Ball control and defense vital for Mustangs against Taylor
Marble Falls junior quarterback Noah Luckie looks for a receiver in the Mustangs' 24-0 loss to the Burnet Bulldogs on Oct. 13. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Marble Falls Mustangs and Taylor Ducks will each be looking for their first District 13-4A win of the season when they face off at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, at Mustang Stadium, 2101 Mustang Drive in Marble Falls.
Listen to the contest on KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune, at KBEYFM.com, or via the free KBEY app. You can also watch the game live at DailyTrib.com. Pregame starts at 7 p.m.
The Mustangs (1-6 overall, 0-2 district) take on Taylor (3-4, 0-2) after a disappointing 24-0 loss to county rival Burnet on Oct. 13.
“It was a much more even contest than the score reflects, but ultimately, we came out on the short end of it,” Marble Falls head coach Brian Herman told KBEY.
Herman credited a 10-minute chain of events between the end of the first half and the start of the second half as the deciding factor in the game.
“(The Bulldogs) scored 10 points in quick succession and then they came out and scored on the first possession of the half, and then we punted the ball away and they got another (touchdown),” he said. “Those four possessions — two in and two out of halftime — were the difference in the game.”
The coach believes his squad has the mental fortitude to bounce back after being blanked by the Bulldogs.
“I didn’t see any quit in them against Burnet, and I don’t expect to see any quit in them going forward,” Herman said. “We just have to find a way to keep battling.”
As the team turns to Taylor, defense is of the utmost importance, Herman said.
“(The Ducks are) scoring 38 points a game on average,” he said. “They’re an explosive offense.”
The senior-laden Ducks have roughly eight or nine players returning on each side of the ball from last year’s squad.
“They’re still explosive like they were last year, and they’re confident,” Herman said.
Ball control will also be crucial to keep the veteran Ducks offense from seeing the field.
“In this game, we really want to be snapping the ball with under five seconds on the play clock as much as possible because, (given how) explosive their offense is, we would very much like to keep them on the sideline,” Herman said.
Another key for the Mustangs is capitalizing on their possessions.
“We’ve had long drives that come up with no points,” Herman said. “We need those long drives to come up with points.”
A lack of available players has hindered Marble Falls, Herman said.
“We’re thin in number,” he said. “We don’t have the depth we had a couple of years ago. … It’s a numbers game, and right now, I guess three years ago, we had 54 names on a roster. Right now, we have 37 names on a roster. That’s a big difference.”