AUSTIN — The Taylor Ducks varsity football team moved to 2-0 in District 12-4A Division I play after a dominant 73-0 victory over the Austin Achieve Polar Bears on Friday, Oct. 3.
The Ducks put together their cleanest performance of the season, finishing without a turnover for the first time. Sophomore quarterback Johnny Guzman bounced back from a four-turnover outing last week by accounting for three touchdowns.
Taylor’s ground attack set the tone early and never let up, piling up five rushing scores. Junior running back Eric Walker led the way with more than 150 yards and a touchdown, highlighted by a 94-yard scoring run in the first quarter.
Senior utility player Landon Coulter, coming off a two-touchdown performance last week, continued to make an impact with another rushing score. The Ducks’ defense also played a major role, forcing multiple turnovers that set up short fields and quick points.
Taylor struck fast to open the game with a 50-second scoring drive capped off by a two-point conversion to make it 8-0. On the next possession, junior defensive back Joshua Meller intercepted a pass, giving the Ducks the ball at their own 43-yard line. Freshman wide receiver Elijah Afenkhena then took a screen pass 49 yards to the end zone, stretching the lead to 15- 0.
Afenkhena continued his breakout season, finishing with nearly 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Freshman utility player Jeremiah Caldwell followed up with a 35-yard touchdown run on a doublereverse jet sweep to make it 22-0.
That set the stage for Walker’s 94-yard sprint down the sideline to push the lead to 30-0 with 2:51 left in the first quarter. Moments later, the Ducks recovered a Polar Bears fumble, and Meller capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run for a 37-0 advantage.
The offense kept rolling in the second quarter as Guzman turned a broken play into a 27-yard scramble before finding senior wideout Zavier Stokes for an 8-yard touchdown pass. Taylor’s defense quickly added to the scoring when junior linebacker Cory Gleich scooped up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown to make it 51-0.
With just over eight minutes left in the second quarter, officials initiated a running clock. Even with limited possessions, the Ducks kept finding the end zone. Caldwell took over at quarterback in the second half and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Afenkhena for his second score of the night.
Taylor closed the game with two more rushing touchdowns: an 8-yarder from Coulter and a 27-yard run by sophomore Jonathan Morales.
In two meetings over the past two seasons, the Ducks have now outscored Austin Achieve by a combined 136-0.
Taylor (2-4, 2-0 district) will look to extend its winning streak when it hosts Northeast Early College on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m.
