(Eds. Note: The article

about a former popular

Gaffney High assistant football

coach is courtesy of the

Charlotte Observer)

Greg Taylor has taken on many challenges during his career as a football coach, helping rebuild and reload programs at Gaffney, S.C., Fort Mill and most recently Rock Hill South Pointe.

But Taylor, 57, hopes his latest task and team, Myers Park, not only will be one of his most successful stops, but also his final job as a high school football coach.

“I’m definitely looking at this as my last stop,” said Taylor, who takes over after Jim Ruark led the Mustangs to a 39-47 mark during the past seven years. “I want to go out with a bang.”

Taylor and company will have some work to do as the Mustangs attempt to climb the ladder of the Southwestern 4A standings. The conference includes some of the best teams in the state, like defending 4AA state champion Butler and perennial power Independence.

“It’s certainly going to be a challenge, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Taylor said. “I feel like this program is a diamond in the rough. I don’t have any illusions about doing it overnight. But I am excited about what we could accomplish here.”

That challenge begins this season as Taylor TEAM S m must r e stock a younger team after the Mustangs graduated several key players.

The process starts at quarterback, where junior varsity stars Blaine Anderson and Ross Jefferies will compete for the position. Anderson has more experience as a signal caller, but Jefferies, also a baseball player, could have the advantage of athleticism in what will be a spread formation most of the time.

Whoever plays quarterback will have immediate help in the backfield as senior tailback Deyonta Wright and senior fullback Devon Cooper return as two of the better players at

OGRESS their positions in the conference.

Receiver is a different story, as starters Banks Jenkins (Catawba), Hunter Westfall (Richmond) and Ace Richardson all moved on, leaving Myers Park with an untested passing game.

Taylor says six or seven guys are competing for the positions, but none have separated themselves just yet.

The offensive and defensive lines also will feature largely untested

players, but there is a

healthy competition

TEAMS • CH among several players

for the starting slots. SES • FAMI “I really haven’t seen

us block or tackle in

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OGRESS

front on either side of the ball,” Taylor said. “I’ve seen a lot of video, but I’ll have to see it on the (practice) field to be sure.”

The linebacking corps will be strong with junior Garrett Gysel leading the way. Gysel led the Mustangs in tackles early on last year, before losing his season to injury.

Cooper will join him as a hybrid defensive end/linebacker in a defense that will line up in multiple fronts to try to create confusion.

The secondary will be the most experienced defensive unit with Daniel Kinsela, Austin Long and Curry Shoff headlining the group.

“We are going to have to be able to stop people to get better,” Taylor said. Myers Park “has lost a lot of close games in the past few years. We’re not light years away from being a much better team.”

The schedule won’t do Myers Park any favors; after opening with Garinger, the Mustangs will take on solid teams like Hopewell, North Mecklenburg and Olympic before hitting the conference slate, which always is one of the best conferences in North Carolina.

“To be the man, you have to beat the man,” Taylor said, alluding to pro wrestler Ric Flair’s famous quote. “Everything is right in front of us. If we play well against the teams on our schedule, then we can beat anybody in the state.”