Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. Friday between the Longhorns (1-0) and the reigning Class 2A Division I Region II finalist and Harris Ratings Weekly No. x-ranked Rattlers (1-0). Early dropped last year’s match-up at Longhorn Stadium by a 51-14 count.
“Tolar brings back a lot from that very good football team they had last year,” said Early fourth-year head coach Daniel Price. “Offensively, they have a big running back who’s a good football player, their quarterback is really fast and throws a really good ball and they have a lot of receivers. They’re going to spread it out and run it and throw it, they have a good combination of both, and it’s going to be a good challenge for our defense.”
The Rattlers opened their season with a 49-9 victory over Peaster as Tolar amassed 319 yards of total offense – 241 rushing and 78 passing – and only one turnover. Quarterback Isaac Blessing completed 8 of 15 passes for 70 yards with one touchdown and one interception while rushing for 111 yards and another score on just nine carries. Peyton Brown led the ground attack with 121 yards and four touchdowns and also caught an 8-yard pass. Matthew Behrens led all receivers with five grabs for 38 yards.
Early counters with a defense that yielded just 10 points and 288 yards – 207 passing and 81 rushing – to Bangs last week, while forcing three turnovers. Standouts included Kaleb Ozuna (10 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery), Dalton Adams (9 tackles, 5 for loss, 3 sacks), Izik Delgado (6 tackles, 1 for loss), Andrew Reedy (6 tackles), Weston Barton (5 tackles), Rohyn Price (5 tackles), and Brooks Clippinger (4 tackles, 2 for loss).
“We have a young secondary and there’s a growing up process for them,” Price said. “They gave up a couple of big plays that set up some points early for Bangs but as the game went on we reined it back in and played really well. The last three years and the success we’ve had, a lot of that started with how well the defense played and they did a good job Friday night.”
On the flip side of the ball, the Longhorns produced 487 yards – 254 rushing and 233 passing – as Griffin Cheslock rushed for 204 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Price threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers, completed 9 of 19 attempts for 165 yards and rushed for two more scores and 14 yards. Ki Houston (4-110, TD), Barton (3-50, TD), Ben Bleth (2-45, TD) and Reedy (2-28, TD) led the receiving corps, while Justin Pierce also chipped in 68 yards through air.
Tolar forced three turnovers against Peaster as Garrison Nation collected 11 tackles followed by Jaxon Riddle with nine and two behind the line of scrimmage, Drake Owens with eight tackles, Rowdy Tyron and Cash Clark with six each, Hunter Michels with five with two for loss.
“Offensively for us, they’ve done a good job game planning for us with their defense,” Price said. “We’re going to have to take advantage of things they give us this year and hopefully find a way to put some points on the board like we couldn’t last year. I’m excited to see where we’re at against some good competition early on and to see how far we need to go.”
Reflecting on last week’s opener against Bangs, Price said, “We started a slow offensively and we talked about that last week. When you have young guys in their first Friday night experience and the first time they’ve ever been out there in that situation those are things you can anticipate and expect, and that’s what happened. Once we found our footing everything took off and we played well the rest of night.
“We talked about who was going to step up and who would be the guy that stopped the bleeding. In the scrimmage against Albany things snowballed out of control so we were really looking for that lesson learned. Bangs came out and went down the field and hit us with a big play and scored. We got a great kick off return from Andrew Reedy, then Griffin takes the first play to the house for a touchdown. We had guys step up, we didn’t falter after struggling a little bit in the first quarter, and we didn’t lose track of what we wanted to do.”
After a slow start in Week 1, building quick momentum out of the gate against Tolar will be crucial to coming away with a win, Price added.
“I want to see us start a whole lot faster,” Price said. “That’s something we haven’t quite gotten to yet on both sides of the ball. We want to be aggressive on that first possession of the game and first possession of the third quarter. Bangs went and scored on its first possession of the game, and we went three-and-out with a couple of penalties on our first possession of the third quarter.”
Regarding additional keys to a victory, Price said, “We have to avoid the big plays from them and make them earn what they get. Then offensively, we have to control the ball, take care of it, and find ways to score points. That’s something we struggled with here last year.”
According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 14-point underdog.
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Early Longhorns 2023 Football Season Stats
Through 1 Game (1-0)
TEAM OFFENSE
52.0 points per game (52)
487.0 yards per game (487)
254.0 rushing yards per game (254)
233.0 passing yards per game (233)
PASSING
* Rohyn Price
9 of 19 for 165 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT
* Justin Pierce
2 of 3 for 68 yards
RUSHING
* Griffin Cheslock
204 yards on 20 carries, 1 TD
* Kaleb Ozuna
21 yards on 2 carries
* Ben Morris
15 yards on 3 carries
* Rohyn Price
14 yards on 3 carries, 2 TDs
* Justin Pierce
0 yards on 1 carry
RECEIVING
* Ki Houston
4 catches, 110 yards, 1 TD
* Weston Barton
3 catches, 50 yards, 1 TD
* Ben Bleth
2 catches, 45 yards, 1 TD
* Andrew Reedy
2 catches, 28 yards, 1 TD
###
TEAM DEFENSE
10.0 points per game (10)
288.0 yards per game (288)
81.0 rushing yards per game (81)
207.0 passing yards per game (207)
TACKLES
* Kaleb Ozuna
10 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery
* Dalton Adams
9 tackles, 5 for loss, 3 sacks
* Izik Delgado
6 tackles, 1 for loss
* Andrew Reedy
6 tackles
* Weston Barton
5 tackles
* Rohyn Price
5 tackles
* Brooks Clippinger
4 tackles, 2 for loss
* Ki Houston
3 tackles
* Reece Middleton
3 tackles
* Rico Vasquez
2 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack
* Giovanni Guevara
2 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
* Griffin Cheslock
2 tackles, 1 INT
* Ben Morris
2 tackles
* Justin Pierce
2 tackles
* Ethan Moseley
1 tackle
* Ethan Moseley
1 tackle
* Angel Del Villar
1 tackle
* Jacob Braun
1 tackle
* Dylan Brame
1 tackle
* Jacob McDaniel
1 tackle
* Ben Bleth
1 tackle
###
TURNOVER MARGIN (+1)
* Early: 2 (1 fumble, 1 interception)
* Opponents: 3 (2 fumbles, 1 interception)