Nolensville gets just enough stops to end Malaki Dowell's TSSAA football record pursuit in playoff win

NOLENSVILLE – Taylor Wein had a busy week even prior to Nolensville's game with White County in the second round of the TSSAA Class 5A playoffs.

Two days before the game, the Nolensville 6-foot-5, 235-pound senior defensive end and Oklahoma native received his first Power Five offer from Oklahoma. Later in the day he received offers from USC, Virginia Tech. A day later he had offers from Ole Miss and Missouri.

Wein put those offers in the back of his mind as he anchored a defense that held off the state's leading rusher Malaki Dowell and the Warriors, beating them 56-36 to advance to the state quarterfinals.

"They were a great football team and we had a huge challenge defensively trying to stop their run game," Wein said. "I feel like our preparation throughout the week played a key in how the game turned out. Big props to our offense as well as they came out and dominated from the start.

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"It was a great feeling getting those offers earlier in the week but during the season we want to win ball games on Friday night and that's where my head's at right now."

Wein is a three-star defensive end and is the No. 26 college prospect in the state for the class of 2023.

Dowell did what was expected, rushing for 296 yards and three touchdowns. But Wein and the Knights' defense came up with enough stops and forced three turnovers then capped it off with a crucial goal line stand to get the win.

Dowell's night ultimately placed him second all-time only behind Beech legend Jalen Hurd when it comes to the single season rushing record.

Nolensville (12-0) hosts Page (10-2) in the Class 5A quarterfinals. Nolensville beat Page 27-21 in the regular season in overtime.

Wein's sudden burst with Power Five offers isn't something that shocked any of his Nolensville coaches or teammates.

White County (9-3) rushed for over 500 yards as a team, but the Warriors were limited to 15 second-half points thanks in large to Wein's dominance up front. He finished the game with 9.5 tackles and a team-high three tackles for loss.

Nolensville coach Paul Derrick said that Wein is the bell cow and leader of a defense that entered Friday night only allowing 11.6 points. Derrick said that Wein is much more vocal and accepted the challenge of being a leader that was put on him ahead of the season.

"The success that he's had has given him the confidence he needs to be that leader we need him to be and he means a lot to this team," Derrick said. "Taylor's a young man that's really matured this year as both a player and as a person. We knew what kind of player he was and it just took some people a little longer to find him.

"The last three or four weeks he's really taken his game to another level and dominated games we need him to dominate in. He's putting great tape out there now and when you get one big offer, a few more start to roll in."

Wein's teammate Chance Fitzgerald knows all too well what Wein is going through.

Fitzgerald's recruitment picked up midway through the season with a flurry of Power Five offers headed his way. Now Fitzgerald is excited that he has a teammate going through the same process.

"Taylor's got the size, physicality and he's better than anyone we play against," Fitzgerald said. "Like what I've been doing, no one's been able to stop either of us this season. I score the touchdowns so it's more noticeable sometimes but Taylor's got the size and skill so he's going to far wherever he goes."

Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com. Follow him on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter @joe_spears7.