just wanted to have a good career and have a good final year and I feel like I did that."