Taylor's 4 TDs tie Julian Edelman for San Mateo record as No. 5 Bulldogs roll past No. 2 Butte, 51-12

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SAN MATEO, Calif. - Cameron Taylor ran for a College of San Mateo record-tying four touchdowns – all in the first half -- to give the Bulldogs a 38-0 lead over state No. 2 ranked Butte College en route to a 51-12 win in Saturday afternoon's battle of 3-0 teams.

Defensive back Deon White recovered a Butte fumble on the game's second play and returned it 35 yards to the one-yard line -- from where Taylor scored the first TD with just 1:20 elapsed on the game clock. 

The sixth-ranked Bulldogs (4-0) increased their lead to 44-0 just two minutes after the halftime break when quarterback Miles Kendrick connected with wide receiver Rajae Johnson on a 32-yard pass. That duo also scored the final TD on a 40-yard pass at the start of the fourth period to make it 51-12. Johnson had five receptions for 146 yards. Johnson leads Northern California with 113.8 yards per game.  

Kendrick, a freshman out of Valley Christian High School (San Jose) making his first start, completed 14 of 21 passes for 263 yards and three scores. He was also the game's top rusher with 84 yards and had a total offense of  347.  Taylor (5-8, 165), a freshman out of Hillsdale High, leads the state's 68 community college teams with eight rushing touchdowns. He tied the CSM single game record of four touchdowns in a game held by nine athletes, including New England Patriots star Julian Edelman. Taylor had 77 yards on 16 carries in the game.  

The Roadrunners (3-1) finally got into the end zone with 8:39 left in the third period on a 3-yard pass from Brandt Hughes to Juan Rodriguez.  After being held to a net of 30 offensive yards in the first half, Butte finished with 220 total yards, only 67 on the ground

CSM more than doubled that output with 511 total yards.

"Some things clicked for us today," said CSM coach Larry Owens. "I wasn't shocked. Our execution was pretty good. The defense really clicked. In the first half, we kept pounding and moving."    

Leading the Bulldogs defense were sophomore linebackers Steven Doughty (from Los Gatos High) with two solo and eight assisted tackles and Dorzel Hicks (with three solo and five assists. Jalen Hicks had four solo tackles. Freshman defensive lineman Heikoti Vaisima (Clayton Valley) had his third sack of the season and another tackle for loss.  

STAT PACESETTERS: State punting leader Justin Watts continue to average over 40 yards on his kicks and now has a 43.9 average, including a long of 65 (fourth longest in the state this season). He is also the top kick scorer in Northern California with 28 points (including a 39-yard field goal against Butte).

Option quarterback Kendrick (5-11, 200) won the starting role for the Butte game in practice over Shawn Akina, the top-rated community college passer in Northern California (171.5). Kendrick is now No. 2 in the north, less than a digit back at 170.8.

CSM 9-1 IN LAST 10: The win over Butte avenged San Mateo's only setback in the last ten games, a 30-12 loss at Butte in the 2016 Northern California semifinals, after the Bulldogs had swept through a perfect 5-0 Bay 6 League season. CSM had won at Butte, 14-7, in pre-league play.  

STATE RUNNER-UP ARC ARRIVES NEXT -- It doesn't get easier for CSM (4-0) next week. At 1 p.m. Saturday the Bulldogs close out pre-league play by hosting 2016 state runner-up American River (3-1), which was 9th-ranked last week. Both teams expect to move up in this week's state rankings, with San Mateo likely to be No. 1 in Northern California. Defending state champion Fullerton (4-0) expects to  continue to head the state poll.   

4     Cameron Taylor (vs. Butte, 2017)