By Mike Kays

Phoenix Sports Editor

Vian running back Dylan Taylor might need a spoonful of mustard Friday night, but it’s not because he’s either a hotdog or consuming one.

It’s for what might ail him.

For years coaches have given mustard to their athletes with leg cramps. Cramps are sometimes caused by a deficiency in acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter that stimulates your muscles to work. Mustard has acetic acid, which helps the body make more acetylcholine.

Just a spoonful of mustard helps the cramps go down, or away.

When your legs are capable of something like Taylor did last Friday, a 32-carry, 378-yard performance like he had in the 31-13 playoff victory over Beggs, hey, for good measure, mix in some relish. The pickle juice from the relish has also been known to have similar benefits.

“I won’t forget it,” he said following last week’s win which sends the Wolverines (10-2) to Kingfisher (10-2) for a Class 2A quarterfinal contest on Friday. “My legs felt pretty good until the second half.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound junior had all but 65 of Vian’s 443 total offensive yards. After only one quarter of play last week, Taylor was closing in on 200 yards

He had 180 at the end of one quarter, scoring on runs of 24, 12 and 70 yards, and 313 at the end of three quarters when leg cramps began to bother him.

“If you remember, he also had a long run called back on a holding penalty,” Vian coach Brandon Tyler said. “He had a monster game but give him that and we’re talking well over 400 yards.”

Taylor has seen his running backs have monster accomplishments before. Vfastv Locust comes to mind. The running back who helped Vian to a semifinal appearance in 2005 and a championship game in 2006 had 3,894 yards over those two seasons, 2,657 of it his junior season when he set a state single-season touchdown record with 57 while averaging nearly 16 yards per carry

Taylor, who for the uninformed is no relation to one of Locust’s teammates, Oklahoma signee turned minor league baseball player Londell Taylor, averaged 12 yards a carry Friday and has 1,879 yards on 166 carries (an 11.32 average) in 12 games this season.

And Locust, although topping 300 on several occasions, never had 378.