Righetti High’s Taelor Griego is a real double threat—something readily apparent to anyone who saw his key plays on both sides of the ball during the Warriors’ CIF run.
Stepping in at running back in the Warriors’ first round playoff game against Downey (a 31-24 win at home on Nov. 18), Griego scored a key touchdown, scampering 61 yards on a draw play to give Righetti a 23-10 lead in the third quarter. He finished with 121 yards and two scores.
Then, playing at linebacker, Griego made a critical stop of elusive Downey quarterback Dallas Lopez on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, keeping him shy of the first down marker to preserve the victory.
For Griego, a junior, it was all in a night’s work.
“I’ve been waiting for that all season,” he said. “My line blocked when I needed it, and I took advantage of it.”
Righetti head coach Gary Wilson said the game was no fluke, as Griego had stepped up his game in the late stages of the season, taking his skills to another level.
“He played out of his mind,” Wilson said. “He’s a pounder, and teams have to account for him. If you make a mistake, he’s going to make you pay for it.”
For a linebacker to also play a part in the running game isn’t all that common, but Griego, a bruising runner and equally heavy hitter, enjoys the challenge of both offense and defense.
“It’s pretty complicated,” he said. “You’ve got to have a lot of energy, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Looking forward to Righetti’s second-round playoff game at Culver City on Nov. 25, Griego had some final words for his fellow Warriors.
“I’d like to thank my teammates and my linemen for blocking for me all season and getting me all the yards that I could,” he said. “I couldn’t be Athlete of the Week if it wasn’t for them.”
This article appears in Dec 1-8, 2011.