Kickoff between the Longhorns (1-1) and Indians (2-0) will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday as Comanche celebrates homecoming.
Early is coming off a 51-14 loss to Class 2A Division I No. 12 Tolar, a game in which the Longhorns surrendered the first 42 points. Meanwhile, Comanche handed Bangs a 42-18 defeat, the same Dragons squad that the Longhorns knocked off, 34-20, in Week 1.
Reflecting on the Tolar contest, Early third-year head coach Daniel Price said, “Tolar’s a really good football team and they came in here and kicked our butt. It wasn’t fun but part of where you want to go and what we want to do is learning lessons and I think we learned a lot of them Friday night. It was just a bad night all the way around. We got down early and struggled to get anything rolling offensively. That takes you out of your game plan in terms of running the football. Then once you get down three scores, you’re trying to make that up in a hurry.”
The Longhorns were limited to 244 yards of total offense, including just 30 on the ground, while coughing up the ball three times. Defensively, Early gave up 374 yards, including 214 rushing, with no takeaways.
“I think the way we played the second half, we didn’t fold at all and got some things going offensively and had some guys make some catches,” Price said. “But we have to clean up things on both sides of the ball early in football games. We can’t give up big plays, that’s one of the things we talked about defensively, and we gave up two back-to-back. We also have to find some rhythm offensively early in games, we haven’t got to that point, yet which is a little bit frustrating, but we plan on having it cleaned up by this Friday for Comanche.”
Comanche, which tallied just one victory a season ago, has already defeated Brady (49-7) and Bangs (42-18) to kick off its second campaign under head coach Jake Escobar. The Indians are averaging 45.5 points and 442 yards per game, including 338 rushing, while allowing just 12.5 points per outing with 10 sacks and five takeaways.
“I’m not surprised, I knew they were going to be good,” Price said of Comanche’s 2-0 start. “Coach Escobar’s done a good job. They were athletic last year and with a new head coach and learning a new system, I knew it would take them a year to get all that under their belts. They’re a really good football team and it’s going to be a really big challenge for us Friday night.”
The Indians’ ground game is led by Sawyer Wilkerson (376 yards, 6 TDs), quarterback Layden Welch (104 yards, TD), Cayden Davis (94 yards, TD), Ezequiel Medrano (67 yards, TD), and Easton Gonzalez (33 yards, TD).
Welch has connected on 12 of 25 passes for 206 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Leading receivers are Miguel Martinez (8-148, TD) and Kyler Beaty (4-41, TD).
“They’re running it a lot more than what they were trying to do last year,” Price said. “They’re throw a bunch of formations at you, and they come down hill which is what Comanche used to do for a long time and had some success with that. It looks different, it’s not the same thing, but it’s the similar principles of coming down hill. We have to run to the football and tackle, and we have to be lined up in the right spot.”
The Early defense is allowing 35.5 points and 295 yards – 186.5 rushing and 108.5 passing – per game, with three takeaways.
Leading tacklers include Kaleb Ozuna (20 tackles, 1 for loss), Caleb McCullough (16 tackles, 3 for loss), Dalton Adams (16 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 fumble recovery), Chris Fernandez (15 tackles, 2 for loss), Gavin Sanders (12 tackles), Cedric Morelan (11 tackles, 1 interception), Jeremy Brown (11 tackles), Casey Moseley (10 tackles, 1 for loss), Griffin Cheslock (9 tackles, 1 for loss), Houston Ortiz (7 tackles, 1 for loss), and Colten Allen (7 tackles, 1 for loss).
On the flip side of the ball, Comanche’s defense is sparked by Ezequiel Medrano (27 tackles), Ayden Fishback (19 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 sacks), Pierson Sorrells (18 tackles,3 for loss, 2 sacks), Dom Rios (18 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack), Isaac Medrano (16 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack), Davis (11 tackles), and Diego Gutierrez (10 tackles).
“They like to heat you up, they bring a lot of pressure so we’re going to have to be better at picking that up and getting the ball out on time,” Price said. “They’re good up front defensively and they got after both Brady and Bangs. It’ll be a good challenge for our offensive line, and we have to be better there. We also have to throw and catch. We dropped a few Friday night and we overthrew a few Friday night.”
Early’s offense is generating 24 points and 375 yards – 233 passing and 142 rushing – per outing, with five turnovers.
Quarterback Jaxyn Price has completed 36 of 76 passes for 466 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions, while leading receivers include Brown (10-107), John-Stewart Gordon (8-136), Ki Houston (6-72, 2 TDs), Morelan (5-84, TD), Ozuna (3-28), Cheslock (2-18), Ortiz (1-11) and Allen (1-10, TD).
On the ground, Cheslock (205 yards, 2 TDs) and Ozuna (71 yards) anchor the rushing attack.
Regarding what will be needed from the Longhorns in order to return to the win column Friday, Price said, “We have to come out and take care of the football and get into the game. I felt like last week against Tolar we didn’t get into the game, we just slept through the first quarter. By the time we woke up we were three or four touchdowns down. We have to get in the game early, we have to start from the first snap and we’re going to work on some things this week that will hopefully get us to that point.”
According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 10-point underdog.
###
Early Longhorns 2022 Football Season Stats
Through 2 Games (1-1)
TEAM OFFENSE
24.0 points per game (48)
375.0 yards per game (750)
142.0 rushing yards per game (284)
233.0 passing yards per game (466)
PASSING
* Jaxyn Price
36 of 76 for 466 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs
RUSHING
* Griffin Cheslock
205 yards on 27 carries, 2 TDs
* Kaleb Ozuna
71 yards on 24 carries
* Jaxyn Price
8 yards on 3 carries, 1 TD
* Cedric Morelan
0 yards on 1 carry
RECEIVING
* Jeremy Brown
10 catches, 107 yards
* John-Stewart Gordon
8 catches, 136 yards
* Ki Houston
6 catches, 72 yards, 2 TDs
* Cedrick Morelan
5 catches, 84 yards, 1 TD
* Kaleb Ozuna
3 catches, 28 yards
* Griffin Cheslock
2 catches, 18 yards
* Houston Ortiz
1 catch, 11 yards
* Colton Allen
1 catch, 10 yards, 1 TD
###
TEAM DEFENSE
35.5 points per game (71)
295.0 yards per game (590)
186.5 rushing yards per game (373)
108.5 passing yards per game (217)
TACKLES
* Kaleb Ozuna
20 tackles, 1 for loss
* Caleb McCullough
16 tackles, 3 for loss
* Dalton Adams
16 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 fumble recovery
* Chris Fernandez
15 tackles, 2 for loss
* Gavin Sanders
12 tackles
* Cedric Morelan
11 tackles, 1 interception
* Jeremy Brown
11 tackles
* Casey Moseley
10 tackles, 1 for loss
* Griffin Cheslock
9 tackles, 1 for loss
* Houston Ortiz
7 tackles, 1 for loss
* Colten Allen
7 tackles, 1 for loss
* Reece Middleton
3 tackles
* Izik Delgado
2 tackles, 1 for loss
* Rohyn Price
2 tackles
* Sebastian Constancio
1 tackle
* Dillon Miller
1 tackle
* Dylan Brame
1 tackle
* Justin Pierce
1 tackle
###
TURNOVER MARGIN (+2)
* Early: 5 (2 fumbles, 3 interceptions)
* Opponents: 3 (1 fumble, 2 interceptions)