The Taylor Ducks varsity football team will begin its season this Friday, August 30th with a non-district game against the Gatesville Hornets. Head coach Earven Flowers is expecting a challenging game as the Ducks prepare for district play.

“(Gatesville is) a very physical team. They pride themselves on their weight room and their running game,” Flowers noted. “It’s a good matchup for us to prepare for stronger teams as the season progresses.”

The Ducks are looking for revenge after opening the season against Gatesville the last two years, both of which ended in heartbreaking losses. In 2023, the Ducks lost 34-27 after the Hornets scored a late, game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Last year, Gatesville earned a narrow 22-21 victory by converting a game-winning two-point conversion.

Flowers saw mistakes as one of the main reasons for these defeats and stressed that his team had to keep turnovers to a minimum in order to avoid another upset at the start of the season.

“Last year we started well and then started making mistakes. Gatesville caused some of those mistakes, but we just have to play cleaner as a team and take advantage of our opportunities,” Flowers said.

Flowers is keeping quiet about who will start as quarterback for Taylor until game day. “We’ll find out on Friday,” he revealed.

Despite the uncertainty at quarterback, one thing is certain: the return of running back Andrias Fisher, who led Taylor with 645 rushing yards last season. Flowers stressed the importance of integrating Fisher into the offense.

“With Fisher coming back, we have to give him the ball and find ways to ensure his success,” Flowers said.

The Ducks are coming off a 5-6 season and finished fourth in the 4A-1 Region IV District 13 with a record of 3-4. The Hornets went 7-5 overall in 2023 and finished third in the 4A-2 Region III District 11 with a record of 2-2. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. at Taylor Stadium.