McLean coaches scrapped their offensive game plan after falling behind early in their Oct. 2 contest against Herndon, relying almost exclusively on the right arm of senior quarterback Brian Maffei to bring the Highlanders back.

Maffei completed short passes. He connected with receivers down the field. He threw four touchdown passes, including three to receiver Patrick Dolan.

At the end of the night, the McLean football team fell short against Herndon, 51-35 at McLean High School. Maffei’s performance, however, was worthy of place in the VHSL record book.

Maffei completed 42 of 71 passes for 415 yards, with four touchdowns and two interceptions. His 42 completions would set a single-game state record, according to the Virginia High School League Book of Records. The previous-best total of 39 was shared by West Potomac’s Cole Walter (2008) and Falls Church’s Adam Daly (2013).

Maffei said he realized he set a state record the following morning, when a teammate’s mother posted the news on social media.

“I’m not going to lie, it felt pretty good knowing I set a new state record,” Maffei said, “but I was still pretty upset because of the loss.”

Maffei, a first-year starter for the Highlanders, missed the previous three games with an ankle injury he suffered during McLean’s season-opening victory over Washington-Lee on Sept. 5. The Highlanders went 2-1 in his absence, including wins over Marshall and South Lakes, with receiver CJ Downey filling in at quarterback.

Maffei’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Downey cut the Herndon lead to 44-35 with 3:27 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Highlanders would get no closer.

“It was a very big help getting our quarterback back in,” Blair said. “The Downey kid, he played very well coming off the bench not having any game experience at the quarterback spot. … [Maffei has] a very good command of the offense. … It’s been four weeks since he’s seen action and he’s knocking some rust off too [and] … he [led the offense to] 35 points.”

Maffei’s first touchdown pass was a 3-yard toss to Dolan with 2:46 remaining in the second quarter, cutting the Herndon lead to 17-9.

Maffei’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Dolan with 25 seconds left in the first half made the score 24-15.

Maffei’s third touchdown pass to Dolan, this one a 15-yarder, came with 10:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, cutting the McLean deficit to 38-29. McLean’s final points of the evening came courtesy of a 27-yard touchdown pass from Maffei to Downey with 3:27 left.

“We obviously had a lot of success offensively,” Maffei said. “We missed a couple opportunities and we wished we had a couple plays back. … I missed some of my throws. I could have easily had six or seven more [completions]. … There is always room for improvement.”

With the loss, McLean dropped to 3-2. The Highlanders will travel to face Stone Bridge at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10.