Ducks hammer Hawks, earn playoff berth
ANDREW SALMI [email protected]
The Taylor High School varsity football team will be back in the playoffs for the second straight year, after the Ducks exploded for a 66-28 landslide victory Oct. 27 at home on senior night over Canyon Lake High School.
“It was a great win for our program,” said first-year head coach Earven Flowers after the victory. “Playoffs two years in a row is definitely something to be proud of. Our football program took a lot of lumps in the past, so it feels good to have some success.”
Taylor got things going offensively right off the bat with two solid runs from senior running back Kyetrevius Sanford and then scored on the third offensive play of the game as senior quarterback Joshua Mikulencak tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior Jacob Mikulencak to put the Ducks up 7-0 early.
Following an 11-yard touchdown run by Joshua Mikulencak, Canyon Lake got on the board with a long touchdown pass to get within 14-7 midway through the first quarter, but again the Ducks answered on offense. Less than one minute into the second quarter, Joshua found his brother Jacob on a 36-yard strike over the middle to extend the Ducks’ lead to 21-7.
With just under eight minutes left in the second quarter, the Mikulencakbrother-connection struck for the third time of the night as Joshua hit Jacob for a 66-yard touchdown pass as the Ducks were rolling with a 28-7 lead. After another long touchdown by the Hawks on a blown coverage by the Taylor defense, the Duck offense answered the call on a long drive that resulted in a two-yard touchdown run by senior running back Jackson Meller. Although Canyon Lake had an impressive scoring drive to get within 35-21, Taylor snatched away any sort of momentum the Hawks may have had going forward. On the ensuing kickoff, Meller made some nifty moves and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown as Taylor would take a 42-21 lead into halftime and not look back.
In the second half, Taylor would get four more scoring plays with a short field goal from senior kicker Isaac Castro, an 18-yard touchdown run from Joshua Mikulencak, a three-yard touchdown run from senior tight end Braylan Alderete and a one-yard touchdown run by senior running back Alejandro Randle to cap off a 66-point scoring outburst.
Taylor (5-4 overall, 2-2 in 4A-1 District 13) will conclude its 2023 regular season Friday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. as the Ducks travel to take on Burnet High School in a battle of two playoff-bound teams. The Bulldogs are 6-3 and 3-1 in the district following Friday night’s 4131 victory on the road against Davenport High School.
