Football Preview: Taylor Ducks vs. LBJ Austin Jaguars
The Taylor Ducks are taking a road trip to challenge the LBJ Austin Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Taylor comes in on four and LBJ Austin on eight.
Taylor's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They really took it to Eastside Early College for the full four quarters, racking up a 63-0 win. The Ducks' defense has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a point in their last three contests.
Taylor's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Eli Laurence, who threw for 257 yards and four touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. Taylor also got a significant boost from Andrias Fisher, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 119 yards.
Taylor was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 244 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 93.8 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last four matches they've averaged 218.2.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask LBJ Austin). They blew past Northeast Early College 85-0 on Friday. Given the Jaguars' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 115th, while the Raiders are ranked 1165th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
LBJ Austin's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ali Scott led the charge by throwing for 188 yards and four touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes, and also rushing for 40 yards and a touchdown. Scott is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last five games he's played. Marquis Murry II did his part for the team as well, scoring a TD off of 32 receiving yards.
The win got Taylor back to even at 4-4. As for LBJ Austin, their victory was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 8-0.
Friday's game might be decided in the on the ground. Taylor has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 156 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like LBJ Austin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 199.6. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Taylor was dealt a bruising 76-8 loss at the hands of LBJ Austin in their previous meeting back in November of 2021. Can Taylor avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
