BVM Sports presents a feature story on Week 6 Chicago Bears Community High School All-Star Award winner, Jaydon Wright:
There have been plenty of strong individual performances across high school football in Illinois this fall. However, Jaydon Wright’s game on Sept. 30 may just take the cake.
Playing on the road against Aurora Central Catholic, the Bishop McNamara junior running back helped lead the charge in a 58-19 victory that helped lead the Fightin’ Irish to a 3-3 record. In the contest, Wright posted single-game program records with an incredible 447 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. The previous rushing record was 392 yards set in 1992 by Tyrone Noble, and Wright’s eight touchdowns bested the record of seven which was posted by his cousin -- current NFL player Jonathan Ward -- in 2015.
“It was a very special moment, I cried a little bit,” Wright said. “I think when we first started off, we were going good. Everyone was on point, all 11 people were making blocks and making plays. I had three touchdowns, and my line, they literally told me, ‘We are going to do whatever, so you can get this record.’ They went out there and they helped me so much. The defense did the same thing. We all together just had a great game.”
For his incredible performance, Wright was recognized by the Chicago Bears as the High School All-Star of the week.
“It meant a lot to me,” Wright said. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing, I would say. I work very hard and there are so many players in the state that play on Friday nights and it meant a lot for them to nominate me out of all the other kids… It was just a great feeling. I instantly called my mom and my uncle and shared the news.”
For Wright, a night like that was a long time in the making. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound running back started playing football at just 3 years old, and although he tried his hand at a few other sports, football has always been at the top. Playing with the Kankakee Colts, Wright fell in love with the gridiron almost immediately.
“It was my second year, and they end up putting me at running back,” Wright said. “Me as a little kid, I had a lot of energy, so I was able to run around, never tired. As soon as they put me back there and gave me the ball, I fell in love with it because it came so natural and easy to me. It just got passed down through genetics … I started getting into football because it just runs in my family.”
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