Alief Taylor Roars in Week Zero

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Vype Houston: Taylor Gets Win

By Ahmard Vital

FOX Sports NEXT

Anytime a team can come away with an opening-season win that is a great thing.

And that is the feeling from Alief Taylor coach JD Jordan after his team came away with 30-9 victory over Bellaire on the first Friday in Texas Class 5A football.

“It’s always good to win the opener. It’s a good relief and the kids feel positive,” Jordan said.

There’s an old adage that states it’s not how you start, but how you finish and Jordan and the Taylor team faced that very fact last night. Starting off, Bellaire appeared to have a ton of momentum starting with the opening kickoff. Receiver Devin Lauderdale (Texas Tech commit) took the opening kickoff 65 yards and set the Cardinals up with great field position.

Though Bellaire failed to convert any points, a few plays later, Taylor turned the ball over to Bellaire. Then, the Cardinals put together a 1-play drive in which running back Denzell Evans (Houston) ran 28 yards for the score and take the opening lead.

What happened after that is what had Jordan pleased.

“We started off on a bad note. But our kids did not panic,” Jordan said. “They responded and kept things under control.”

No doubt about that. Taylor came out the gate firing on both side of the ball. It could be said that the defense highly dictated the tone as Torrodney Prevot (USC) and Okoronwu Ogbonnia (Oklahoma State) kept the pressure on. Offensively, the big man of the night was Trevorris Johnson (TCU), who rushed for 163 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns.

“We (coaches) knew he (Johnson) could do it. When he is healthy, he can run though, around and past people. The offensive line was great in opening holes.”

With the first test out of the way, Taylor will need to hit the reset button as the Lions travel west to take on Katy next week.