The Early Longhorns are coming off their best season in 15 years, while the Bangs Dragons posted one victory in 2021. What happened last year, however, matters not as both teams dropped a classification and welcome a considerable number of experienced returnees. The Brown County rivals will begin their 2022 football campaigns in a grudge match at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium in Bangs.

Early posted a 9-3 record a year ago, won its first playoff game since 2007, and carries a No. 15 preseason ranking in Class 3A Division II from Dave Campbell’s Texas Football into the season opener.

Regarding the Longhorns’ excitement heading into the season opener, Early third-year head coach Daniel Price said, “It’s an exciting time when you bring back a lot of seniors that have a lot of experience. We’ve got some expectations that haven’t been around here in a long time. I keep telling the kids that it’s the regular season, these are the ones that start counting. The goal is to win those five at the end, but we need to get better with those five in the preseason. Hopefully we approach it that way, learn from our mistakes in the scrimmage and come out and play well on Friday night.”

Bangs finished 1-8 a year ago after a 10-victory season in 2020. The Dragons are hopeful another year of experience, and a change in districts and classifications, yields better results this fall.

Dragon fifth-year head coach Kyle Maxfield said of the atmosphere around Bangs heading into the first contest of the season, “We’re really excited. We feel a lot better about our fall camp and our kids and the leadership, but we know Early is going to be a big, big challenge. They look plenty good, and they are ranked that high for a reason. They have a lot of good players coming back and are very well-coached. We’ve gone got back and forth the last four years, but they definitely are bringing a lot to the table this year.”

The Longhorns wrapped up their preseason scrimmage schedule against Albany this past Thursday.

“I was proud of our kids,” Price said. “We went out and competed against a very good Albany squad at the scrimmage and had the opportunity to get better against a really good football team, and we did that. They got us 2-1 in the controlled scrimmage, and we tied at zero in the live quarter. I’m proud of where we’re at. We’ve got some things to clean up Friday night against Bangs, but we’re excited about the competition we were able to have last Thursday.”

Meanwhile, the Dragons took on Stamford to conclude their slate of scrimmages.

“We really liked the way it started and didn’t like the way it ended,” Maxfield said. “I think a lot of it had to do with us being in game shape and figuring out who can go both ways and who can’t. Basically, in the quarter Stamford got after us and we didn’t have an answer for it. The first series, 15 and 15, we competed pretty well. We got in the end zone once and we held them out. Once our 2s got in, they got on a roll and got the momentum, and we never got it back the rest of the scrimmage.”

Each coach provided a scouting report on the opponent for Friday’s showdown.

“Bangs is a good football team,” Price said. “They’ve got some experience coming back as well. They’ve got an explosive running back over there that plays multiple positions for them. We’re going to see a guy that’s really fast so defensively we’re going to have to be on our toes, keep him in front of us and don’t let him get loose. They’re big up front so that will be a good challenge for us as well.

“Defensively, they look a lot like Albany. They get in a 4-4 cover 3, so we’ll have to learn from the mistakes from last Thursday and be better Friday night. They’re a good football team and I know they’re going to be ready for us Friday.”

Maxfield said, “Everything on offense goes through the quarterback. You can tell he’s very seasoned, veteran quarterback. This is their second year in that offensive system, and you can tell they’re going to be clicking on all cylinders. They have a lot of weapons at receiver, and they’ve got a good enough running game to make you respect that.

“Defensively, they don’t have any weaknesses. They’re solid up front, their linebackers run well, and they have some size, and their secondary runs well. We’re going to have to really play well in the special teams and get a few breaks here and there to be in the game.”

Early’s offense is sparked by Preseason DCTF Offensive MVP for District 2-3A Division II, quarterback Jaxyn Price, who passed for 2,106 yards and 29 touchdowns last year. The Longhorns also returning their top four receivers – Jeremy Brown (55 catches, 720 yards, 5 TDs), John-Stewart Gordon (43-648, 9 TDs), Ki Houston (14-270, 4 TDs), and Cedrick Morelan (8-191, 2 TDs).

The backfield will feature returnee Kaleb Ozuna (174 yards, 3 TDs) and newcomer Griffin Cheslock.

Returning for an offensive line that paved the way for 37 points and 381 yards – 206 passing and 175 rushing – per game last season are guards Casey Moseley and Chris Fernandez, as well as Dalton Adams who saw time at tackle. Newcomers vying for time include Nicolas Thames and Malcham Williams at center, and Jacob Braun, Fischer Fulton, and Isaac Delgado at the other tackle position.

Among the defensive returnees are honorable mention all-state defensive end Caleb McCullough (97 tackles, 16 for loss, 5 sacks), fellow defensive end Adams (24 tackles, 1 for loss), and Fernandez (40 tackles, 3 fumble recoveries) and Moseley (32 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) at the tackles.

Lining up again at middle linebacker will be Ozuna (106 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 interception), while the outside linebackers will feature a combination of Gavin Sanders (19 tackles), Houston Ortiz, Justin Pierce and Rohyn Price.

The cornerbacks – Brown (44 tackles, 3 interceptions) and Gordon (28 tackles, 6 interceptions) – are veterans, while the two safeties – Morelan (16 tackles) and Cheslock – are new to their positions.

For Bangs, Guy Powell returns as the Dragons’ leading rusher, top game-breaking threat and primary disrupter on the defensive side of the ball.

Ethan Ethridge and Keygan Pitts will join Powell (1,403 rushing yards, 10 TDs) in the backfield during two-back sets, while Kenny Cole has seen the most time at quarterback thus far. Lining up at outside receiver have been Nate Stoffer (10 catches for 76 yards) and Zack Ferguson (9-218, 3 TDs) on one side, and Guy Funk (4-40, TD) and Weston Fundt (1-18, TD) on the other. Inside receivers include Hunter Newton, Skyler Minshew, and Brayden Fields. Up front, the line features David Herrera at center, Isaiah Serrato and Brody Newton at the guards, and Noah Pin and a rotation of Donovan Ruiz, Chris Valdez, and Ryan Duncan at the tackles.

Defensively, the Dragons are featuring Powell (56 tackles, 1 sack) at safety; a combination of Newton, Fields and Stoffer (63.5 tackles, 1 sack)  at the two rover positions; a cornerback rotation of Ferguson (12.5 tackles, 1 interception), Funk (16 tackles, 1 interception) and Jundt (7 tackles); either Pitts (39 tackles, 2 sacks), Ethridge (32 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception) or Minshew(4 tackles, 1 interception) at inside linebackers; a combination of Hererra (12.5 tackles, 1 for loss), Noah Castillo and Sergio Lopez at the ends; and a rotation of Serrato (5 tackles), Newton, Ruiz ( 7 tackles) and Pin (13 tackles, 3 for loss) at the tackles.

Regarding the importance of an opening night victory, Price said, “We want to start on the right foot, we want to get out and have some success early on, and to come out and a get win in Week 1 against Bangs, a rivalry game, is a good starting point. I want to see if we learned from the mistakes in our two scrimmages and see how we handle adversity Friday night. We’ve talked about having to replace some guys from last year, so we’re going to have to see some guys step up Friday night when it really matters and make some plays.”

Maxfield added, “It would be a tremendous confidence booster. If we play well, that will give us a lot of confidence, too. We’re going into the game as a big underdog, and we should be. We want to close the gap between us and them and play well and see if we can get some breaks. Moving forward, confidence is our biggest thing. With our preseason schedule if we can steal a win here or there it will be a big confidence booster.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 35-point favorite.