The past two years have had their fair share of struggles for Taylor.

Two years ago, injuries riddles what could have been a strong year for the Mustangs and last year a young team tried to learn how to win at the varsity level while playing in one of the strongest districts in the state.

But this year is about taking a step back towards success. The Mustangs bring back a wealth of starting experience and they are determined to fight for a playoff spot.

“These guys have had the best offseason I’ve ever been a part of,” said Taylor head coach Chad Simmons. “They followed that up with a great summer and it’s really just been an excellent group. The kids have been hard at work on the field, in the weight room and we think these guys have what it takes to compete at a high level this year. It’s exciting.”

Taylor returns two of their top talents on the offensive side of the ball in senior running back Dante Archie and senior tight end Ian Flynt.

Archie is a super explosive running back that can break a run at any time and is also a threat in the passing game. He comes off a year where he ran for 760 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground while adding 295 yards and four more touchdowns receiving. Flynt had 129 yards receiving to go with two touchdowns and is also a huge presence in the run blocking game.

Josh Higginbotham will take over at quarterback and lead the offense while Joe Praise Adeyemi will get some looks at running back along with Archie. Simmons has liked what he’s seen overall from the group.

“We have some really talented guys on that side of the ball,” Simmons said. “We have a quarterback coming in who can really throw the ball and we think we can have a very balanced offense. Dante is electric running the ball and can play receiver as well and Ian is also a really big piece in both the pass and run game. We don’t think we’ll be locked in to doing just one thing this year and we can attack teams weaknesses, it’s been a good group to be around.”

Defensively, the Mustangs bring back seven starters from last years team and have lots to build off of. Cyrus Reyes is a leader and playmaker at the safety position who led the team in tackles last year with 8 while adding an interception and four pass deflections. The other big leader of the defense is Ashton Coker, the senior defensive lineman is a force up front who had had 46 tackles last season with three tackles for loss. Landon Saurage, Adeyemi, Victory Kalu-Uka will also all be important players on the defense.

“Ashton and Cyrus are two great leaders and players and they really have been great for us all offseason,” Simmons said. “We have some good pieces on defense and we think that if we can be healthy we can be much better than we have been over the past two years.”

The Mustangs open the season by playing Cy-Woods and George Ranch, before taking on Seven Lakes and Tompkins in their first two district games, as Taylor looks to get off to a fast start.

“We made sure to schedule two really solid programs to get us ready,” Simmons said. “Cy-Woods is a really good team that will challenge us and George Ranch is very athletic and the two of them really will help prepare us, because we have to be ready. District 19-6A is one of the best district’s in the state and you have to be ready to be challenged. You can’t face subpar competition and then get a false sense of security and not be ready, so those two games are extremely important.”