'Huge impact': Talboo has historic 300-yard receiving game for St. Francis

Sep. 24—St. Francis de Sales senior wide receiver Trey Talboo's last game was one for the books.

Talboo completed the Knights' Week 5 matchup against Fremont Ross with a 302 receiving yards, becoming the 18th player in Ohio High School Athletic Association history to post a 300-yard receiving game. His total ranks second in Toledo area history for a single game. (Wauseon's Connar Penrod 310 in 2019).

"It's real cool," Talboo said. "It's even better to do it for St. Francis, and I like to represent my school well. It's a great feeling."

Talboo's performances included schools records for receptions (16) and touchdown catches (4). He scored on catches of 79, 43, 38, and 35 yards.

The previous school record for catches was 13 by Andrew Bonfiglio in 2012.

Talboo (6-foot-3) has only recently begun to tap into his potential. In five games this season, he has 45 receptions for 772 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He leads the Three Rivers Athletic Conference in scoring and receiving yards.

A "handful" of college programs have reached out to St. Francis coach Bruce Gradkowski about Talboo.

"He's working hard trying to get better where he can," Gradkowski said. "I think the sky's the limit for him, because he has the body type and build and frame to play at the next level."

Gradkowski is impressed with his ability to learn from coaching critiques.

"The biggest thing with any player is if a coach can tell you something one time and you improve on it, that's awesome," Gradkowski said. "So for Trey, he just continues to get better every week, and that's pretty cool to see."

Talboo also plays for St. Francis' baseball team as a outfielder and pitcher. In center field, the skills needed to track track down a fly ball have similarities to hauling in long pass plays on the gridiron.

"The other night, he had some phenomenal catches in traffic," Gradkowski said, "because he was able to locate the football, have guys around him, be strong enough to be catch point, keep his legs, and still score a touchdown."

Talboo credited quarterback Denim Truss, who completed 31 of 42 passes for 435 yards and five touchdowns, and the offensive line for his performance against Fremont Ross.

"The offensive line gave Denim time to throw it," Talboo said. "and Denim put the ball on me every time."

St. Francis (2-3, 0-2 TRAC) is scheduled to play Clay (2-3, 0-2) in its Week 6 matchup. Talboo's performance could play a big role in the game on Friday.

"Trey's had a huge impact on the offense, because now teams have to focus on double-teaming him," Gradkowski said. "Then it opens up the game for his teammates. We have some good players offensively that will step up and make more plays as the season goes on. Trey will attract a lot of attention, and I'm excited to see what the rest of the season holds for him."

First Published September 23, 2021, 11:20am