UPPER DARBY, PA — Liam Taylor did not know he achieved the coveted goal he was aiming for. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Haverford High School senior tailback did what he normally does, return to the huddle and come back for the next play.
With 5:10 left in the third quarter of the Fords’ traditional Thanksgiving Day game against Upper Darby, Taylor’s modest six-yard run up the middle broke a gaudy Delaware County career rushing record that had stood for 25 years.
Two plays later, the game was stopped for a minute as the public address announcer acknowledged Taylor’s achievement: He became Delaware County’s all-time leading career rusher, eventually finishing with 130 yards rushing on 33 carries in Haverford’s 10-7 Central League victory over a stubborn Upper Darby team on Thursday that was not willing to bend.
Taylor concluded an amazing career amassing 5,842 yards rushing, eclipsing the career rushing record of 5,790 yards formerly held by former Cardinal O’Hara star Kevin Jones, the 2004 NFL first-round draft choice who is now a professor at his alma mater, Virginia Tech.
Entering the game, Taylor needed 79 yards to establish the new record. Over his career, he went from rushing for 12 yards as a freshman, to 744 yards as a sophomore starting quarterback for a 1-9 team, to reaching incredible heights his junior and senior years, in which he rushed for a Delaware County single-season record 3,006 yards as a junior, to hitting the 2,000-yard mark his senior years, ending with 2,080.
The goal was to win the game, but it seemed secondary to Taylor’s record-breaking achievement, which got help behind senior left tackle Rocco Kelleher, junior left guard Joe McGinley, senior center Emmet Gillespie, senior right guard Brendan Walker, senior right tackle Oliver Clune and rotating senior tackle and guard Liam McCloskey.
Taylor only came off the field one time on Thursday, when he got his helmet knocked off five plays after the record-breaking run that put him over the top.
“Liam’s a great kid, I love him to death, I’ve known him a long time and we’ve gone through a lot together,” Fords’ coach Luke Dougherty said. “He was our quarterback during the 1-9 season (two years ago). I met with the quarterbacks every week. There was a lot of, ‘Trust me, it’s going to get better’ during that 1-9 year. We lost here on this field two years ago and it was hard.
“When we sat down, I remember when I told Liam that I wanted to switch him to running back. He said, ‘Okay coach.’ Never a doubt, trusted the process the whole way, and it played off. You could insert Liam into a 1980’s football game and he wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, because he plays like the old-school guys, physical, downhill, awesome kid.”
The record was mentioned this past week during the Fords’ practice.
For Taylor, it was not easy. Every time Taylor touched the ball, there were instantly five and six Upper Darby defenders on him. Royals’ coach Darrell Dulany installed a game plan to keep Taylor contained. For the most part it works. He was “held” to 130 yards rushing on 33 carries, averaging 3.9 yards a carry. But the silent 20-minute bus ride over to Upper Darby spoke volumes. Taylor was on a mission to break the all-time Delco record, and his teammates were right there behind him.
“It was a record for the whole team this year, it wasn’t just my record,” Taylor said. “I was fine (taking off a Haverford helmet) the last time. On a good note like that, I was happy to do it. Upper Darby is a physical team, big, strong team.”
Afterward, Taylor was given two game balls, one was the actual game for the school trophy case, and the other he was allowed to take home with him, including the game’s offensive MVP award.
“The one will go the school, and the other I’ll put in my room, and the plaque will go up in my room,” Taylor said. “Honestly, I’ll take the camaraderie with me. I love playing with my friends, my teammates. These are memories you make and you never forget for the rest of your life. I’m glad to do it with the guys I did it with.”
Upper Darby (3-8) opened the scoring on a Safiy Salley five-yard touchdown run with 1:06 left in the first quarter, which was answered by Haverford quarterback Adam Kilpatrick’s four-yard scoring run with 3:41 left in the first half. The winning difference came on a 35-yard field goal from Haverford’s Bobby Menear on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Haverford ended its season 8-4 and were a combined 19-6 over the last two years. The 19 victories ties the best two-year stretch the program has ever had, which includes the Fors’ first home District 1 Class 6A playoff victory last year when the Fords beat Quakertown.
“We play so many guys both ways and Liam never leaves the field, and Upper Darby had such a great game plan, and they were relentless, but I am proud of our kids gutting it out in the end,” Dougherty said. “This goes up there with one of the best senior classes that we have had in school history statistically.”
Scoring Summary
Upper Darby (3-8) 7-0-0-0-7
Haverford (8-4) 0-7-0-3-10
UD – Safiy Salley 5 run (Cameron Thomas kick), 1:06
2nd Quarter
Hav. – Adam Kilpatrick 4 run (Bobby Menear kick), 3:41
4th Quarter
Hav. – Menear 35 FG, 11:53
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
One Response
great coverage! I have written a 6 volume set (1620 pages) about the history of Haverford athletics! (Volum 1 is about football~)