ATHENS — Coaches with the Ohio football program learned quickly what many around Sheridan High School have known for years.
Shay Taylor gets it.
Taylor was the second half of the Muskingum Valley League’s tandem in the front seven last fall with the Bobcats, who rode the nation’s fourth-ranked defense to another 10-win season in 2023.
Taylor, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound middle linebacker, and John Glenn senior Shane Bonner, a grad senior who played a hybrid position, were part of a deep and talented linebacker rotation for assistant coach Nate Faanes. It featured two first-team All-Mid American Conference selections in seniors Bryce Houston and Keye Thompson.
Taylor made the most of his opportunities in a backup role and on special teams as a redshirt sophomore, eventually starting in the Myrtle Beach Bowl after opt-outs forced him into extended action. This, after he suffered a hamstring injury against Central Michigan.
His play in the bowl game showed why Faanes, who has coached seven All-MAC players since 2016, and others around the program see a promising future.
‘Wouldn’t trade it for anything’: Shane Bonner thrived for OU football; now he wants more
Seizing the moment in Myrtle Beach Bowl
Taylor finished with six tackles for a defense that yielded only 33 yards rushing and forced five turnovers, the most ever for an OU defense in a bowl game.
Taylor’s fumble recovery late in the second quarter set up a Rickey Hunt touchdown. Prior to that, he recorded a sack in the first quarter on an inside blitz. Another blitz netted him a fumble recovery with 1:07 left before halftime.
It didn’t surprise Bonner in the least.
“That guy has big things in front him,” Bonner said recently. “He had some really good players in front him, so he had to wait his turn.”
It was a factor in which Taylor found positives. He estimated that 80 percent…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/sheridan-grad-shay-taylor-eyeing-090212697.html
Author : Times Recorder
Publish date : 2024-03-27 09:02:12
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