EARLY – In the midst of their best start to a season since 1976, the undefeated Early Longhorns will find out just where they stand among the state’s elite as they open District 3-3A Division I action against their toughest challenge to date – the defending state champion and top-ranked Jim Ned Indians.

Kickoff between the Longhorns (5-0, 5-0) and the Indians (5-0, 0-0) is slated for 7 p.m. Friday in Tuscola.

“Jim Ned is a really good football team, the defending state champion and I would argue they are as good or better than they were a year ago when they won it all,” said Early second-year head coach Daniel Price. “For us, it’s a great spot to be in with the momentum we have.”

Jim Ned – with wins over Ballinger (42-7), Sweetwater (56-14), Eastland (48-20), Cisco (28-14), and Snyder (22-15) – enters the contest averaging 39 points and 415 yards per game, with 291 of those yards coming on the ground.

Xavier Wishert (937 yards, 10 TDs) leads the ground attack with Sergio Hernandez (189 yards, 2 TDs) chipping in, while Tate Yardley has connected on 33 of 65 passes for 620 yards with nine touchdowns and one interception. Leading receivers include Braden Lewis (11-200. 4 TDs) and Blaine Palmer (10-221, 3 TDs).

Early – which has knocked off Bangs (48-12), Tolar (33-16), Comanche (58-14), Merkel (48-13) and Grape Creek (49-0) – counters with a defense that yields 11 points and 207 yards per game, 112 rushing and 95 passing, with 16 takeaways.

Standouts for the Longhorns include Caleb McCullough (55 tackles, 10 for loss, 4 sacks), Tucker Hale (49 tackles, 5 for loss, 1 sack, 1 INT), Kaleb Ozuna (39 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 2 FRs, 1 INT), Franky Villarreal (36 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 sacks, 2 for loss, 1 FR), Korbin Hall (35 tackles, 7 for loss), Tre Beam (30 tackles, 12 for loss, 5 sacks, 1 FR), Jeremy Brown (25 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 INT), and John-Stewart Gordon (9 tackles, 5 INTs).

“Defensively it’s going to be challenging because they’re really good up front,” Price said. “We’ve worked on different techniques on how to try and slow them down, get in their way, get in (Wishert’s) path. He’s a really good football player and he was special all of last year and he’s been special up to this point this year. We’re going to do our best to try and shrink those running lanes he’s run through this year and preach to our kids about running to the football and gang tackling to get him down. We need to limit the big plays and home runs because that’s where they get you, they hit the big ones and he goes for a 60- or 70-yard touchdown.

“What’s crazy is (Wishert) is really good but so is their quarterback and their receiving corps. It’s not like they have to give it to Wishert, they do it quite a bit, but Tate Yardley throws the ball well, the receivers run good routes and catch well, they’re a complete team.”

On the flip side of the ball, Early produces 47 points and 413 yards – 236 passing and 177 rushing – per outing, with only three turnovers.

Jaxyn Price has completed 78 of 125 passes for 1,108 yards with 17 touchdowns and one interception, while top receiving threats include Brown (26-282, 3 TDs), Gordon (17-299, 3 TDs), Beam (7-156, 3 TDs), Ki Houston (6-117, 2 TDs), McCullough (5-56, 2 TDs), Vic Cooper (5-54), Cedrick Morelan (4-113, 2 TDs), Gavin Sanders (4-48, TD), and Villarreal (3-47, 2 TDs). On the ground, Beam has rushed for 577 yards and nine scores.

Jim Ned is allowing just 14 points per game behind the stellar play of Tanner Hussman (48 tackles), Wishert (33 tackles, 1 sack, 1 FR, 1 INT), Gage Stanaland (33 tackles, 3.5 sacks), Brayden Shipman (32 tackles, 1 sack, 1 FR), Gatlyn Cooper (25 tackles), Troy Doran (25 tackles), Hernandez (24 tackles, 1 INT, 1 FR), Noah Powell (23 tackles), Ty Farmer (22 tackles), and Austin Ellis (20 tackles).

“Their defense is probably the fastest collectively we’ve seen all year,” Price said. “They have big guys up front and they get a lot of pressure with three down linemen rushing the passer. They rush three and drop eight so it’s hard to throw in windows when they’re dropping that many. Those windows are going to be a lot smaller than they have been and we’ve prepared that way. It’s just hard to simulate until you get there. We’ve talked to the receivers about running crisp routes, the routes are going to have to be on time. We’ve talked to Jaxyn about getting the ball out on time when those windows are open because there’s some things that we can take advantage of, but they close really fast. Our challenge is going to be can we consistently throw and catch the football and can we get a push up front and get our ground game going early on and see if we can manage the clock a little bit and go score on them a few times. It’ll be a different challenge for us as far as game speed and seeing them fly around to the football.”

Among the additional keys in order to come away with the win Friday, Price said, “We have to be very disciplined and avoid penalties and we have to take care of the football. We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. We have to manage and sustain drives to keep their offense off the field. We can’t go three and out and put them on the field and rely on our defense all night because they’re really good offensively. Our defense has played well, I’m excited to see how we match up, but if you give their guys the ball over and over and they get enough touches something is going to break at some point.”

And if the Longhorns were to upend the reigning state champs?

“It changes our path for sure if we can manage to pull one off there, but we can’t get too high or too low,” Price said. “What we really want to accomplish, the goals we want to accomplish, are the games after this. This is a great measuring stick to see where we’re at and if we come away with a win that’s great and we’ll celebrate, but we have to turn the page and move on to Breckenridge and be ready to play next week because you’re only as good as your last game. It would be an awesome time for those boys who have worked for it, but again our season is the four after this one, too, and we have to keep that in mind as we go into the rest of district.

“Regardless of the turnout on Friday and what happens, we have to stay healthy because we have four games ahead of us I think we can go win for sure and give us a chance to accomplish our goals. Winning a gold football, that’s what we set out to do, and we’re just going to approach it with a workman mentality. All the pressure’s on them, so it’s a good spot to be in. I’m excited to see how we match up.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early – ranked No. 22 in Class 3A Division I this week – is a 25-point underdog to Jim Ned.

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Early Longhorns 2021 Football Stats

Through 5 Games (5-0)

TEAM OFFENSE
47.0 points per game (235)

413.8 yards per game (2,069)
177.4 rushing yards per game (887)
236.4 passing yards per game (1,182)

PASSING
‒ Jaxyn Price
78 of 125 for 1,108 yards, 17 TDs, 1 INT

‒ Tucker Hale
2 of 2 for 74 yards, TD

RUSHING
‒ Tre Beam
577 yards on 75 carries, 9 TDs

‒ Kaleb Ozuna
98 yards on 23 carries, 2 TDs

‒ Franky Villarreal
94 yards on 17 carries

‒ Michael Morales
71 yards on 22 carries, TD

‒ Riley Hill
32 yards on 4 carries

‒ Tucker Hale
14 yards on 2 carries

‒ Jaxyn Price
4 yards on 9 carries, TD

‒ Ryan Parisi
-3 yards on 1 carry

RECEIVING
‒ Jeremy Brown
26 catches for 282 yards, 3 TDs

‒ John-Stewart Gordon
17 catches for 299 yards, 3 TDs

‒ Tre Beam
7 catches for 156 yards, 3 TDs

‒ Ki Houston
6 catches for 117 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Caleb McCullough
5 catches for 56 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Vic Cooper
5 catches for 54 yards

‒ Cedrick Morelan
4 catches for 113 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Gavin Sanders
4 catches for 48 yards, TD

‒ Franky Villarreal
3 catches for 47 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Kaleb Ozuna
1 catch for 14 yards

‒ Hayden Welch
1 catch for 5 yards

‒ Michael Morales
1 catch for 1 yard

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TEAM DEFENSE
11.0 points per game (55)

207.2 yards per game (1,036)

95.4 rushing yards per game (477)
111.8 passing yards per game (559)

TACKLES

‒ Caleb McCullough
55 tackles, 10 for loss, 4 sacks

‒ Tucker Hale
49 tackles, 5 for loss, 1 sack, 1 INT

‒ Kaleb Ozuna
39 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 2 FRs, 1 INT

‒ Franky Villarreal
36 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 sacks, 2 for loss, 1 FR

‒ Korbin Hall
35 tackles, 7 for loss

‒ Tre Beam
30 tackles, 12 for loss, 5 sacks, 1 FR

‒ Jeremy Brown
25 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 INT

‒ Chris Fernandez
19 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Dalton Adams
17 tackles, 1 for loss

‒ Vic Cooper
16 tackles

‒ Gavin Sanders
15 tackles

‒ Brooks Clippinger
13 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 FR

‒ John-Stewart Gordon
9 tackles, 5 INTs

‒ Casey Moseley
6 tackles

‒ Ki Houston
4 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Bradly Roman
4 tackles

‒ Houston Ortiz
3 tackles

‒ Cedric Morelan
3 tackles

‒ Cooper Jacobs
2 tackles

‒ Jaxyn Price
2 tackles

‒ Riley Hill
2 tackles

‒ Hayden Welch
2 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Sebastian Constancio
1 tackle

‒ Ryan Parisi
1 tackle

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TURNOVER MARGIN: (+13)
Early 3 – 2 fumbles, 1 INT
Opponents 16 — 8 INTs, 8 FRs