Detroit Cass Tech junior running back Julian Taylor found himself in open grass midway through the fourth quarter of a tie game between the No. 1-ranked Technicians and No. 5 Detroit King in Week 5 of Michigan high school football.
On an outside handoff to the right out of a shotgun formation, Taylor followed junior left tackle Josh Baker, who set the edge by blocking two King defenders at once on his stellar pulling lead block. Taylor took off down the sidelines and stiff-armed King safety Don Spillers into the turf for a 48-yard touchdown, giving Cass Tech its first lead with just under seven minutes remaining at Cass Tech High School in Detroit.
"I see me and one other person," Taylor said. "Every time it is me and one other person, I know
who's going to come out. It is going to be No. 7. In green, white, gray – whatever we got on. I know I am going to be the one that makes it out every time."
King moved the ball into Cass Tech territory on the ensuing possession. The Crusaders kept the offense on the field with 2:30 left for a fourth-and-11, but Darryl Flemister's pass sailed high into the hands of Cass sophomore Peyton Robinson, who returned the interception inside the King red zone.
Taylor added a second touchdown from 7 yards with 1:49 left in Cass Tech's 20-7 win over King in the first top-5 showdown of the 2026 MHSAA season, as ranked by the Free Press. Junior Mylan Griggs pulled down an interception in the final seconds.
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Cass put together a dominant second half after King led 7-0 at halftime. The Technicians' defense stymied King, which found success through Flemister's dual-threat abilities early, and the offense scored on three of five second-half possessions, along with a missed field goal.
"[King] is a great team," said junior Cass quarterback Donald Tabron II, a Texas A&M commit. "A top-5 team in the state and they played like it today. But we played like the No. 1 team in the state."
Tabron took some big hits early, but continued to stand tall in the pocket and deliver passes. He helped even the game with a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior Bryce Graham early in the fourth quarter. Taylor stayed in to block and had a perfect blitz pick-up, helping maintain a clean throwing lane for Tabron.
King, on the other hand, could not replicate its first-half offensive success. The Crusaders had one first down through their first four second-half drives, with three punts and a lost fumble deep in their own territory. Cass Tech's Trenton Lumpkins recovered the fumble, setting up Tabron's touchdown pass.
After running for more than 100 yards in the first half, King rushed for negative yards in the second half. Cass filled every rushing lane and fumbled snaps added to the Crusaders' issues.
"Our defense got after it," junior defensive back LaMarcus Army said. "Flem, he's dynamic. He wanted to roll out of the pocket a lot, so mainly I was spying him the whole game. Me and my linebacker Collin Sumpter."
Cass Tech's front seven set the tone against King's run-heavy offense. Sophomore defensive end Tailor Thomas, junior defensive tackle Antoine Hall and Lumpkins all got in the backfield for multiple tackles for loss, while Martez Livingston plugged gaps. Taylor and Sumpter flew downhill behind them to make tackles.
Along with his success carrying the football, Taylor was always around the ball on defense as one of the Technicians' off-ball linebackers.
"The key defensively was everybody getting off the ball and coming out fast," Thomas said. "The first half, we started slow, but we knew in the second half we had to be the more physical team. That's what we did."
It is Cass' fourth straight win in the city rivalry game, with the two likely to meet again in three weeks in the annual Public School League championship game at Ford Field. Cass picked up a win on its home turf after King won the last meeting at Cass in 2024. The Technicians' star that year, current North Carolina freshman C.J. Sadler, was back in Detroit on Friday to watch his former teammates pick up a big win.
But for the top-ranked Technicians, attention turns to the upcoming PSL schedule rather than basking in the big win for too long.
"It means a lot, but at the same time, it is another game," Taylor said. "We are on to the next. We are going to celebrate for 24 hours, and then it is on to the next."
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Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Julian Taylor, stingy defense lift No. 1 Cass Tech past No. 5 King
