By George Slaughter
The Taylor Mustangs began strong, but couldn’t finish as they dropped a 35-21 contest to Langham Creek in the area round of the Texas Class 6A Division II playoffs Friday at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium.
The Lobos improve to 10-1 and will play the winner of the Kingwood-Clear Lake game, which is set for Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs finish their season at 6-5.
Taylor began the game with a 68-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 13-yard run by senior running back Ean Beek. Senior kicker Randy Miller kicked the extra point.
It would be Taylor’s only lead of the game, however. On the ensuing drive, the Lobos scored on a 67-yard pass from junior quarterback Chris Herron to senior wide receiver Devin Lawrence. Herron ran it in for a two-point conversion and an 8-7 Lobos lead.
The Lobos got their second score on a 23-yard pass from Herron to Lawrence with 11:25 left in the second quarter. Junior kicker Kevin Marks kicked the extra point, giving Langham Creek a 15-7 lead it would take into halftime.
The second half began with turnovers by each team. The Lobos had taken the kickoff and were driving when it lost a fumble at the Taylor 31. The Mustangs were driving when the senior quarterback threw an interception to Lobos junior linebacker D.J. Harris, who returned it to the Taylor 47.
On the next play, Herron threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Golden Eke. The extra point gave the Lobos a 22-7 lead with 7:15 left in the third quarter.
The Mustangs weren’t going away quietly, however. Taylor took the kickoff and put together a 78-yard scoring drive, with senior running back Camron Hudson scoring from two yards out with 3:37 left in the third quarter.
Marks had two field goals, a 27-yarder with 46 seconds left in the third quarter, and a 26-yarder with 5:21 left in the game.
Langham Creek’s final touchdown came on a 25-yard pass from Herron to senior wide receiver Ahmad Young with 4:21 left in the game.
Reflecting on the past few seasons, Taylor interim coach Joe Steffy said it was 2-18 when the current coaching staff came to Taylor four years ago and added that the program had made the playoffs for three of the last four years.
“After we lost to Cinco Ranch, nobody gave us a hoot in hell to do anything,” Steffy said, “We got to play nearly to December.”
Steffy said the team never spoke about the adversity it faced this season and tried to concentrate on who it was playing.
“We overcame and tried to go where we could go,” Steffy said. “We tried to put a good product on the field.”
The Mustangs will have some issues to address during the off-season, the most important of which is the appointment of a permanent head coach.
After Taylor lost its season opener, the Katy Independent School District placed coach Trey Hermann on leave but said the matter was unrelated to his role with students. The district said at the time that more information on Herrmann’s situation could not be provided because it was a personnel matter.
Herrmann is now coaching football and teaching physical education at Seven Lakes Junior High School.
The district appointed Sheffy, who was an assistant coach at Taylor and previously the head coach at Mayde Creek High School, as interim head coach. The Mustangs went 6-4 on Sheffy’s watch. Sheffy said Friday that he had expressed interest to district officials about being named permanent head coach.