By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
In the first quarter the Loyola Flyers played during last week’s Glenbrook Jamboree, running back J.T. Taylor was running over, around and through an opposing defense that seemed to have no answer to stopping him.
The P.A. announcer at the Jamboree accidentally left the microphone on after one of Taylor’s runs and was heard to say “that kid is going to a problem for some people this year.”
Loyola coach John Sella is hoping his new running back is going to be a solution for the Flyers this year. A solution to the question of who is going to replace last year’s running back, Mason Drake.
The Loyola offense got plenty of notice last year and returns significant players, including quarterback Bryce Restovich (3,406 yards, 48 touchdown passes) and three of the top receivers in Charlie McKenzie, Brock Geter and Ty Walsworth, all of whom had more than 600 yards in yardage last year.
But replacing Drake and his 1,355 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns isn’t as smooth of a transition, since no returning Flyer running back had more than one carry in 2025.
Sella is hoping Taylor can step into that role as the Flyers prepare to open the season Friday against Captain Shreve at 7 p.m. at Lee Hedges Stadium.
Taylor spent last season as a starting cornerback and had 51 tackles. On the few occasions he touched the ball, he obviously knew what to do with it. He recovered two fumblacackces and returned both for touchdowns. He also took a lateral on an interception and brought it back 43 yards.
Taylor has exactly zero carries in his varsity career, though he did play running back in a JV game two years ago. Apparently, that was a good enough audition.
But it wasn’t as if Sella and the coaching staff held open tryouts. “We were working out one day and he came up to me and told me they were putting me at running back,” Taylor said. “I said ‘OK.’ ”
Sounds like a pretty strenuous screening process.
“I’ve seen him run in the open field when he had two touchdowns on defense last year,” Sella said. “I went back and looked that that JV game and saw him break off a run and I knew we didn’t have anybody on the roster who can do that. We just put him back there this summer to teach him how to play the position. We think he can be pretty explosive.”
Taylor will spend plenty of time on the field for his senior year as he is expected to still see action at cornerback.
At 6-foot-2 and 215 points, he is a different style of running back than Drake. “Mason was incredible last year,” Taylor said. “That’s going to be a lot to live up to but I’m doing my best to get to what he did last year.”
“I like what we have coming back offensively, especially at the skill positions,” Sella said. “Adding J.T. to that should make it pretty special.”
“I feel like I’ll be more involved (by playing running back),” Taylor said. “It’s different than last year when I didn’t get the ball thrown my way very much and I had to chase people down. The worst thing about playing running back is being hit by a 300-pound guy, but the best thing is seeing the hole, running through the gap and being gone.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com