EARLY – Off to one of their best starts in school history, the Early Longhorns look to remain unbeaten as they host the Merkel Badgers at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the 2021 homecoming contest.

The Longhorns (3-0) have started the season with victories over Bangs (48-12), Tolar (33-16) and Comanche (58-14), while Merkel (2-1) kicked off its season with wins over Reagan County (24-15) and Stanton (19-0) before falling to Hawley (41-7) last week.

As for the opportunity to secure a fourth straight victory in front of home fans and alumni Friday night, Early second-year head coach Daniel Price said, “We wanted to build something that the fans and the alumni could be proud of. We spent a lot of time with that group of seniors last year that graduated and talked about them setting the foundation we’re going to build on. We want to put something on the field they can come home and be proud of. When they come home and put on their Longhorn shirt they can say they had a part in this. That’s a big part of what this week is about, having those alumni come back and say I’m proud to be an Early Longhorn. It’s been up and down since 2008, we’ve been close a couple of times before finally breaking through and making the playoffs last year. People that are turning up to see us play are saying I’m proud to be an Early Longhorn.

“At the same time, as a coach you always worry because there’s a lot of distractions. We’re going to have a parade and bonfire, a homecoming pep rally. You have a bunch of people and alumni coming back, and you worry about focus all week long because there’s different events going on throughout the week. I think we’ll be fine, just get to Friday and do what we do on the field, have fun against Merkel and go try and win another one.”

The Longhorns are coming off what Price considers their most complete performance to date in a 58-14 victory over Comanche. Early’s defense allowed just 182 yards and forced five turnovers, while the Longhorn offense churned out 405 yards.

“We played really well,” Price said. “It was a full team effort, a full team win. We started fast and kept the pedal down and it was fun to watch. It was the first complete game we’ve played a full four quarters against a team this year. I’m proud of our boys, they did a really good job.

Early is averaging 46 points and 422 yards per game – 232 passing and 190 rushing. Quarterback Jaxyn Price has completed 43 of 68 passes for 621 yards with 10 touchdowns and one interception, while leading receivers include Jeremy Brown (16-200, 3 TDs), John-Stewart Gordon (10-217, 2 TDs), Cedrick Morelan (4-113, 2 TDs), Caleb McCullough (4-46, 2 TDs), Tre Beam (3-52, TD), and Ki Houston (3-44, TD). The ground game is anchored by Beam (398 yard, 6 TDs).

“It starts up front with the offensive line,” Price said. “Chris Crawford, Bradly Roman, Chris Fernandez, Casey Moseley, Brooks Clippinger, Cody Jackson, Cody Sanderson, and Fisher Fulton have all done a good job protecting on the passing downs and getting us movement on the running ones. When they’re able to protect and do those things we’re able to have a lot of success. It’s not that we’ve called it to try and be as balanced as what we are, it’s just worked out that way. We have put in some RPO stuff so there is the option to hand it off or throw it. It’s been nice not to have to lean on or rely on one thing or the other. We’re able to throw the ball better this year because we have a lot of experience at receiver and quarterback. Our O line has done really well and Tre Beam has had a couple of big nights so it’s been a good balance so far.”

Defensively, the Longhorns are yielding just 14 points and 225 yards – 119 passing and 106 rushing – per outing with eight takeaways.

Standouts include McCullough (28.5 tackles, 6 for loss), Korbin Hall (22.5 tackles, 6 for loss), Tucker Hale (22 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 INT), Franky Villarreal (20 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 for loss), Beam (19 tackles, 7 for loss, 1 FR), Kaleb Ozuna (18.5 tackles, 1 for loss), and Brown (14.5 tackles, 2 INTs).

“It’s unbelievable the growth we are seeing up front,” Price said of the defense. “We talked before the season started about how were we going to replace those seniors up front on the defensive line. Coach (Randall) Case and Coach (Greg) Vaughn have done a good job getting those guys to play at a high level. They’re using their hats and their hands and getting off blocks and making plays. Linebackers have run through quite a bit, we had eight sacks on Friday, so we’re doing a great job up front in the box putting pressure on an offense. In the back end we’ve cleaned some things up. Tolar hit a couple of big plays on us, Bangs hit a play on us, to see those things start to get cleaned up, we had just one instead of three or four Friday night.”

As for the challenges the Badgers will present, Price said, “Merkel is really big. Traditionally they have big offensive linemen, some great skill kids, they come down hill at you and run the ball well Their quarterback is a pretty good athlete so he’s going to poise so problems for us.

“Defensively they’re very similar to Comanche scheme-wise as far as being in a 3-4. They’re very athletic and like to bring some pressure, so it will be a good match up for us to see where we’re at. It’s another good test for us to get ready for district.”

Regarding what Price would like to see from the Longhorns on Friday that he has yet to see, he said, “It’s hard to say there’s a lot after that performance on Friday. I’d like to see us continue to play well and get up for games. I’m proud of the way they play this past Friday night, and we need to be that same team for four quarters again this Friday night.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 28-point favorite.

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Early Longhorns 2021 Football Stats

Through 3 Games (3-0)

TEAM OFFENSE
46.3 points per game (139)

422.0 yards per game (1,266)
190.3 rushing yards per game (571)
231.7 passing yards per game (695)

PASSING
‒ Jaxyn Price
43 of 68 for 621 yards, 10 TDs, 1 INT

‒ Tucker Hale
2 of 2 for 74 yards, TD

RUSHING
‒ Tre Beam
398 yards on 46 carries, 6 TDs

‒ Michael Morales
71 yards on 22 carries, TD

‒ Franky Villarreal
44 yards on 8 carries

‒ Kaleb Ozuna
33 yards on 11 carries

‒ Riley Hill
32 yards on 4 carries

‒ Tucker Hale
2 yards on 1 carry

‒ Jaxyn Price
-9 yards on 3 carries

RECEIVING
‒ Jeremy Brown
16 catches for 200 yards, 3 TDs

‒ John-Stewart Gordon
10 catches for 217 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Cedrick Morelan
4 catches for 113 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Caleb McCullough
4 catches for 46 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Tre Beam
3 catches for 52 yards, TD

‒ Ki Houston
3 catches for 44 yards, TD

‒ Gavin Sanders
3 catches for 17 yards

‒ Hayden Welch
1 catch for 5 yards

‒ Michael Morales
1 catch for 1 yard

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TEAM DEFENSE
14.0 points per game (42)
224.7 yards per game (674)

105.7 rushing yards per game (317)
119.0 passing yards per game (357)

TACKLES

‒ Caleb McCullough
28.5 tackles, 6 for loss, 2 sacks

‒ Korbin Hall
22.5 tackles, 6 for loss

‒ Tucker Hale
22 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack, 1 INT

‒ Franky Villarreal
20 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 for loss

‒ Tre Beam
19 tackles, 7 for loss, 3 sacks, 1 FR

‒ Kaleb Ozuna
18.5 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack

‒ Jeremy Brown
14.5 tackles, 2 INTs

‒ John-Stewart Gordon
8 tackles, 1 INT

‒ Gavin Sanders
8 tackles

‒ Vic Cooper
8 tackles

‒ Chris Fernandez
7 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Dalton Adams
5 tackles

‒ Brooks Clippinger
4.5 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Casey Moseley
4.5 tackles

‒ Bradly Roman
3 tackles

‒ Ki Houston
2.5 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Cedric Morelan
2 tackles

‒ Jaxyn Price
2 tackles

‒ Riley Hill
1.5 tackles

‒ Hayden Welch
1 tackle

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TURNOVER MARGIN: (+5)
Early 3 – 2 fumbles, 1 INT
Opponents 8 — 3 INTs, 5 FRs