Joe Licata had no idea he was having a record-setting night until the Williamsville South junior's feat was announced to the more than 1,500 fans at South's District Field.

If it didn't sink in then, the fans chanting his name provided further proof he had one

heck of a game.

Licata broke the Western New York record for passing yards in a single game in helping the

Billies earn a 62-32 nonleague win over Williamsville North on Thursday night.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound quarterback threw for 522 yards, breaking the 29-year-old Western New

York mark previously set by Cheektowaga's Jerry Hickson (455 yards).

Licata threw for seven touchdowns during his 26-of-37 performance, which is also the third-best single-game passing

total in state history.

"I could hear my family yelling, I have three really loud sisters and my mom is loud ...

it felt really good," said Licata, who shattered the school-record passing total of 377 yards

he set in a Week One win at Grand Island.

"In the back of my mind it feels good but I also know we have to take it one game at a

time. Our goal is to get to Ralph Wilson Stadium [for the Section VI finals]."

Licata, who passed for a school-record 377 yards in a Week One win at Grand Island, set the record on a 60-yard pass to Mark Coppola during South's first drive of the third quarter.

"He was excellent tonight. He was just awesome," South coach Kraig Kurzanski said. "He's a

just a very special player."

Junior Phil Stasiak had nine catches for 184 yards, senior Mark Coppola had two touchdowns among his four catches for 143 yards and Kevin O'Connell had two touchdowns during a seven-catch, 104-yard game. O'Connell also had a 60-yard interception return for a score.

Allen Knight ran 15 times for 106 yards and also caught a touchdown for South (3-0), which is ranked fifth in The News large school poll.

Licata's touchdowns were for 6 yards to O'Connell, 6 yards to Knight, 9 yards to Tyler Krempa, 57 yards to Coppola, 60 yards to Coppola, 32 yards to Krempa and 19 yards to O'Connell.

"Our kids caught every ball he threw," said Kurzanski. "We're just very fortunate he's on our team."

Watch below for one of Licata's big pass plays. Click here for more video.

The teams combined for 60 points in the second quarter. South outscored North, 35-25, in the second to take a 41-25 halftime lead. South won the third quarter, 21-0, and the only scoring in the fourth was a late touchdown by North.

Sophomore Zach Barrett threw for four touchdowns for the Spartans (0-3). Among North's four touchdowns in the second quarter was a 60-yard interception return by junior Dylan Constantino.

"I threw a pass late across the middle which is not a good thing to do," said Licata. "Came into halftime [and]

got ripped on a little bit. I think we responded well to it."

"He threw some picks that were uncharacteristic early," said Kurzanski, "but that's a possiblity as often as we throw the ball."

The state record for passing yards in a game is 543 by current Syracuse University

quarterback (and former Duke basketball point guard) Greg Paulus, who completed 30 of 50

passes for Syracuse's Christian Brothers Academy agains Auburn in 2003.

In second place is another 2003 performance, that of Commack's Mike Laluna had 541 yards

against Longwood during a 36-for-59 game.

The seven touchdowns is tied for second on both the Western New York and state lists

because the record is eight, held by Gary Castine of St. Joe's.

The feat came against Bishop Turner in 1969. Licata's seven touchdowns are tied with five

other quarterbacks, including two from Western New York: Jack Jones of Hamburg (against

Frontier in 1963) and Jim Harkins of Nichols (against Detroit's Cranbook in 1970).

The WNY single-game record set by Cheektowaga's Hickson came in a 24-for-34 performance against Lake Shore in 1980.

"I'm not in it to break records," said Licata. "I'm in it to win games. It was a big win against a rival. We've got Amherst next week so we have to prepare for them."