Sylmar Ragged but Still Light Years Ahead of Taft, 27-7 : High school football: Price and Taylor combine for 275 yards and four touchdowns as defending City Section 4-A champion wins 15th consecutive game.

Taft High Coach Troy Starr has waited four years to get a crack at Sylmar, the region’s winningest team of the 1990s.

But it may take another four years to build his young team into a viable contender.

Senior running backs Durell Price and Gerrod Taylor combined on 275 yards rushing and four touchdowns to lead Sylmar in a 27-7 nonleague yawner over the Matadors Friday night.

Sylmar, defending City Section 4-A champion, did not look sharp, but the Spartans weren’t exactly shabby, scoring on three of their first four possessions.

If Sylmar needs any work, it’s on extra points. The Spartans failed to convert any of their four attempts, with two bad snaps, a kick that went wide right and another that came up short after a 15-yard penalty.

The Spartans also were flagged for 17 penalties but held Taft to 162 yards to win their 15th consecutive game.

“I thought it would be a closer game,” Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman said. “But in some ways it was a close game--our mistakes made it that way.”

With Sylmar leading, 21-0, late in the third quarter and looking like it would throw a shutout, a Taft punt glanced off the leg of Sylmar’s Dave Martinez and Taft recovered at the Spartan 31.

Five plays later, Donald Carpenter, who had 73 yards in 20 carries, scored on a two-yard run to get Taft to within 21-7 with 10 minutes 4 seconds remaining.

“We made a lot of rookie mistakes tonight,” Taylor said.

Taylor, however, was anything but green against Taft. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound bundle of power scored on runs of 18 and 23 yards and also broke off a 34-yard run.

Taylor’s success was a direct result of Taft keying on Price, who is considered one of the top prospects in the nation.

“That was the plan, to have them key on Durrell,” Taylor said. “I thought it was going to be a better game than that.”

Price, who scored on runs of two and 35 yards, rushed for 133 yards in 14 carries and couldn’t be happier to share the spotlight with Taylor.

“We’re out here to have fun,” said Price, who along with Taylor was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after celebrating in the end zone on Taylor’s 23-yard scoring run with 1:14 remaining.

“I’m happy with my first-game performance,” said Price, who struggled in the opener last season against Kennedy and was yanked a few times by Engilman. “I’m happy with my line.”

Taft, which suited up just eight seniors, played with discipline but could not capitalize on Sylmar’s penalties.