Centennial's J.J. Taylor runs with purpose and passion in landmark win

Video: CIF Southern Section record 86 points in first half

ANAHEIM, Calif. — J.J. Taylor said he's bashful around strangers and he never looks into the stands.

"I get a little frightened and a little shy," the Centennial (Corona, Calif.) senior running back said after his team's resounding 62-52 win over St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) in the Southern Section Pac-5 Division championship at Angel Stadium. "But looking into the stands tonight was pretty great. That was special."

Funny, because the 13,499 in attendance were looking at Taylor saying the same thing.

The super swift and elusive 5-foot-6, 170-pound senior rushed 41 times for 269 yards and five touchdowns, leading the Huskies (14-0) to a decisive 62-52 victory.

Though the final margin was 10 points, Bosco never closed inside double digits after Taylor's 21-yard TD sprint with 2:51 left in the first quarter.

The Arizona-bound back added scoring runs of 8, 2, 65, and 8 yards, and added an 83-yard kickoff return to set up another score that helped the second-ranked Huskies knock off No. 1 Bosco.

It was an extremely satisfying game that he didn't get to play last season, when Centennial defeated Bosco 48-41, due to an emergency appendectomy.

"I think that was definitely part of his motivation tonight," Centennial coach Matt Logan said. "He ran possessed."

Like his first TD run. He was met behind the line of scrimmage, made a complete spin move, drawing air from the would-be tackler, and sprinted 21 yards virtually untouched for the score.

He said he was inspired by his defense, which intercepted three Bosco passes, two early against Quentin Davis, who had thrown just two interceptions all year coming in. Centennial eventually knocked out Davis from the game late in the first quarter with a shoulder injury.

"The defense set the tone with the early interceptions and that got the offense hyped," he said.

Taylor said he wasn't trying to outduel Bosco's highly touted Sean McGrew, who also showed well with 24 carries for 196 yards and three scores.

The two have been going head-to-head – literally – for the last four years.

"He was a great athlete then and a great athlete now," Taylor said of McGrew. "I wasn't trying to out-rush him. I was just trying to get us to outscore them, and we did. I have to admit, I wasn't comfortable until the final two minutes."

That's because Bosco came into the game having forced a running clock — the mercy rule — in all but one of its wins coming into Saturday's game.

"Bosco is a great team," he said. "I think they're really the best team ever to be honest. We just came and showed them what we could do. Whey you play as a team and pick each other up, anything is possible."

It was fantastic to win only the sixth ever showdown between the nation's top two ranked teams. But now Taylor and the Huskies will likely get No. 9 De La Salle (Concord), which defeated Centennial 63-42 in last year's CIF Open Division game.

Taylor, coming off his appendectomy, played well in last year's title game with 14 carries for 133 yards but no touchdowns. It was the third De La Salle win over Centennial in four state finals.

"I was still pretty sore," he said. "I was popping pain medicine."

Can the Huskies now muster enough energy to deal with De La Salle after muscling through four Pac-5 opponents, including the No. 1 team in the country?

"Absolutely," Taylor said. "We just have to watch a little film on De La Salle, practice hard as we can and hopefully come out with another win."

De La Salle, which received a first-round bye in the North Coast Section playoffs, didn't have nearly the competition that Centennial faced. The Spartans outscored their three opponents 149-14.

"It's an interesting format isn't it," Logan said. "But it could be worse. I could be putting up the Christmas tree and going Christmas shopping next week instead of preparing a team for a football game. I'm definitely not complaining."