As a freshman, St. ÑÇÖÞÎÞÂë University High's Jordan Taylor ran for 360 yards and six touchdowns, caught four passes for 39 yards and was third on the squad with 59 tackles to go along with two fumble recoveries, an interception and a sack.
Last year, he picked up right where he left off in the season opener at St. Mary's, rushing 10 times for 59 yards and a touchdown. He returned one kickoff for 10 yards. All that before suffering a torn ACL in the second quarter that ended his sophomore season.
It's been a long and tough road back, but make no mistake, Taylor is back and the Junior Billikens couldn't be happier about it. Friday, in a well-rounded 31-3 win over visiting St. Mary's, Taylor ran all over the Dragons. He had just one touchdown, a strong, tackle-breaking 8-yard run midway through the third quarter, but his powerful running was key throughout the night for Junior Billikens, who improved to 5-3 with their third consecutive victory.
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Taylor rushed 28 times for 281 yards in the win.
"It's been a struggle at times, a little bit nerve-racking, but I'm finally feeling like myself again,'' said Taylor, who ran for 184 yards and scored on runs of 31 and 8 yards in an Oct. 4 win over Vianney and followed up with a 138 yards and touchdown runs of 3 and 41 yards in an Oct. 11 win at Chaminade. "It was a little overwhelming at first, trying to live up to expectations, but all the hard work is starting to pay off now. I finally feel like I'm back and if I can continue to put in the work, the sky's the limit on what I can accomplish."
SLUH coach Adam Cruz couldn't be prouder of Taylor.
"He's a fantastic kid, a guy who's worked his butt off to get back,'' the coach said. "It's been a struggle at times, but Jordan never stopped pushing himself. And tonight, facing St. Mary's again, it was a special one for him."
And for the Junior Billikens as a team.
The Junior Bills opened the game with a 14-play, 70-yard drive capped by a 31-yard field goal from senior Christian Ziegler.
On first down, St. Mary's quarterback J'Mareon Barnes broke free for a 66-yard run. But SLUH senior Matthew Moore tracked him down and forced a fumble that the Junior Billikens' Jaxon Bennett recovered.
"Matthew ran him down — he never quits on a play — and that's what got us going early," Cruz said.
Just two plays into St. Mary's next possession, SLUH sophomore Ben Yust came up with an interception, his third in as many games. Four plays later, on a fourth-and-3, Junior Billikens quarterback Kyren Eleby made a pinpoint pass to beat three defenders and find Zach Allen for a 36-yard touchdown. The kick from Ziegler made it 10-0 with just 1:24 to play in the first quarter.
SLUH's quick-strike ability — and a pass interference call on St. Mary's — allowed the Junior Bills to add to their lead just before halftime. With just 2.3 seconds left, junior Keenan Harris won a battle for the ball on a 34-yard jump ball pass from Eleby. Ziegler's kick gave SLUH a 17-0 halftime lead.
"At key times, you just have to make the play. That's what football's all about,'' said Harris, a junior who also had six solo tackles and three assists in the win. "We know we're a better team than we've shown at times this season, but we've won our last three and feel like we're starting to come together."
Cruz agreed: "We knew we had an outstanding football team and just haven't been able to completely put things together. Tonight, we finally put it together in all three phases.''
St. Mary's (4-4) opened the second half with its best drive of the night, thanks to a 78-yard pass play from Barnes to Malahn Green, who made a number of cutback moves to elude SLUH defenders. The drive reached the SLUH 9, but a sack by the Junior Billikens' Sebastian Tate slowed the drive.
The Dragons had to settle for a 37-yard field goal from Mike Hollis that cut the lead to 17-3.
SLUH responded quickly, stretching its lead to 24-3 on Taylor's TD run and Ziegler's kick with 6:20 to play in the third quarter.
Eleby closed out the scoring with a 1-yard TD run and a Ziegler kick with 6:15 to play. The six-play scoring drive, which followed an outstanding punt return by Moore, featured four strong runs from Taylor.
Cruz also touted the play of senior defenders Caleb Treadwell (3 tackles, 2 sacks), Michael Hohl (3 tackles, 1 sack) and Kendall McNutt (9 tackles, 2 assists, 2 sacks) and his coaching staff.