GRIDIRON GLANCE: Early Longhorns

August 21, 2020 at 8:01 am Derrick Stuckly

EARLY – The Daniel Price coaching era begins for Early in 2020, where the COVID-19 pandemic has effected the Longhorns program more than some in the area.

First, the cancellation of in-person learning at spring break during the last school year derailed Price in his efforts in his character development, team building and team bonding implementation. Then, on Wednesday, it was revealed an Early student-athlete tested positive for the coronavirus, which led to the cancellation of Thursday’s scheduled scrimmage at Eastland.

Thursday afternoon, the Longhorns announced the regular season opener Friday, Aug. 28 at archrival Bangs will go on as originally scheduled.

Regarding Price’s background before he took over as head football coach and athletic director at Early, his coaching career began as his alma mater, Sweetwater High School, in 2004.

“I’m a Sweetwater boy born and raised and I went back and coached a little in my hometown for five years,” Price said. “Then we had an opportunity to open Frisco Heritage High School with Kent Jackson, so we went out there and opened a brand new high school and spent eight years out there. Then three years ago I came here to Early.”

Price most recently served as defensive coordinator under former Early head coach Blake Sandford, who retired from the coaching ranks after the 2019 football season.

“I’ve known Blake for a long time,” Price said. “We coached together in Sweetwater and coached together again in Frisco. Then he had a spot available and we were ready to get out of the city. We’re small town people and wanted to get back this direction, we both have family in Sweetwater so it gets us a little bit closer. That led us to where we’re at now.”

Having coached at Early for three years, Price believes that gives him an advantage that a new coach who would be joining a school doesn’t possess.

“You get to know the kids, you build a good relationship with a lot of kids in the locker room,” Price said. “As the head basketball coach I’ve known the guys for three years and I think that helps because there’s a bond and trust we’ve already established. That goes a long way with creating a different environment for us, something that’s mine. I’m a big believer in family so I’ve pushed that. Those things are moving us in the right direction so it’s been been good to have that relationship instead of coming in brand new.”

With a new head coach, the offensive and defensive schemes often change, but the on-field philosophies of Early offensive coordinator Todd Hatton and defensive coordinator Rusty Clippinger will be very reminiscent of those from the last few seasons.

“We’re going to be very similar to what we were last year,” Price said. “We’ve implemented a couple of different things on offense but nothing drastic that you’ll see. Defensively we’ve shifted a little more to a 4-2-5, a little more than we were last year. But overall the two schemes are basically the same.”

The Longhorns bring back 11 of 24 lettermen from a 3-7 squad last year, including three offensive and six defensive starters.

“Our biggest strengths are we’re going to be athletic and fast,” Price said. “We have some playmakers that can make plays on both sides of the ball. We’re going to have some strong leadership up front on both sides of the football. We’ve brought back quite a few defensive guys which is another big strength for us, a little bit of experience in a defense they know.

“The weaknesses and things we have to work on is we’re real young. I think there’s six sophomores on the varsity roster and they’re going to be asked to make some big plays and play some big minutes for us. Being young is one of those things that we’re going to have to overcome as we go. We’re more than capable of getting there, it’s just going to take some time.”

Among the key returnees are running back/defensive back Alex Jacobs (453 rushing yards, 4 TDs; 7 catches, 51 yards, 1 TD); running back/linebacker Tre Beam (433 rushing yards, 5 TDs; 11 catches, 81 yards; 106 tackles); second-team all-district defensive lineman Marcus Morelan; receiver/defensive back Tyson Tyler (48 tackles); defensive end Bradon Schwartz; receiver/defensive back Rylie Hill; and cornerback John-Stewart Gordon.

New additions to the roster include quarterbacks Tucker Hale and Jaxyn Price, who are vying for playing time along with Ryan Parisi.

“We’ve had an interesting time trying to get a quarterback solidified,” Price said. “Hopefully we can figure out who the guy is going to be and move forward. I’m proud of all three of them, they work hard, they throw the ball hard and they lead the offensive side.”

The rest of the offense will feature a combination of Chris Crawford, Chris Fernandez, Bradly Roman, Casey Moseley, Korbin Hall, Cole Martin and Morelan along the front line.

Additional skill players include Jeremy Brown, Caydon Laird, Hayden Schroeder, Caleb McCullough, Jake Simpson, and Adan Aleman.

On defense, the front will consist on a rotation of Bradon Schwartz, Hall, Morelan, Crawford, Fernandez, Roman and Moseley.

Linebacker candidates are Dowton Taylor, Beam, Schroeder, and McCullough, while the secondary will include Jacobs, Gordon, Hill, Simpson and Aleman.

Following the opener against Bangs, the rest of the pre-district schedule features Tolar, Comanche, Merkel, and Grape Creek.

“We kick it off with Bangs and that’s always fun,” Price said. “We’ve flip-flopped the last two years. That’s always a challenge and a rivalry game so that should be a good opener. Then we have Tolar in our first home game. They’re always tough, we’ve played them the last three years I’ve been here and we finally beat them out there last year. It will be a good measuring stick to see where we’re at. Then we go to Comanche who we haven’t played in a couple of years and that will be tough. They were young last year, they’re going to be good this year and now they have some experience. We haven’t seen Merkel in a few years, but we got them back on the schedule and they have a new head coach so it will be interesting to see what they do. We finish up the pre-district with Grape Creek here, and I don’t know a lot about them right now but it should be a good jumping off point to finish the first five.

“Hopefully we’ve gained a little confidence with our team and gotten those sophomores some varsity reps and some time to grow up and do the things they need to do for us to be successful.”

The Longhorns enter the season looking to earn their first playoff berth since 2008, but the new District 3-3A Division I features familiar foes in No. 5 Wall, Jim Ned, Clyde and Breckenridge. The only change to the league is San Angelo TLCA, which has replaced Eastland.

“We’re glad to lose Eastland, we replaced them with TLCA so it’s a little bit different,” Price said. “We haven’t seen them or played them so it will be interesting to see what they have to offer. The rest of the district is the same and what I like about that is we know what we’re in for. Two years we got put in that district and if you look all those teams are perennial playoff teams with storied backgrounds. Every year those guys are competing to get in and make long runs.

“Now that we’re two years into it and put back in there again we’ve seen them and played them and have an idea of what they do. Hopefully that’s a little bit of a benefit for us and leads to us being better. It’s going to be tough, it has been and it will be, but I think we’ll be grown up by then and we’ll put ourselves in a position to compete.”

Regarding the Longhorns’ lengthy postseason absence, Price said, “Our expectation is to find a way to get into the playoffs, to end the drought. I guess it’s been 11 or 12 years, and to get in the playoffs is the goal and expectation we’ve set for ourselves and I think we can get there.

“For me I want to see us have some success early, get those younger guys grown up and put them in a position where they can be successful. Our coaching staff has done a good job getting them ready for that. We’re going to grow up and learn the speed of the game, rely heavily on our seniors and our upperclassmen who have played before and have them help us through those tough moments through the season. We’re going to look for that signature win, we need a win here that would change the course of where we’re going and I think we have the guys in the locker room that are capable of finding that, it’s just a matter of when that win will come.”

EARLY LONGHORNS

VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Aug. 28 at Bangs

Sept. 4 Tolar

Sept. 11 at Comanche

Sept. 18 at Merkel

Sept. 25 Grape Creek

Oct. 2 OPEN

Oct. 9 Jim Ned*

Oct. 16 at Breckenridge*

Oct. 23 Clyde*

Oct. 30 San Angelo TLCA*