Physical, relentless Trae Taylor leads Carmel to comeback win against Fenwick

The area has been fortunate the past few years, with talented quarterbacks in every direction. More than one coach in the area believes he has the best quarterback in the state and possibly the best in the country.

Carmel coach Jason McKie was comfortable letting junior quarterback Trae Taylor’s play do the talking on Friday in Mundelein.

“I don’t have to say anything,” McKie said. “You guys watch the games. I don’t have to explain anything if you know football..if you know quarterback play. You have to understand quarterback play to know what you are watching, and I will l leave it at that.”

Taylor, a Nebraska recruit, was sensational in the No. 12 Corsairs’ 38-24 win against No. 7 Fenwick. He threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

Taylor’s arm and smarts and ability to lengthen plays with his scrambling ability and find receivers on the run is well known. At 6-3, 186 pounds, he isn’t known as a bruiser.

But he played like one against the Friars. Taylor punched in a short TD run to tie the score at 24 with with 2:30 left in the third quarter and he repeatedly refused to slide or head out of bounds on runs. He had 10 carries for 50 yards.

“That’s what I felt I had to do tonight,” Taylor said. “You are going to get punched in the mouth or you are going to punch someone in the mouth.”

McKie didn’t draw up that play to have Taylor’s priceless right arm extending over the goal line for a TD.

“He’s crazy,” McKie said. “That’s the one thing. He’s definitely the most hard-headed quarterback in the state because he doesn’t listen when you tell him to slide. He just wants to make a play for his team. I’m not going to take away his God-given playmaking ability.”

Taylor, who calls many of the team’s plays, was 26-for-39 and many of the incompletions were excellent passes that popped off hands or chests. He made just a handful of poor throws in the game.

“The passing game was there all night,” Taylor said. “We just had to get in rhythm and eventually we did.”

Eli Jackson had nine catches for 135 yards for the Corsairs. Greg Bess-Henning had five receptions for 72 yards and a TD. Kyron Hart caught five passes for 61 yards, and Kai Owens had four catches for 61 yards.

Fenwick (6-3, 1-2) led three times. Quarterback Jamen Williams’ one-yard run with 6:27 left in the third quarter put the Friars ahead 24-10.

But with Taylor at the helm, the Corsairs (7-2, 2-1) are never out of the game.

“He’s back there, so we know it is never over,” Carmel sophomore running back Jaquel Edmonds, who had 20 carries for 96 yards and a TD, said.

Jameer Miles’ sack of Williams in the third quarter forced a fumble and changed the momentum of the game.

“This group has been resilient all year,” McKie said. “We’ve been down in games this year and we have fought back. Some of the games we fought back and came up short and some we fought back and won.”

Jake Thies had 14 carries for 72 yards for Fenwick. Williams was 9-for-17 for 144 yards, including a 92-yard TD pass to Raphiel Stewart.

The Illinois High School Association will release the state playoff brackets on Saturday. Carmel is on the bubble between Class 7A and Class 6A. Fenwick is a likely 6A team.