It has been quite a magical year for the William Chrisman Bears football team and for senior quarterback James Bailey Jr.
The magic was no more evident than in their 43-39 upset win over Staley. Bailey Jr. threw for 170 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed 28 times for 204 yards and four touchdowns. That gave him five total touchdowns and 374 yards of combined offense.
The most electrifying play of the night came on a 99-yard touchdown run by Bailey Jr.
"You know, you're on your one yard line and you run a football play which you're not expected to get many yards because you wanna punt it," Bears Head Coach Scorpio Horn said. "[You wanna] get out of there cause Staley's on a roll. And, he goes for 99 yards."
"You can't explain it. I don't know. That's why we call him Superman," Horn said. "It's just like, he's Clark Kent by day. He's Superman at night. That's why he's one of the best kids in the area."
Many people around the Kansas City area are surprised that the Bears are 6-0 on the season and have their first winning season since 1981. That's 35 years.
Bailey Jr. has been on the team for three years since he was a sophomore. He's gone from being part of a 1-9 team, to a 4-7 team last year, and has been a big part of the team's undefeated start. But, he won't take all the credit.
"My linemen are like one of the more undersized linemen. But, they're so fundamentally sound," the six-foot 205-pound quarterback said. "They're not the type of linemen that are, you know, gonna blow you off the ball. But, they're gonna get you where they need to get you in the position that they need to get you in. [That's all done] in order for me to make good plays and for the running backs to make good plays as well."
The newfound success for the Bears and for Bailey Jr. means that college football programs are already starting to contact him. Quite a few Division 1 schools have shown interest in him including Missouri, New Mexico State, Southern Illinois, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, and Wyoming.
However, he's trying to stay focused on his current team.
"I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and really try to focus on the season first. And then, let the recruiting happen afterwards," Bailey Jr. said.
Undoubtedly, those college coaches are going to continue calling Horn in the future about Bailey Jr. He continues to give his star player high praise.
"Last year, we had a guy that was really good, you know, in D'Vontae Brown. James is probably the best," Horn said. "He's one of the best guys that I've seen and I've coached in a long time."
NOTE: The Hy-Vee 41 Five-Star Athlete of the Week segment airs every Thursday night during the 10 p.m. sportscast for the entire school year.
