California RB Jake Taylor is 7th player in prep football history to rush for 4,000 yards in a single season

Jacob "Jake" Taylor had one heck of a season in Southern California this fall. After torching defenses all fall, Taylor capped his senior season with 260 yards and three touchdowns in Lake Arrowhead (Calif.) Rim of the World High's 34-31 CIF Southern Section East Valley championship victory against Ontario (Calif.) Christian School.

Still, it wasn't Taylor's single-game yardage or touchdown totals that caught the eye on Friday. It wasn't even his 41 carries in the win. Rather, it's the single-season yardage total that Taylor crossed in the process of Friday's win: Taylor finished his senior season with 4,032 total yards.

"It's amazing but the entire team did this, not just me," Taylor told the San Bernadino Sun of his remarkable single-season yardage total. "I couldn't have done it without every guy on this team. It wasn't just me."

To put Taylor's single-season total in perspective, the diminutive California back -- he stands just 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds -- became just the seventh player in prep football history to rush for more than 4,000 yards in a single season. Among the players who have also reached the 4,000-yard milestone are the top two running backs on the all-time yardage list — Derrick Henry and Texas legend Ken Hall — and the all-time single-season record holder John Giannantonio, who compiled an almost unfathomable 4,756 yards in a single season.

Taylor racked up his 4,032 yards in the process of 14 games, good for an average of an incredible 288 yards per game. Most backs would be thrilled to call a 288-yard game a career high. For Taylor, that was just a regular night at the office.

For the back and his teammates, the East Valley title may have been even more memorable. The 34-31 win earned the school it's first CIF championship in 36 years.

Still, for Taylor's coach and his teammates, the 4,000-yard total still stuns.

"I heard that was his goal and I thought he was crazy," Rim of the World head football coach Bob Gradillas told the Sun. "I didn't think he could do it. I can't believe he did it."

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