Senior season in MAC looms large for undersized Miami running back, former Althoff star
Jaylon Bester has never been one to back down from a challenge.
As a 5-7, 125-pound freshman football player at Althoff in the 2013 season, Bester overcame his lack of size to compete at the varsity level. He’d go on to rush for more 4,000 yards and score more than 60 touchdowns to help the Crusaders make runs at state championships.
Four years later and after a junior season at Miami-Ohio University in which he was named as the Redhawks Offensive Player of the Year, Bester is still overcoming challenges.
Despite missing three games due to injury, Bester was among the top offensive players in the Mid-American Conference, rushing for 741 yards and 14 touchdowns to help the RedHawks to an 8-6 mark and league championship. He was the league’s Offensive Player of the Year.
With Bester running for 66 yards and a score, Miami defeated Central Michigan 26-21 in the MAC championship game.
“It was difficult not being able to play when I was injured because I had worked so hard to get ready for the season. I had never really been injured much through my career,’’ Bester said earlier this week. “Fortunately I was able to come back and contribute to us having a good season, winning the conference title and getting to a bowl game.
“Right now, I’m just working out, getting stronger and getting ready for the season. ‘’
Bester, who was kept off the field by a heel injury during spring practice in March before the coronavirus closed college athletics, will be ready when the RedHawks open their abbreviated season at home against Ball State on Nov. 4. Due to COVID-19, MAC schools are playing a six-game conference-only schedule during the 2020 season.
“Its a little disappointing, but we can do what we can do. We’re just looking forward to being out on the field on Saturday afternoons,’’ Bester said. “My goals for this season are just to stay healthy this football team have a successful season.”
Waiting for an opportunity
Bester arrived at the Oxford, Ohio-based campus four years ago as one of the top high school running backs in the Midwest. But like his first two seasons at Miami, he did not become a force in the Crusaders backfield until his junior year.
Former Althoff coach Ken Turner said Bester is the type of athlete who took advantage of his opportunity when it came. Turner resigned as the Crusaders coach following the 2019 season and is currently the head coach at St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis.
“It is not that difficult at all if you have the right mindset,” Turner said. “You must wait your turn and when you get that opportunity you make the most of it. When Jaylon was a freshman for me at Althoff he didn’t start right away, but his talent stood out on the freshmen and JV level. When his opportunity came he never looked back.
“He has really matured. He is bigger, stronger, and faster. I watched him running inside and outside zone for Miami and it looks like the same guy I had at Althoff. He has adapted to the next level well. I had no doubt he would do well in college. He is an extremely talented player. I really enjoy watching his success at the college level.’’
After rushing for over 500 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore, Bester was just one of several playmakers on an explosive Crusaders offense in 2015 which included quarterback Jordan Augustine, running back Malik Easley and wide receivers Keenen Young, Jordan Goodwin and C.J. Coldon.
With Bester leading the ground attack with 1,286 yards and 18 touchdowns, Althoff finished 13-1 and advanced to the Class 4A state title game, which it lost to Chicago Phillips.
Bester was even better as a senior in 2016, rushing for more than 2,100 yards and 33 scores as Althoff finished 11-1, losing to eventual state champion Rochester in a memorable quarterfinal classic.
Bester 21, says he still stays in contact with many of his former Crusaders teammates.
“That was a special group. ... We were close and I think that was a big part of our success,’’ Bester said. “I still talk and keep track of how they’re doing. Guys like C.J. Colden, Tarkus (Ferguson) and others. I’ve know a lot of these guys since like the third grade.
“We’re friends for life.’’
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A breakout season
The son of Sheria Liddell and Marcus Bester, the now 5-8, 184-pound Bester started four games in his first two seasons as a RedHawk, rushing for 296 yards and a touchdown. Even as a freshman, Bester showed why he would be a standout in the future.
Early in the 2017 season, Bester had 163 kick return yards in a lopsided loss to Notre Dame in South Bend.
His junior season a year ago got off to a rocky start after getting hurt in a loss at Iowa. Bester then missed the next three games, including contests at Ohio State and Cincinnati
But during the MAC season and a postseason which included a conference title and a loss to Louisiana at the Lending Tree Bowl, Bester was the best running back on the top team in the league.
“I think it was more difficult mentally to come back from the injury than it was physically. Being able to know that when I ran and made my cuts and trusting that I wasn’t going to get hurt again,’’ Bester said. “The success we had as a team, winning the MAC and going to a bowl game was a result of the work we put in as a team.
“The MAC is a very strong football conference. One of the best in the nation.’’
Turner said he hopes the former all-state back gets a chance to play beyond college, if that is what he chooses to do.
“Jaylon is one of the best players I have ever coached regardless of the sport. We all know he is a very talented football player, but he is a better human being. He is very respectful, talented, and smart. He will succeed at anything he puts his mind to. I am not surprised at anything he does.,’’ Turner said. “I had no doubt that he would succeed at the next level because he is that good and understands what it takes and how to get there.
“I would never say he is too small for the NFL. Remember he was too small for some Division I coaches and look at him now. He was too small coming into high school for some people. Jaylon is a very skilled and smart football player. He will continue to develop his game and body. Hopefully he will get his chance because he is everything that any coach would love.”
The future
Bester will graduate from Miami with a degree in sports management following his senior year. Still, he’d like to play football a few more years.
“I’d like to play football for as long as I can,’’ Bester said. “But I will have my degree if that doesn’t happen and I feel good about the future.’’
