Coach Rick Cobia's Fighting Taylor Ducks rolled to an impressive 32-6 win Friday night in Austin as senior TB Tristan Meyer rushed for 233 yards and four TD's vs the Reagan Raiders.

   The Ducks travel to Manor this Friday for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off vs the Mustangs in what they expect to be a much tougher outing. 

   For the Ducks, Friday's win was a big boost of confidence as they rolled up 364 yards of offense and opened their season with a big win on the heels of last year's 2-8 season.

    Sophomore back Mark Jackson finished the night with 78 yards rushing in just eight carries and junior QB Ricky Cobia completed 2-of-4 passes for 35 yards, including a 23-yard reception by senior TE Corey Strmiska.

    The Ducks home season opener is September 12th when they host the Elgin Wildcats in a 7:30 p.m. kick-off at Memorial Field.  Many good season tickets options remain as ticket sales are underway.  Season tickets are $25 per seat. 

Taylor ISD Board President James "Bo" Stiles (left) and other trustees voted Monday night to officially call a November 4th school bond election in the amount of $43 million.

    By a unanimous vote, trustees chose to ask the public in November for their support for a $43 million bond package to build a new high school and to make other campus upgrades, as costs permit.

    The Board has called for the construction of a new 4-grade (9-10-11-12) campus, but no final determination will be made until cost projections are developed from the bid process.  Should the building project prove "too expensive," a less expensive three-grade campus may have to be built.  If that is the decision, the campus would be built for 1,000 students, with core facilities for no fewer than 1,200.

   After a final review of proposed sites, the Board adopted the "less expensive" FM 973 site as the proposed location, because cost savings would allow for more construction upgrades at other campuses.  On 973, the district presently owns 65 acres and thanks to the city's pledge to bring utilities to EWCHEC, the proposed infrastructure costs would be less than the northern site adjacent to Taylor Middle School.  Additional land would be needed at the northern site as well.

     "We know that growth is coming and we know we have capacity issues right now at several campuses," said Stiles.  "The problem is that we need at least $40 million to address our needs. We have to add 1,000 more seats and fix a number of concerns at the current high school due to its age.  We also have a state mandate for additional science labs and math classes for seniors beginning next year."