Madisonville football coaches like to say that Brock Taylor has comic-book speed, and what's a super hero without an obstacle to overcome?

Taylor's foe was a knee injury, which felled him in the second game last year. The next chapter in the story of Madisonville's Flash will feature Taylor's senior season.

"I think I'm about 96 or 97 percent back," Taylor said. "Everything feels good when I run. I'm not worried about my knee at all. When I make cuts, I don't feel anything. When I get tackled, it feels just like it felt before I got hurt."

Taylor said a Coldspring defender tore his anterior cruciate ligament by twisting his knee after a tackle. Madisonville's season took a bad turn, as the Mustangs lost the big-play threat who was expected to take some pressure off running back Chris Whaley.

The injury short-circuited a junior season for Taylor that began with college recruiters showing plenty of interest after he finished second in the 100-meter dash at the state track meet as a sophomore.

"It messed up everything for me," Taylor said. "I just knew I was going to have a great season. It was hard for me to watch my team play and not be able to help."

Taylor underwent arthroscopic surgery and returned to play in the last game of the season, catching a long touchdown pass. However, the recovery process lasted through the spring. Taylor qualified for the regional track meet but did not earn a return trip to state.

At a Texas Tech football camp during the summer, Taylor was clocked at 4.40 seconds in the 40-yard dash, slightly over the 4.32 that Taylor said is his best time.

"When you're 4.4, it's hard to say that you slowed down a bit, but he was so fast as a sophomore," Madisonville coach Greg Morgan said. "Every muscle in his body is a fast-twitch fiber. We call it comic-book fast. He runs so fast that it's comical at times."

With that much speed at 5-foot-11 and 170-pounds, Taylor seems built to be a receiver in college. He will play running back and receiver for the Mustangs, in addition to being a cornerback on defense.

"He's going to play everything for us," Morgan said. "When we're running the ball, he's going to be our tailback. When it's an obvious passing situation, he'll be at wide receiver. We're not going to trick anybody. They're going to know where he is. We've got to get the ball to him."

Madisonville's Flash doesn't much care whether his title is running back or receiver. Just give Brock the rock.

"I like having the ball in my hands and scoring touchdowns, that kind of stuff," Taylor said. "It really doesn't make any difference to me where I line up."

Taylor has drawn interest from Big 12 schools, including Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Missouri. He hasn't received any scholarship offers yet, which he attributes to the knee injury, but he's made a qualifying score on his SAT. Morgan expects Taylor to receive several offers.

If Taylor stays healthy, he should become the second member of his family to play major-college football. Older brother Brad is a junior tight end at Baylor.

"Brock and his brother are night and day," Morgan said. "Brad was a very quiet, big kid ... quiet with a big stick. Brock is a lot more jovial, more expressive, more talkative, almost to the extreme. He is a live wire."