EARLY – The Early Longhorns will look to reverse a recent trend against the Hamilton Bulldogs, as a battle of teams seeking 2-0 starts to their season will take place at Longhorn Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Early (1-0), which is coming off a 33-12 victory at Bangs in Week 1, has dropped its last two contests to Hamilton, including a 40-0 decision just a year ago. Hamilton (1-0), meanwhile, knocked off Millsap, 33-18, last week, and will be taking to the road for the first time in 2024.

Reflecting on last week’s win over Bangs, the first in Longhorn head coach Randall Case’s career, he said, “Any time you open with a win it’s good, we’re always excited about a win. We had some things not go our way early in the game, but our kids bounced back and we’re really happy with the way they finished.”

After sputtering on the first drive, which resulted in a turnover and a touchdown for Bangs, the Longhorns regrouped on scored on their second possession to grab a 7-6 advantage and never trailed again.

“I don’t know if you could draw up a worse situation than giving away points on offense on your first possession,” Case said. “However, our kids had every opportunity to lay down and say it’s not going to go our way tonight, but they didn’t. They responded, they put it in the past and were able to move forward. They were able to come out the second half and really get after it. For a group of young kids and inexperienced kids, that was awesome to see.”

The Longhorns were sparked by Andrew Reedy, who caught five passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns and added 20 yards on the ground and another score. All three of his touchdowns came in the second half with Early clinging to a 14-12 lead at the break.

“He’s a heck of a ball player,” Case said of Reedy. “He’s explosive with the ball in his hands, but he has to have guys around him as well and they were able to produce and help him have the night he had. We’re really excited about him and happy for him, and overall we’re happy to get a team win.”

Quarterback Weston Barton finished the contest completing 7 of 15 passes for 190 yards with three touchdowns, including a 16-yarder to Ben Bleth, while Brandon Walker led the ground game with 63 yards and another score. Overall, the Longhorns produced 306 total yards.

“Both of those kids had good nights,” Case said of Barton and Walker. “Weston controlled the game for us and did an extremely good job of being poised. I thought his maturity and having Friday night experience showed. He really controlled our offense and controlled that game. As far as Walker and it being his first Friday night with us, we were excited to see him go live in a full game. We’re excited about where he’s at.”

Defensively, the Longhorns yielded just 191 yards of total offense – 151 on the ground and 40 through the air – and forced three turnovers, all in the second half. Kaeden Byrd led the way with 17 tackles followed by 12 from Mario Vasquez and seven from Ben Morris. Reedy intercepted a pass, Vasquez and Rhett Williams both recovered fumbles, and Byrd and Morris each recorded a sack.

“Our kids rallied to the football and played extremely hard,” Case said of the defense. “The things that we preach in practice, I feel like we went out and showed that and showed who we want to be as a defense. We’re very pleased with the way they played Friday.”

In Hamilton’s victory last week, the Bulldogs led 12-6 after one quarter, 26-12 at halftime, and 26-18 through three periods.

Quarterback Jaxon Edwards and state powerlifting lineman Nik Adams sparked the offense, while Halston Haile caught three passes for 89 yards, including a touchdown, and rushed for 16 yards on five carries.

The defensive standout for Hamilton in Week 1 was Mason Tubbs, who registered nine tackles, including five for loss, with two sacks and a fumble recovery.

“Hamilton overall is a good football team, really well-coached, Coach (Ryan) Marwitz does a great job with those guys,” Case said. “I expect them to come in and be athletic and fast on both sides of the ball. They’re always tough, they’ve got some tough kids there, so we’re going to have to bring it all to the table and come out and play.”

As for the keys to an Early victory Friday night, Case said, “We need to start faster. We don’t need to get behind and put ourselves in that hole early on. If we can do that and start fast, that’s the big key, not having to dig yourself out of a ball game. We’re going to harp on that, starting fast, and once again, we’re going to harp on flying to the football.”

Case also reported the Longhorns have a clean bill of health ahead of Friday night’s home opener.

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 7-point underdog.