CAMERON – The Taylor High School varsity football team’s hard work on a scorching hot day was properly rewarded on Saturday, June 10 as the Ducks went 3-1 at the 7-on-7 state qualifying tournament hosted by Cameron Yoe High School. With their final victory of the day, the Ducks were able to qualify for the upcoming Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 7-on-7 State Tournament on June 22-23 held at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station.
TAYLOR 18, LAGO VISTA 13
The Ducks’ first game of the morning in Pool D play was against Lago Vista High School and Taylor started the day off with a bang. Taylor senior quarterback Joshua Mikulencak threw a deep pass downfield to fellow senior wide receiver Jordan Pickerill, who made an acrobatic leaping catch over a Vikings’ defender to haul in the ball inside the 5-yard line. The Ducks were able to get on the board for the first time of the day when Mikulencak connected for a short touchdown pass with senior running back Kayden Land to make it 6-0.
After Lago Vista was able to drive down the field and even the score at 6-6, Taylor had a strong response on offense with another impressive drive engineered by Mikulencak.
This drive was a very active one for Ducks senior wide receiver Jackson Meller, who had multiple catches on the drive that helped Taylor get deep into the red zone. Mikulencak capped off the great drive with a short touchdown pass to Pickerill to retake the lead 12-6 late in the first half. Right before halftime, the Ducks kept the Vikings off the scoreboard with a pivotal pass breakup on defense in the endzone by Meller from his safety spot.
The tandem of Mikulencak and Meller was back at it again in the second half as Meller scored his first touchdown of the day to give the Ducks an 18-6 lead. However, a long pass on the next drive by Lago Vista set up a short touchdown pass as the Vikings were still in the game down just 18-13.
Taylor had the opportunity to get the lead back to two possessions but the Ducks’ offense stalled near the goal line after Mikulencak threw multiple passes to Land downfield. Following the turnover on downs for the Ducks with time in regulation running out, it was up to the Taylor defense to secure the win and it did just that.
Lago Vista’s offense was turned away thanks to Taylor junior cornerback Ethan Flagg, who made a great read on a pass and intercepted the ball to seal an 18-13 victory for the Ducks.
TAYLOR 25, LORENA 31
Although the Ducks were ultimately defeated in overtime by an elite Lorena High School team, this game proved that the Ducks were able to hang with great teams when facing adversity.
Despite Lorena bringing more than twice as many skill-position players to 7-on-7 as Taylor did, the Ducks were able to go blow-for-blow with the Leopards. After Lorena drove down the field on its opening drive for a touchdown to go up 6-0, Mikulencak and the Taylor offense had a swift response as the senior quarterback connected on a pass with Pickerill that got the Ducks inside the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Mikulecak went right back to his trusted receiver Pickerill for a short touchdown to knot the game up at 6-6.
Unfortunately for the Ducks, the next two drives for Taylor ended up hurting them as a long touchdown drive by Lorena on offense was followed up by an interception returned for a touchdown to make it 19-6.
This Taylor team refused to quit as firstyear head coach Earven Flowers’ squad showed a lot of resilience to get back into this game.
After Mikulencak completed a pass for a nice gain to senior wide receiver Antonio Torres, the Ducks got on the scoreboard right before halftime. On a dump-off pass to Land, the senior running back showed off some great agility as he avoided being touched by a defender and tiptoed down the sideline to stay in bounds for the score. After a successful conversion attempt, the Ducks trailed the Leopards just 19-13 heading into halftime.
Taylor got a muchneeded spark from its defense to start the second half as Flagg nabbed his second interception of the day to give the Ducks’ offense the ball back. The Mikulencak and Meller duo was back at it again as they connected twice for receptions on the drive, including a short touchdown pass that tied the game up at 19-19.
After Lorena struck back quickly for a long touchdown pass to make it 25-19 with limited time left in regulation, Taylor needed an answer on offense to stay alive and potentially take the lead late in the game.
Meller had multiple receptions on the drive, which included a long catch-and-run down inside the 5-yard line.
Mikulencak capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Land in the closing seconds to tie the game up at 25-25. Taylor had the opportunity to win the game with a successful conversion attempt and it appeared as if they got it when Pickerill made a great catch in the corner of the endzone. Unfortunately, the two referees ruled it an incompletion as Taylor and Lorena would have to settle this game in overtime.
After the Leopards scored a touchdown but were unsuccessful on the conversion attempt to go up 31-25, Taylor needed a touchdown to stay alive. Mikulencak went for it all on a deep pass to senior wide receiver Treos Richardson but the Lorena defender was able to jump up high and intercept the ball in the endzone to seal the 31-25 victory for the Leopards.
Since Lorena had already qualified for the upcoming state tournament at a previous 7-on-7 site, they were ineligible to advance to the championship game between Pool C and Pool D’s top team. This meant that the spot in the championship would come down to the winner of the Taylor and Hallettsville game.
TAYLOR 28, HALLETTSVILLE 12 The Ducks would bounce back with a great performance against Hallettsville High School as Taylor switched from their green jerseys to their white ones.
After both Taylor and Hallettsville were unable to score on their opening offensive possessions, it was the Ducks who got on the scoreboard first with two touchdowns in the first half. Mikulencak threw a pass to Meller, who was able to get deep into Brahmas’ territory.
The drive was capped off with a short touchdown pass to Richardson and a successful conversion to Torres to go up 7-0.
With the Ducks’ defense stifling the Brahmas on offense and not allowing them to move the ball, Taylor capped off a great first half with a long touchdown pass from Mikulencak to Meller to go up 14-0 heading into halftime.
After the Brahmas scored on their first possession of the second half to cut the Ducks’ lead to just 14-6, Taylor had a swift response on offense as a pass to Land got the Ducks inside the 10-yard line. The drive was capped off with a clutch short touchdown pass by Mikulencak to Torres and a successful conversion to Meller to go up 21-6.
Although Hallettsville was able to score a touchdown, the Ducks did not allow the Brahmas to get the conversion and kept this a two-possession game up 21-12. Taylor would add one more insurance score as Land scored a long touchdown over the middle of the field and Richardson made an incredible catch for the conversion to put the Ducks up 28-12, a score that would hold the rest of the way.
TAYLOR 20, YOAKUM 19
With Taylor crowned as the Pool D champion, the Ducks would travel from the grass-surfaced track stadium down the road to play on Turf at Yoe Field for the championship game against Pool C winner Yoakum High School. Taylor had about 15 minutes to get from the track stadium to Yoe Field with barely any rest, while Yoakum had roughly an hour of rest since they finished their final Pool C game earlier in the day.
The Ducks got off to a very good start against the Bulldogs as the Taylor defense set the tone early for Taylor with a leaping interception by Meller.
With the ball back on offense, Mikulencak went right back to Meller on offense for a long touchdown pass and a successful conversion attempt on a pass to Pickerill to go up 7-0.
Taylor’s defense continued its clutch play early in the championship game as senior cornerback Marcus Jackson and junior safety Joel Lopez broke up backto- back passes to force a Yoakum turnover on downs. The Duck offense promptly put together a great drive that was capped off with a touchdown pass from Mikulencak to Torres as Taylor was up 13-0.
Unfortunately, the Ducks gave up a long touchdown pass right before halftime on a broken defensive coverage but Taylor still held a 13-7 lead at halftime over Yoakum.
After the Bulldogs would tie this game up 13-13 on a short touchdown pass, Taylor needed a spark on offense to prevent the contest from slipping away. The Ducks got just that as Meller made a terrific catch on a throw from Mikulencak for a long gain all the way down to the Yoakum 7-yard line. With the conversion attempt to Torres successful, Taylor regained the lead 20-13.
The final minutes of this game were very intense as Yoakum would score a touchdown but was unsuccessful on the conversion as Taylor still held a 20-19 lead.
After Taylor turned the ball over on downs on its final offensive possession, it was up to the defense to secure the win. Yoakum would drive all the way down inside the Ducks’ 5-yard line in the closing seconds of the game. Needing just one more stop on defense to secure the win, the Ducks got just that as Meller was the hero when he broke up a pass in the endzone to prevent a touchdown as time expired.
