EARLY – The Early Longhorns opened the home portion of their football schedule with their first victory under first-year head coach Daniel Price, 41-25 over the Tolar Rattlers Friday night.
“The kids played really hard, we generated four turnovers and that really spurred us on offensively,” Price said. “They fumbled on their opening possession, we went down and scored and that kind of set the tone. We got the first touchdown under our belt and then we got after it.”
Early (1-1) led Tolar (0-2) by a 7-3 count after one quarter, 28-11 at halftime and carried its 41-25 lead into the fourth period.
“This was big for our confidence because it’s always tough when we play Tolar,” Price said. “This is year four for me and they’ve always been great games and tonight was another one. They have a young team and they played really hard. It was a good battle between us and for us to pick up a win here, hopefully this sets the stage and we keep building toward district.”
The Longhorns, who were limited to 135 total yards in a 28-0 season-opening loss at Bangs, finished with 398 total yards against the Tolar defense.
“After last week we knew we were close (offensively) but to see us come out tonight and do that, it was a good feeling,” Price said.
Alex Jacobs rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown, Tre Beam contributed 86 yards and two scores on the ground and quarterback Jaxyn Price tacked on 52 yards with a trip to the end zone.
Through the air, Price connected on 4 of 14 passes for 100 yards with a touchdown. John-Stewart hurled a 40-yard scoring toss as well.
Leading receivers included Gordon with two grabs for 66 yards and a touchdown, Hayden Schroeder with a 40-yard scoring reception, Beam caught a 27-yard pass and Tyson Tyler hauled in a 7-yard reception.
Early did turn the ball over twice, but forced four Tolar turnovers as the Rattlers have coughed up the ball 10 times through their first two outings.
Tolar finished with 273 yards of total offense – 213 passing, with three scoring tosses, and 60 rushing on 29 carries. The Rattlers lost two fumbles and were intercepted twice.
“The defense played like we needed them to,” Price said. “They were really good up front, we gave up a couple of big plays on the back end, but overall they were pretty consistent the whole night. We knew the defense was coming back with quite a few players that played last year and had some experience, and I’m really proud of that side of the ball. They’ve done a great job allowing our young offense to grow.”
The Longhorns will be back in action 7:30 p.m. Friday at Comanche (2-0), which has defeated Brady, 28-7, and Mason, 14-0, to start its season.
