FRANKLIN – The Taylor High School varsity football team made the trip to Franklin High School on Thursday evening as the Ducks certainly had their work cut out for them against an elite Lions team that has won 32 straight games over the past two seasons that resulted in two straight state championships.
The Ducks got all they could handle from Franklin to start the scrimmage as the Lions had very fast players, huge offensive linemen who were extremely athletic and a disciplined scheme on offense with the run-heavy Slot-T that Franklin executed almost to perfection.
Although Taylor struggled to stop the run on defense and had a lot of trouble moving the ball on offense, things started to gradually click more on both sides of the ball for the Ducks as the scrimmage went on into the night. Ducks senior running back and wide receiver hybrid Jackson Meller, who had a long touchdown reception in the previous scrimmage against Cameron Yoe High School, had multiple touchdowns for the Ducks on Thursday.
Taylor senior wide receiver Treos Richardson notably had a few acrobatic catches for the Ducks, including a deep touchdown reception down the Taylor sideline. Looking forward to the regular season, the connection between him and senior quarterback Joshua Mikulencak could be a thing of beauty as the pair has the potential to put up big numbers on the stat sheet.
Senior wide receiver Kayden Land also had a long touchdown reception for the Ducks late in the scrimmage, while junior wide receiver Joel Lopez made a superb overthe- shoulder catch on a perfectly thrown ball from Ducks’ junior backup quarterback Nick Treuter.
During the late portion of the scrimmage with the running clock, the Ducks went back and forth with the Lions and the special teams unit even came up clutch as senior kicker Isaac Castro drilled a 47-yard field goal to the delight of his teammates and coaches.
The time has come for the 2023 regular season to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25 as the Ducks open the season on the road against Gatesville High School.
