Nov. 4: Jayden West, McKinley Tech

photo by bernard mason/masonvisuals

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.