Before Friday, Sept. 20, the Taylor Yellowjackets football team hadn’t scored a point on the Wyoming Cowboys since 2015.
Eight seasons, eight matchups, zero points.
In those eight seasons, Wyoming finished atop the Cincinnati Hills League seven times and lost one conference game. This year, the Cowboys were on the same track, sitting at 5-0 and looking like the best team in the league once again.
Even though Taylor couldn’t quite beat Wyoming last week, the Yellowjackets made a statement. Taylor led the Cowboys early in the second quarter. After giving up that lead, they cut the score to within two points in the fourth quarter. They ended up losing 35-26, but considering that Wyoming looks about as dominant as ever this season, that’s a darn heartening performance.
“We’ve known we’re a good team,” senior captain linebacker Brody Lehmann said. “But I think that’s where I realized that this team is special, the best team Taylor has had in a long time.”
Taylor coach David Dransman instilled a winning culture
When David Dransman took over as the head coach at Taylor ahead of the 2021 season, the Yellowjackets hadn’t seen a winning season in the CHL since 2015. Players said he has instilled a culture throughout the program of hard work, accountability and an eagerness to play football. The players get a month off in the offseason, but 11 months a year they’re working, whether it’s on the field or in the weight room.
Dransman and his team were so eager to play football this year that their first practice was Aug. 1, the first day football teams could practice in Ohio, the moment the clock struck midnight. Pitch black at Coach Don McMillan stadium off of Cooper Avenue in Cleves, they put on the lights, blared the music and got to work.
“The kids were hyped up,” Dransman said. “They had fun with it.”
That eagerness to play is one of the main reasons the Yellowjackets are seeing more success this year, according to Dransman.
First, he’s seen a dramatic increase in commitment since he started. Every year, more players consistently show up to offseason workouts, often early in the morning. Dransman said Taylor’s defense has improved significantly this year because his players are eager to fly to the ball. The Wyoming game was the first time all year the Yellowjackets gave up more than 15 points in a game.
Another impressive part of Taylor’s resurgence this season is that it’s happening with a first-year quarterback, sophomore Charlie Kantz. Dransman said he barely even played quarterback on junior varsity last year due to injuries and being called up to varsity to play defense. Through five games entering Friday night’s 7-0 victory over Mariemont, Kantz had completed 52% of his passes for 791 yards and eight touchdowns.
The team mainly focuses its rushing offense through junior Easton Schrimpf, who rushed for 343 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and six touchdowns through Taylor’s first five games. Backups Grant Ferguson and Anquan Evans have proven capable, each rushing for about six yards per attempt on 34 combined carries. The team’s biggest offensive star is Aaron McFarland. The receiver with offers from West Virginia, Marshall and Miami (Ohio) has amassed 444 receiving yards and four touchdowns this season, catching more than half of Kantz’s passes so far.
On defense, the team relies on Lehmann and junior Mike Branch, who have combined for 71 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. Through their first five games, the Yellowjackets averaged more than 10 tackles for loss and two turnovers per game.
Taylor football wins despite a trying week coping with the Cleves styrene leak
This week, before the team’s game against Mariemont, many of Taylor’s players were affected by a chemical leak in Cleves. On Tuesday, a railcar at a train yard started leaking styrene, a toxic and flammable chemical. Many were forced to evacuate their homes, and school was closed on Wednesday. Wednesday evening, Taylor football had practice at Elder’s home stadium, The Pit, because it couldn’t use its home field due to the leak.
Dransman said his kids have been trained to deal with adversity. Their school doesn’t have a weight room, so they have to lift about a mile away. They often have practices early in the morning or late at night. Dransman said even small things like that prepared his team to handle what was thrown their way during the week. If it wasn’t a tough enough week, Taylor was one of the schools that stuck it out and played Friday night, despite severe weather due to Hurricane Helene.
But as they’ve done all season, the Yellowjackets gritted out the tough 7-0 win against Mariemont. The Yellowjacket defense held Mariemont to three first downs and 65 total yards in the game. Taylor matched that with 13 first downs and 259 yards, despite scoring only seven points.
Does it get grittier than the week the players endured before holding a conference rival to three first downs on the outskirts of a hurricane?
It’ll be a difficult road to the top of the CHL for Taylor this year with the loss to Wyoming last week. But to this point in the season, the Taylor Yellowjackets appear to be better than they have been in years.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati high school football: Taylor Yellowjackets have resurgence
