Mays’ record-setting send-off a sign of things to come

TOLEDO – For anyone looking to ride a bull, someone has to throw open the gate.That’s exactly what happened on one of the most unforgettable nights in St. John’s Jesuit football history this season.

In Week 10 at Lyden Stadium against the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, first-year Titans head coach Joe Horn knew he had to lean on junior RJ Mays as his man out of the backfield.

Top running back Sam Harshman – who had essentially split carries all season with Mays – was sidelined due to injury, so all the muscle in the run game that Friday night was within the legs of just one bull in the arena.

“Coach Horn told me, ‘We’re going to be depending on you this game,’ because obviously Sam wasn’t playing,” Mays said, “so he just said he was gonna feed me the rock.”

“It was RJ or nothing,” Horn said. “We had been comfortable all year throwing the ball a decent amount, but we were struggling throwing against (UD Jesuit).”

Boy, did Mays deliver.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound junior exploded for a school-record 306 yards on 29 carries.

Mays also had five touchdowns and 30 points – both of those tying school records as well – in a 52-28 St. John’s victory.

It was the most points scored in a game for the Titans since 2018, and their most at home since a 56-13 win over Waite two decades ago.

“It was one of those games where we were having success on the ground and we just needed to stick with it until they stopped him, and they just couldn’t stop him,” Horn said. “… The wheels never came off.”

Mays broke off lengthy runs of 22, 23, 24 and 49 yards during the outburst, averaging 10.6 yards per carry. He also pulled in five catches for 85 yards that night.

“I didn’t even know how many yards I had (as the game was going along),” Mays said. “After my second touchdown, one of my friends came up to me and said, ‘Do you know how many yards you have right now?… You have to have close to 200.’ And I just thought, ‘There’s no way.’”

By the end of it, he had surpassed the single-game SJJ rushing record held since 2003 by then-junior Dorian Milletti. Mays said it felt like perfect weather for a football game, adding that his main motivation was simply to not let down the team’s seniors on Senior Night.

He entered Week 10 with 230 yards and three touchdowns on 53 carries for the entire year, joining Harshman (87-395-3) as the only Titans with more than 50 attempts.

Mays’ previous best performance had come in a Week 2 showdown at Anthony Wayne, when he totaled a modest 85 yards on 14 carries.

Horn said both Harshman and Mays have flashed the talent to pull off those types of record-setting nights, adding that it was just a matter of whether their health this season would allow them the chance.

“After a couple big runs and a couple touchdowns, I knew I was getting into my groove,” Mays said. “I just started feeling very comfortable.

“I was breaking tackles and making some moves; I just wasn’t going down, to be honest.”

Toppling the previous record set by Milletti was a significant feat all its own.

On that night back in 2003, he went for 276 yards on a school-record 48 carries in a regional championship game against Wadsworth. Milletti also scored the game-winning touchdown in the 15-12 win that sent the Titans to the only Final Four in program history.

Mays’ big performance this season came with St. John’s clinging to its playoff hopes.

His five rushing touchdowns also tied a Titans record dating back more than three decades.

The only other SJJ player to pull it off was Ken Jones in a game against Rogers in 1994.

“He’s a physical runner, but he’s fast enough to make big plays happen,” Horn said of Mays. “He has great contact balance, which makes him really hard to bring down.

“He has a big motor, his legs are always churning and he has good hands as well.”

Injuries have largely hindered Mays’ opportunities to make big splashes as a high school player.

A groin injury hampered his time as a freshman, then in 2024 he managed to play in just three games.

Even this season, Mays suffered bruised ribs in Week 2 at Anthony Wayne, then battled at various times through an ankle injury for which he said recently he was still receiving physical therapy. In Weeks 3, 7 and 9, he had a combined two carries. Adding to the shock of the record-setting season finale was the fact that Mays had entered this year having spent the entirety of his football-playing days on defense.

This was his first time ever playing running back, so he said he didn’t know what to expect from himself at the position while also playing for a new head coach. The Mays-led Week 10 win locked in a 5-5 record for St. John’s, who ended up missing out on the playoffs by just one spot. Despite that close call, Horn said Mays’ efforts could without a doubt help catapult the team into a big 2026.

“I think that was a big confidence-boost for him and I think it was a big confidence-boost for our offensive line going into next year,” Horn said.

Mays agreed, adding that he hopes his statement game might just put him on the radar of some college programs.

“I pray and I hope that some colleges will come through after this season,” he said. “The atmosphere during that game, just with my teammates, I just can’t imagine what it feels like playing in college.”