PEORIA — Taylor Isley was back in football pads last week – perhaps for the final time – to prepare for the 36th annual Illinois Coaches Association Shriner All-Star Football game in Peoria Stadium. Still, he wasn’t feeling too sentimental as he stripped off his equipment at the end of each practice.

Thanks to the ninety-plus degree heat, he was actually more excited to be a swimmer than a football player.

“They had a big professional pool there,” said Isley, who stayed on the campus of Eureka College from Tuesday to Saturday. “As soon as our practices ended, we’d all go jump in. It was a blast.”

While the swimming was nice, Isley said his best memory from the week was visiting the Shriners Hospital for Children – the recipient of all proceeds generated from the game. The players took a tour of the facility on Wednesday and watched a presentation about the hospital and its free services for children.

“We saw a presentation on a girl who the hospital had basically saved. She’d gone through something like 21 surgeries,” Isley said. “At the end, she came walking out. It was cool.”

The game itself was a bit anti-climactic. Isley’s team – the West All-Stars – fell behind 15-0, but engineered a 70-yard drive just before halftime to cut the lead to eight. Lightning was spotted during the break and after an extended waiting period, the game was called.

“That was kind of a bummer,” Isley said. “I was really looking forward to going out and playing some more.”

The pool, as it turned out, was the roughest part of the week for Isley, who won’t be mistaken for a professional diver anytime soon.

“I smacked my face on the water a few times trying to do a gainer off the professional diving board,” he said, referring to a difficult dive that features a backward flip while flying forward.

Isley said the extreme heat brought back fond memories of summer camps at RTHS, where he had a distinguished career as a four-year starter. He was a captain on the 2009 team and led the Hubs in tackles for a loss as a defensive end. He won Lifter of the Year, started on both sides of the ball and was one of four Hubs named to the All-Western Sun team.

“To be a four-year starter on four playoff teams is an almost unheard of accomplishment at this level,” RTHS football coach Kevin Crandall said. “You probably see it more at 1A or 2A, but not [5A].”

Former RTHS standout Ben Schwartz played in last year’s game. Each of the 74 players on the two All-Star teams this summer were nominated by coaches.

“Taylor is an excellent representative of our program. The All-Star team coaches were raving about his work ethic and what a great leader he was. They also mentioned how much fun he is to be around. He can be a bit of a character,” Crandall said.

Isley will be attending Western Illinois University this fall. He is focusing strictly on academics his freshman year but hasn’t completely ruled out trying to walk onto the football team as a sophomore.

“We’ll see,” he said.