Last year was a year of overcoming adversity from Taylor. 

The Mustangs lost their quarterback for the season in the second game of the season, and faced injuries and setbacks throughout the year. But even with that the Mustangs battled and had their best season in three seasons, making it to the playoffs and finishing third in district and putting up some of the most impressive defensive performances of the year throughout the district.

Now the Mustangs goal is to take that success and build on it and they have taken steps to do that in the offseason. It’s a mixture of returners and players coming in who will need to step up to continue the success of last year’s class. But Taylor head coach chad Simmons believes that the team has the pieces to compete and take a step forward this year.

“The kids have been working non-stop since the winter and it’s been awesome to see them in the weight room and on the field. They’ve become a tight knit group of guys and they’re putting it together on the field I think,” said Taylor head coach Chad Simmons. “This group reminds me of a few of our teams that maybe didn’t have the same talent as the best in the state, but they played together and went on some really deep runs.”

Taylor will be led by a strong offensive line and it will pair greatly with the duo of running backs that the Mustangs will lean on in Javion Garrett and Josh Jacobson, who both made an impact on the team in their sophomore seasons and will be tasked with bigger roles going into their junior years. Connor Chnupa will take over the quarterback duties and has made a very good impression so far throughout the spring and summer. At first Chnupa was unsure about making the move from safety, but the leadership qualities he has and his ability to both run and throw helped his talent translate over to the position. The Mustangs will have very good speed to attack teams with as well along with an athletic offensive line.

“We can do a lot with that group this year, all of our lineman can really move around and while they’re not huge, they can hold their own and then we have three guys back that will all be a huge part of the run game,” Simmons said. “Both running backs are special players and Connor has really settled in at quarterback.”

On defense, Alexander McMoore and Landon Saurage will headline things and both are big impact players while Solomon Ross and Collin Forester will also play a big part in things. The Mustangs have had a strong defense historically and big things will be expected from the group again this year if Taylor is to meet their expectations. There’s been quality competition all year and it’s led to players stepping up.

“Internal competition is the best thing you can have as a football program and they’ve been great about that this year,” Simmons said. “We always talk about the battle between the ears and healthy competition at practice helps with that. If you are competing against each other every day you are going to be ready for that battle during the season. It’s been fun seeing that happen at a lot of positions.”

One of the biggest question marks this Taylor team will have to deal with is its relative youth, as they return just four starters on offense and three on defense and they will have to use the time early in the season to get players playing time and adjusted. But that process of getting adjusted has already been happening and Simmons is excited to see where things head as the season progresses. The Mustangs will play Cy-Woods and Fort Bend Bush to start the season before opening district with games against Mayde Creek and Morton Ranch.

“We have to have a good defense that is ready for anything and just the way they have handled practice shows that they can be that,” Simmons said. “Of course we have to be strong on both sides of the ball, but we have to be good up front and then offensively, our philosophy this year is ‘six points or six minutes.’ We need to be able to control the clock, run the ball, play in multiple formations and build our play action off of that. We like what we have on both sides of the ball this year.”