Taylorsville football is making a comeback. 

The Warriors went 4-6 this regular season, winning as many games as it had the previous four years combined. Taylorsville finished fourth in Region 4 with a 2-3 mark. Though Taylorsville still has plenty of room to grow and improvements to make, this season showed promise. 

One negative was the Warriors’ ending to the year, which featured three losses to end the regular season. Taylorsville fell at Granger 61-27 on Oct. 4, to Hunter 42-14 on Oct. 10 and at West Jordan (the region champions) 31-10 on Oct. 18. The Warriors scored region victories over Cyprus, 27-20 on Sept. 27, and over Kearns, 40-13 on Sept. 20. 

On Oct. 25, Taylorsville played at West, out of Region 6, in the first round of the state tournament. The game took place after our press deadline. The Warriors were aiming for their first postseason win since defeating Davis in the Class 5A first round 28-27 in 2016. 

No single player is responsible for the team’s turnaround. However, the offensive MVP was arguably senior quarterback Cole Kramer. He threw for 1,555 yards and 13 touchdowns during the regular season. He also completed 61.6% of his passes and threw only four interceptions. Kramer also paced the Warriors in rushing, totaling 594 yards and nine touchdowns on 152 carries. 

Kobe Allen was Kramer’s top target. Allen, a 6-foot-2-inch senior, grabbed 45 passes for 476 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Karsan Kirkman had 28 catches for a team-best 488 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged an impressive 17.4 yards per catch. Junior Taz Bawden was another reliable receiver. He had 19 catches for 165 yards and a score. Brighton Wilde and Blaze Workman, a pair of seniors had two touchdown receptions apiece. Wilde averaged nearly 20 yards on his six catches. 

Bawden was also second on the team with 120 yards rushing (on 39 carries). Masi Filipe added 17 carries for 119 yards and a TD. 

Taylorsville’s defense had some highs and lows this season, but the unit improved from last season. Filipe was the top tackler, making 75 stops while adding three sacks. Senior Jacob Lee topped all Warriors with six sacks, and he contributed 26 tackles too. Senior Holden Cottle made 43 tackles, while junior Francisco Vargas had 48 tackles and a pair of sacks. Allen wasn’t just the top receiver, but he also paced the team with three interceptions. Workman intercepted a pass too. 

Like any high school football team, Taylorsville suffers some graduation losses this school year, so head coach Chris Rosales will have some key players to replace in 2025. The Warriors do bring back some experienced players who keep getting better in Rosales’ system. Rosales will also look to the junior varsity team and newcomers to bolster the team’s roster next season. 

The Warriors will next participate in offseason conditioning, and some players will stay active by playing other sports. Summer workouts start next July in preparation for the 2025 season, which starts in mid-August. λ