Much of the attention in Taylorsville is surrounded by Tulane commit Ty Keyes, and rightfully so. Tonight’s performance will add another yet feather in the hat for Keyes’ dominance in high school football, however, a strong second-half showing by the Tartar defense that allowed only eight points and talented receivers who helped deliver a 42 point scoring spree in the final two quarters helped lead Taylorsville to a 56-42 victory over the Seminary Bulldogs.

Seminary struck first when Cameron Sanford broke loose through the heart of the Tartars defense for a 50-yard touchdown with 7:31 remaining in the first quarter. A successful PAT gave the Bulldog a 7-0 lead.

Taylorsville responded quickly as they drove down the field from their own 34, ending the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run from Tyrese Keyes. Their PAT attempt was successful, tying the game 7-7 with 6:04 left in the first quarter.

With under a minute remaining in the first quarter, Seminary's Jabori Potts found the endzone from two yards out. The PAT was no good, but the Bulldogs took a 13-7 lead as the quarter came to a close.

Later in the second quarter, Potts showed his throwing ability as he found a wide-open Sanford for a touchdown. Their two-point conversion was good to take a 21-7 lead with 8:49 left in the half.

Taylorsville responded quickly, as they scored on a two-play drive that was set up by a 37-yard Ty Keyes scamper and then finished off with a 17-yard Jeffrey Pittman touchdown carry. The PAT connected, closing the Tartars to within seven, 21-14.

The Tartar defense could not force a Seminary stop, and the Bulldogs capitalized, scoring on a six-yard rush from Zach Fortenberry to take a 28-14 lead after the PAT.

With under two minutes remaining in the half, the Bulldogs put another score on the board when Ladarious Keys found the endzone from 27-yards out. The PAT was no good, but Seminary closed out the half up 34-14.

The tables turned in a drastic way in the second half as Taylorsville outscored Seminary 42-8 in the second half, and started opening of the half by forcing a turnover to give them the ball to start the third quarter.

It took just one play after the turnover as Keyes found Cedrick Beavers for a 42-yard touchdown to draw within 13 of the Bulldogs, 34-21.

Keyes again found another receiver, this time Arterious Miller for a touchdown to get the Tartars within six, 34-28 with 8:34 remaining in the third.

Seminary scored their only touchdown of the second half when Landarious Keys found the endzone from 27-yards out again, giving them a 42-28 lead with 7:01 remaining in the quarter.

From there out, the comeback began for Taylorsville. They scored 28 unanswered points on three touchdowns by Ty Keyes - two rushing scores from seven and forty-eight yards out and one 43-yard pass to Tyrese Keyes - along with a defensive score as the Tartar defense scooped a fumble up and took it for the score.

“I think our receivers can compete with any school in the state as far as running routes, catching balls, and making plays after they get the ball. We have Tyrese Keyes, Cedrick Beavers who nobody talks about. He is just a junior. Jalon Clark is there on the outside and Arterious Miller out there too. We have another kid that barely gets to play, but he is another good receiver, Kelby Jordan. We have five or six kids that can go up and get the ball,” said Evans.

A late-game interception by Miller put the game on ice and gave Taylorsville the victory.

"Seminary had a great plan especially in the first half," said Evans after the game, "They looked like they had been playing the season, and they were more prepared than we were, honestly. They did some things we hadn't seen them do and it caught us by surprise."

"We couldn't throw the ball, couldn't catch the ball, and turned it over a couple of times [in the first half]. I couldn't be more proud of the kids though in the second half with how they played. We talked at halftime, and it wasn't a good talk. I looked them in the eyes and told them they could let them beat us or you could come out and fight. They came out and battled their tails off in the second half."

What’s next

Taylorsville moves to 1-0 on the season and will face Mendenhall next week at home. Seminary will travel to Raleigh (1-1) next week to face the Lions.