JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers GAMEBREAKER—After making an impact at running back, receiver and kick returner last season, Thousands Oaks junior Taylor Malm hopes 2005 will bring greater rewards for himself and the title-hungry Lancers. Last season the team went 8-4 and lost in the Div. IV quarterfinals. With his speed, balance and elusiveness, Thousand Oaks junior Taylor Malm made a lot of defenders miss in 2004.

Unfortunately for the gifted 16year-old, it was that pesky yellow flag that kept catching up to him.

Of his four touchdown scampers last season, when he was just one of three sophomore starters on the T.O. team, three were called back due to penalties—including two in the first game of the season, a 35-10 win over Crescenta Valley.

“After a while, it just got to be a joke,” said Malm, who returns this season as the Lancers’ No. 1 guy in the backfield. “If I’d have a good run in practice, guys would be like, ‘Oh no, there’s the flag. It’s coming back.’ There was nothing for me to do but laugh about it.”

And while Malm was making light of his bad luck, the rest of the league was taking notice. Though he got limited carries running behind All-Marmonte League back Jack Boger, Malm made the most of his opportunities. To get the fleet-footed newcomer the ball more frequently, head coach Mike Sanders also utilized Malm at slot receiver and on special teams returning both kickoffs and punts.

“We brought him up because we knew he could come up and make an impact—it was just a matter of where we used him,” said Sanders, who made comparisons between Malm and former T.O. standout Dave Anderson. “He’s kind of in that mould. He can run with the ball, he can catch the ball, he can return kicks. Taylor’s just a dynamic athlete, and he’s smart like Dave. You don’t have to tell him something three times before he gets it.”

A native of Thousand Oaks, Malm first started playing organized football when he was 10 as a member of the Conejo Cowboys.

Right from the start, coaches like Chris English—whom Malm calls a “second father”—became aware of the youngster’s inherit natural talents.

“We had a tryout and in that tryout they timed us running the 40 (yard dash) and I had one of the fastest times,” Malm remembered. “For that reason, they stuck me at running back, and things worked out great. I had 23 touchdowns that first season.”

Years later, and Malm still hasn’t kicked that touchdown bug, likely a big reason he’s been so willing to try and contribute wherever his coach puts him.

“There’s nothing that compares to the thrill of scoring a touchdown,” Malm said. “I love it.”

This season Malm will again split time between running back and receiver—and he’s even fighting for a starting spot as a safety on the defensive side of the ball. A quiet competitor, Malm doesn’t ask for new responsibilities—he goes out and earns them.

“I’m not one to say very much. I’m kind of the shy type,” the junior said. “I kind of leaving the talking to the other guys—guys like Ryan (Cloney).”

Malm and Cloney, the Lancers’ highly-touted returning starting quarterback, developed a strong bond last season as the two underclassmen went through a crash course in Marmonte League football. Both had to learn on the fly, and both did so effectively.

“We were pretty much always together—his locker was right next to mine,” Malm said. “I was really happy for him and all the success he had. He was under a lot of pressure and he handled it great.”

Cloney, who finished with just under 3,000 yards passing last season, said having a weapon like Malm to complement All-CIF returning wide receiver/safety Matt Luft and others, is a real blessing.

“He’s the type of player who can change the game by himself,” said Cloney, who said the two friends leaned on each other during their breakout sophomore years. “Once you get the ball in his hands, there’s no telling what he can do. He’s just so fast.”

His coach agreed.

“I think we need to get the ball in his hands a whole lot of different ways,” Sanders said. “Hand it to him. Pass it to him. Whatever. He’s the kind of player you don’t have to throw the ball all the way down field to get a touchdown. He’s got the kind of breakaway speed that if he gets a little running room, he’s gone.”

With the start of the season less than a month away, Malm said he and his teammates are anxious to get back on the field after an 8-4 record last season that ended with a quarterfinal loss to Ventura in the Div. IV playoffs.

Though he said a CIF championship is the ultimate goal, he admitted mission No. 1 was to return the Lancers back atop the Marmonte League’s final standings, something the team hasn’t accomplished since 2001.

“We’re taking this a game at a time, but it’s no question we feel like we want to win Marmonte,” Malm said.

Off the field, Malm is a stellar student with a wide variety of interests.

In fact, the 16-year-old even has a black belt in karate, something he earned when he was just 12.

“I think even though I haven’t done it in awhile, karate really helped me develop my quickness and balance,” Malm said.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t use any of his martial arts at the wrong time in a game—the last thing he needs is to give the referees another chance to throw the flag, especially after a touchdown.

Malm currently lives at home with his father, Jay, and his mother, Wendy. His sister, Jenny, will be a junior at Pepperdine.