McKinley Tech sophomore Jayden West is usually the smallest player on the football field. He’s 5 feet 5 and maybe 140 pounds. There was a time when Coach Bernard Mason worried about West’s safety going against older, bigger, stronger players.
That all changed, though, one day at practice.
“Of course I did,” Mason said. “But then one of our seniors threw a pass and Jayden jumped and grabbed it out of the air with one hand. His feet were so high off the ground. This kid is special! I told our defensive coordinator, ‘I think we’ve got [a star] right here.”
West played mostly on defense last season, but this season he is making an impact all over the field, though the Trainers are careful to limit his use on offense. This past week, West carried 10 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns and on defense made nine tackles and intercepted two passes as the Trainers beat Phelps, 31-18, in a key DC Interscholastic Athletic Association game.
With the victory, McKinley Tech improved to 5-4 overall and 4-0 in the DCIAA Stripes Division, in position to clinch first place in the division with a victory over winless Cardozo this Thursday.
For his efforts, West was named the Military Bowl Touchdown Club High School Football Player of the Week.
“He’s one of the smallest guys, but he’s the most athletic guy we’ve got on the team,” Mason said. “He can physically jump out of the gym. He’s just different. I wasn’t sure he was going to be all that, but he’s definitely different.”
McKinley trailed Phelps at halftime, 12-11. As the coaches gathered before meeting with the team, Mason said they made a point of trying to get West involved more on offense, moving him from receiver to the backfield.
“We kind of limit him on the offensive side of the ball, but when we’re in a tight situation that’s when we put Jayden in to get the majority of the carries,” Mason said. “We got a turnover and gave Jayden the ball and he scored his first touchdown on a 25-yard run. Then he broke a couple other big runs. He was just on fire. And defensively, he had the two interceptions but he dropped two – he could have had four. Him being small, people try to test him until they see what kind of athlete he is. He changed the game for us.”
This week’s DC Touchdown Club Honor Roll:
ANNE ARUNDEL
Meade RB/LB Jayden Rumley rushed 17 times for 132 yards and three touchdowns and on defense made 12 tackles with two tackles for loss and recovered a fumble as the Mustangs beat Arundel, 34-20.
FREDERICK
Linganore RB Kai Sawi rushed 14 times for 123 yards and one touchdown as the Lancers beat Urbana, 42-10.
HOWARD
Wilde Lake WR/DB Kyle Young-Alston caught six passes for 72 yards and one touchdown, rushed four times for 30 yards and and on defense made six tackles and intercepted two passes, returning one 48 yards for a touchdown, as the Wildecats beat Reservoir, 17-10.
LOUDOUN
Lightridge QB Shay O’Hara completed 7 of 8 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns and a two-point conversion and rushed for two more scores all in the first quarter as the Lightning beat Riverside, 48-7.
MONTGOMERY
Churchill QB Hunter Humphries completed 19 of 22 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score as the Bulldogs beat Paint Branch, 28-13.
NORTHERN REGION
Yorktown WR Alex Randisi caught nine passes for 124 yards and one touchdown as the Patriots beat Washington-Liberty, 31-28.
PRINCE GEORGE’S
Gwynn Park QB William Butler completed 20 of 30 passes for 408 yards and four touchdowns and rushed six times for 68 yards as the Yellow Jackets beat Douglass, 34-9.
PRINCE WILLIAM
Gainesville LB John O’Shea made 10 tackles and intercepted two passes as the Cardinals beat Independence, 14-3.
PRIVATE
St. Mary’s-Annapolis WR Dylin Jackson caught eight passes for 148 yards and four touchdowns as the Saints lost to Spalding, 34-27.
SOUTHERN MARYLAND
Thomas Stone RB/OLB Chijioke Onyekuru rushed 22 times for 167 yards and one touchdown and on defense made eight tackles as the Cougars beat McDonough, 28-24.
STAFFORD
Brooke Point RB Jaylen Cox rushed 11 times for 211 yards and two touchdowns as the Black-Hawks beat Mountain View, 46-0.
WCAC
DeMatha Catholic QB Tristan Sabb completed 7 of 9 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns and rushed eight times for 88 yards and another score as the Stags beat Gonzaga, 30-14.
University of Rhode Island linebacker Rohan Davy, who played at St. John’s College High School in Northwest Washington, has been named the DC Touchdown Club Washington Metro College Player of the Week after his career-best performance helped the Rams to a key victory.
Davy, a junior, made a career-high 19 tackles with 14 solo tackles and one tackle for loss and recovered a fumble as Rhode Island beat Maine, 14-13 in overtime.
“It’s not lost on me that the defense played 90 snaps today,” Rhode Island Coach Jim Fleming said. “It was a long game out there for those guys. And I’m sure they’ll be feeling it tomorrow.”
Davy was a second-team All-CAA honoree last season when he was Rhode Island’s second-leading tackler (111). He was named to the preseason watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to the top defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision.
This week’s DC Touchdown Club College Player of the Week Honor Roll:
- Dickinson QB Ty Bussard (Severn) completed 25 of 50 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns as the Red Devils overcame a 16-point deficit in the final six minutes of regulation to beat Carnegie Mellon, 54-51 in overtime.
- North Carolina QB Billy Edwards Jr. (Lake Braddock) completed 28 of 34 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns as the Tar Heels lost to No. 1 Miami, 38-35.
- Stonehill RB Aidan Garrett (C.H. Flowers) rushed 20 times for a career-high 113 yards and two touchdowns as the Skyhawks beat Mercyhurst, 34-28.
- UCLA DL Aiden Gobaira (Chantilly) made a season-high seven tackles with 1 ½ sacks as the Bruins beat Nevada, 27-0, their first shutout in 11 years.
- Indiana (Pa.) LB Antonio Greene (DeMatha Catholic) made eight tackles with two tackles for loss, forced two fumbles and returned a fumble 44 yards as the Crimson Hawks beat Gannon, 17-14.
- Central Connecticut QB Brett Griffis (Broad Run) completed 10 of 13 passes for 120 yards and one touchdown and rushed 10 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns as the Blue Devils beat Robert Morris, 49-14.
- Shepherd WR Carrington Nickens-Yzer (Centreville) caught seven passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 80-yard score with 11 seconds left as the Rams beat Shippensburg, 35-32.
- Holy Cross RB Joseph Williams (Good Counsel) rushed 19 times for a career-high 206 yards and three touchdowns as the Crusaders beat Richmond, 33-14. It was his fourth consecutive game with at least 100 yards rushing.
ABOUT THE MILITARY BOWL FOUNDATION
The Military Bowl Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates premier events in the National Capital Region to benefit our nation’s service members. Originally formed to create the region’s first-ever college football postseason bowl game, the Foundation now not only runs the Freedom Mortgage Military Bowl but additionally operates the DC Touchdown Club and Patriot Point, a retreat for recovering service members, their families and caregivers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The Foundation hosts engaging events throughout the year to raise money and awareness for military service members, directly impacting those who give so much of themselves for the country.
ABOUT THE DC TOUCHDOWN CLUB
The DC Touchdown Club honors the best in Washington Metro football, with year-round events highlighted by an annual awards dinner. Operated by the Military Bowl Foundation, the Touchdown Club promotes the game of football, hosts entertaining social events and generates a significant philanthropic impact for Patriot Point. To learn more about the Touchdown Club, visit dctouchdownclub.com, or follow the Touchdown Club on Twitter and Instagram @DCTouchdown Club and like the Touchdown Club on Facebook.