The Star is counting down the top high school football players in Southern Arizona. Up today: Sierra Vista Buena wide receiver Keyon Taylor.
Name: Keyon Taylor
Rundown: Taylor is a 5-foot-10-inch, 170-pound senior at Buena.
Who he is: Taylorβs first career touchdown on varsity still gives him chills.
It was the opening game of the 2019 season, Taylorβs sophomore year. Taylor lined up on the outside against the Catalina Foothills defense on the Coltsβ own 5-yard line.
The nervous Taylor stepped back like he was going to take a screen pass, hesitated, and then went deep. The corner bit on the fake and Taylor burst by him into the open field ready for the ball.
βI remember looking back and seeing that ball in the air,β Taylor recalled. βI was just thinking in my head, βOh man, I canβt drop this.ββ
Taylor ran untouched into the end zone for a 95-yard touchdown.
βI just love that play and that moment,β Taylor said.
Over the last two seasons, the Colts wide receiver has become one of the more well-liked players on the team, all while causing nightmares for the opposing defense. Taylor racked up a team-high 700 yards receiving and eight touchdowns his first year on varsity.
In last yearβs shortened season, Taylor still amassed 300 yards and two touchdowns in four games.
βWhatβs impressed me most about him is how heβs become a better team player,β Buena coach Joe Thomas said. βHeβs become a good team captain. Heβs helping younger guys.β
Thomas, now in his seventh season coaching, remembers a time when it didnβt used to be that way.
βWhen he first got here, he was a little selfish,β Thomas said.
Things came to a head during a 7-on-7 tournament in the spring of Taylorβs sophomore year. Thomas called out Taylor for running a βlazy routeβ; Taylor disagreed.
βHe talked back to me, so I sat him for the rest of the tournament,β Thomas said.
Taylor realized he had to change his mentality if he was going to succeed long term.
βHe came up to me after the tournament and said βCoach, Iβll never do that again,ββ Thomas recalled. βAnd he hasnβt done it again to this day.β
Keyon Taylor has become a team leader during his time at Buena.
Taylor said that moment βchanged himβ and that heβs been committed to working on being a better teammate.
βI feel like Iβve grown a lot,β Taylor said. βThereβs no point in being selfish in a team game. β¦ Iβm more focused on winning than myself.β
Proof heβs good: Even as a sophomore, Taylor stood out amongst his peers. In his first full season on varsity, Taylor put up more receiving yards and touchdowns than anyone on the offense, which included three senior wideouts.
βHeβs a playmaker. You know every team that we play is going to have to do some type of prep for when he has the ball in his hands,β Thomas said.
Taylor is now focused on becoming a better route runner.
βYou canβt just run like textbook routes that everyone knows: slants, posts and things like that,β Taylor said. βIβm trying to have a lot more weapons in my arsenal to be able to run.β
Thomas has talked to his teammates about his goals for the year, laying out a vision of how the team can make the playoffs. Having a winning season is about making the most of each week, Thomas explained, not getting too high or too low. The rest of the Colts have bought in.
βWe didnβt have a chance my junior year, so thatβs what I really want this year,β Taylor said. βI know that team feels that way, too.β
He said it: βI always think Iβm the fastest on the field. I like to try to show that teams have to prepare for my speed when it comes to the games.β β Taylor
