EARLY – The Early Longhorns dominated in all aspects of last week’s 69-8 home victory over Brady, as they carry a two-game District 2-3A Division II win streak in Friday’s matchup against the winless Grape Creek Eagles.
“Everything went right,” said Early fourth-year head coach Daniel Price. “We played really well on both sides of the ball, got after Brady from the opening kickoff and it was a good night. I was impressed by the way we started. We had a couple of first downs on the first drive and hit a big play over the top for a touchdown and that set the tempo. We held them to a three-and-out to start, the defense was playing top notch and it was fun to see our kids go out and play with that much excitement and take advantage of what Brady gave us.”
The Longhorns (3-4, 2-0) finished with a season-high 631 yards of total offense – 322 rushing and 309 passing.
“Griffin (Cheslock) had 201 yards and a couple of touchdown, (Kaleb) Ozuna had a touchdown on the ground, Ben Morris had 90 yards rushing and a touchdown on the ground, so it was a big night rushing,” Price said. “Rohyn (Price) was 15 of 21 for 309 yards and six touchdowns, so that’s a good combined effort from both the passing attack and the rushing attack.”
Thus far this season, Grape Creek (0-7, 0-2) has been outscored 312-74 and has fallen to Stanton (42-6), Christoval (14-8), Bangs (42-6), Ozona (57-22), Junction (55-20), Wall (67-0) and San Angelo TLCA (35-12).
Players to watch for Grape Creek include quarterback Landon Crow, running backs Dalton Dillon, Joshua Morgan and Isaiah Briones, and wide receiver Aidan Longoria.
“They’re going to be young, looking at their roster,” Price said. “Their JV group last year had some success, and they get after it and play hard. We have to execute and take care of the ball and hopefully we can have some success there. It’s a good little haul to get there, and a worry at this point in the year is how well do you travel and to be honest we haven’t played real well on the road.”
Early enters the contest averaging 26 points and 332 yards – 191 passing and 141 rushing – per outing.
Price has completed 63 of 107 passes for 980 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions while leading receivers include Andrew Reedy (26-352, 4 TDs), Ki Houston (22-503, 3 TDs), Weston Barton (20-228, 2 TDs), and Reece Middleton (10-104, TD). The ground game is anchored by Cheslock (643 rushing yards, 7 TDs), Price (130 rushing yards, 2 TDs), Ben Morris (114 rushing yards, TD), and Ozuna (90 rushing yards, 3 TDs).
On the defensive side, the Longhorns are yielding 31 points and 333 yards – 189 rushing and 144 passing – per game on average.
Standouts include Ozuna (58 tackles, 4 for loss, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries), Dalton Adams (43 tackles, 15 for loss, 8 sacks), Brooks Clippinger (41 tackles, 7 for loss, 2 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries), Izik Delgado (33 tackles, 7 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery), Reedy (30 tackles, 1 INT), Middleton (26 tackles), Kaeden Byrd (22 tackles, 3 for loss), and Barton (20 tackles, 1 fumble recovery).
Regarding the keys to keeping the Longhorns’ win streak alive Friday night, Price said, “The goal is getting to the same mentality, spirit and work ethic that we had during the Brady game this past Friday night and play at that level. Now that we know we can reach that level we have to stay or do our best to get back to level. If we can do that, I think we can have a lot of success.”
There is no line for this game according to Harris Ratings Weekly. Early is ranked 55 points higher than Grape Creek this week. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football lists the Longhorns as 31-point favorites.
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Early Longhorns 2023 Football Season Stats
Through 7 Games (3-4, 2-0)
TEAM OFFENSE
26.3 points per game (184)
332.2 yards per game (2,326)
141.1 rushing yards per game (988)
191.1 passing yards per game (1,338)
PASSING
* Rohyn Price
63 of 107 for 980 yards, 12 TDs, 6 INTs
* Weston Barton
15 of 38 for 188 yards, 3 INTs
* Justin Pierce
13 of 25 for 170 yards, 4 INTs
RUSHING
* Griffin Cheslock
643 yards on 88 carries, 7 TDs
* Rohyn Price
130 yards on 23 carries, 2 TDs
* Ben Morris
114 yards on 13 carries, TD
* Kaleb Ozuna
90 yards on 25 carries, 3 TDs
* Weston Barton
7 yards on 6 carries
* Ki Houston
6 yards on 2 carries
* Justin Pierce
-2 yards on 3 carries
RECEIVING
* Andrew Reedy
26 catches, 352 yards, 4 TDs
* Ki Houston
22 catches, 503 yards, 3 TDs
* Weston Barton
20 catches, 228 yards, 2 TDs
* Reece Middleton
10 catches, 104 yards, TD
* Griffin Cheslock
6 catches, 52 yards
* Ben Bleth
5 catches, 83 yards, 2 TDs
* Kaleb Ozuna
2 catches, 16 yards
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TEAM DEFENSE
30.7 points per game (215)
333.0 yards per game (2,331)
188.9 rushing yards per game (1,322)
144.1 passing yards per game (1,009)
TACKLES
* Kaleb Ozuna
58 tackles, 4 for loss, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries
* Dalton Adams
43 tackles, 15 for loss, 8 sacks
* Brooks Clippinger
41 tackles, 7 for loss, 2 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries
* Izik Delgado
33 tackles, 7 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery
* Andrew Reedy
30 tackles, 1 INT
* Reece Middleton
26 tackles
* Kaeden Byrd
22 tackles, 3 for loss
* Weston Barton
20 tackles, 1 fumble recovery
* Dylan Brame
17 tackles, 1 for loss
* Ki Houston
15 tackles, 1 INT
* Giovanni Guevara
14 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 fumble recovery
* Ben Bleth
12 tackles
* Rohyn Price
11 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack
* Ben Morris
9 tackles
* Griffin Cheslock
8 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack, 1 INT
* Rico Vasquez
4 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack
* Aaron Mendoza
4 tackles
* Ethan Moseley
3 tackles
* Justin Pierce
3 tackles
* Angel Del Villar
2 tackles
* Jaxon Andrade
1 tackle
* Jacob Braun
1 tackle
* Jacob McDaniel
1 tackle, 1 INT
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TURNOVER MARGIN (-4)
* Early: 16 (3 fumbles, 13 interceptions)
* Opponents: 12 (8 fumbles, 4 interceptions)