Marble Falls football braces to face speedy, athletic Taylor

CAPTION: Marble Falls senior Jaime Castillo pulls double duty for the Mustangs as a running back and a linebacker who is making a textbook tackle of Burnet senior athlete Grant Jones. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Marble Falls High School football team welcomes Taylor at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, to Mustang Stadium.

Both teams are seeking their first win in District 13-4A Division I. The victorious squad will take a step toward the postseason.

Mustangs (1-5, 0-2) head coach Brian Herman compared the Ducks (3-4, 0-2) to Killeen Chaparral and Kerrville Tivy.

“They’re athletic with speed and size,” he said. “They have speed on offense. They move the ball around. They put their athletes in space. They do a good job of spreading it out. They have multiple athletes in multiple positions. They return a lot of players on both sides.”

Taylor’s offense is led by senior quarterback Joshua Mikulencak, who has completed 80 of 121 passes for 1,233 yards, 13 touchdowns and an interception, 36 rushes for 208 yards and seven scores, and has 28 catches for 415 yards and four touchdowns.

The Ducks, however, went with junior quarterback Nicholas Treuter during the 59-42 loss to San Antonio Davenport in the district opener Oct. 6. Treuter, who was named Taylor’s player of the game ensure the Ducks were very productive offensively. Taylor had 429 passing yards and 111 rushing yards and were 7 of 14 on third down. The Ducks used single back formations with some zone read plays.

The last quarterback the Mustangs faced with this type of accuracy was Sharyland Mission Pioneer quarterback Eddie Lee Marburger during the 2020 area round loss, He signed to play for the University of Texas at San Antonio.

“I’m impressed with the quarterback. He doesn’t take hits, he distributes the ball,” Herman said. “They look a lot more efficient. ”

Junior running back Andrias Fisher has 84 carries for 585 yards and five touchdowns for the season. Senior receiver Jackson Meller has 33 catches for 490 yards and four touchdowns.

Herman noted much of the same traits about the Taylor defense.

“They are big, strong athletic kids,” he said. “They’re chalk full of athletes. They have a strong defensive line.”

The Ducks have about 35 players on their roster, but only two are sophomores.

“They’re playing good ball,” Herman said.

Taylor’s other district loss was to Lampasas (6-1, 2-0) 43-24 Oct. 13 where the Ducks had 341 passing yards and 69 rushing yards and were 5 of 12 on third down. Against the Badgers, the Ducks chose not to have a running back in the formations.

The Ducks beat Jarrell 62-35 Sept. 22, Smithville 49-19 Sept. 15, and Rockdale 39-6 Sept. 1. The losses were to Waco Robinson 28-24 Sept. 8 and to Gatesville 34-27.

The Mustangs are in the midst of a crucial three-game stretch and are looking to bounce back from the 24-0 loss to Burnet last week. If Marble Falls can win out, the Mustangs have a shot at the postseason.

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