EARLY – Coming off a 28-0 road loss against the rival Bangs Dragons last week, the Early Longhorns eye their first win of the season as the Tolar Rattlers come calling. Kickoff between Early (0-1) and Tolar (0-1) is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Longhorn Stadium.
Tolar, a member of District 7-2A Division I, was pummeled by Post in its season opener, 70-14. The Rattlers trailed 28-0 after one quarter, which was also the halftime score, and were down 62-14 after three periods.
“I saw that Post was really big and really fast,” Early first-year head coach Daniel Price said in regard to reviewing film of the Tolar-Post game. “Tolar is young as well, pretty athletic and pretty talented in spots. They have a couple of big guys up front. It should be a good matchup to see where we’re at.”
Tolar gave up 424 yards of total offense – 276 rushing and 148 passing – but created four turnovers, including a fumble that was returned 5 yards for a touchdown. However, the Rattlers also surrendered a pair of kick returns for touchdowns from 70 and 98 yards yards out.
“Hopefully we’ll be a little more explosive,” Price said in regard to an offense that finished with 135 total yards – 92 rushing and 43 passing – against Bangs. “We were really close right before the half last Friday. Our running back was within a couple of fingertips of getting loose and I don’t know if anyone would have caught him. He also had a big kickoff return Friday, so I think those opportunities will be there again and if we take advantage of them that will be great.”
Tolar’s offense mustered 167 yards – 162 passing and just 5 rushing – while committing six turnovers. Quarterback Jackson LeCluyse connected on 15 of 35 passes for 162 yards with one touchdown and five interceptions. Brock Owens rushed for a team-high 18 yards and caught three passes for 47 yards, including a 19-yard scoring toss from LeCluyse. Brandon Click added two grabs totaling 37 yards.
“We’re hoping we can flip the turnover battle,” said Price, after the Longhorns committed three and forced none last week, while Tolar gave the ball away a half dozen times. “We turned it over three times on Friday night, so that’s an area we’re going to focus on this week and hopefully switch the script and get a few ourselves.”
In assessing the Longhorns’ performance against Bangs in Week 1, Price said, “It was a good first game for us. We were pleased with a lot of things we saw, but didn’t like getting beat. They hit us with a couple of big plays, and on those plays we had an opportunity to make a big play ourselves and we missed. Those are things as a coaching staff we feel like we can teach and learn from those mistakes.
“The competition level was really good. We fought, we played hard, I thought we did a good job up front, I thought our young skill kids played well for their first time out, so overall we’re pretty excited about where we’re at and where we’re going.”
Quarterback Jaxyn Price completed 9 of 18 passes for 43 yards with two interceptions, Caleb McCullough caught five passes for 26 yards, Tyson Tyler finished with two receptions for 8 yards, Hayden Schroeder caught a 6-yard pass and Alex Jacobs grabbed a 3-yard reception.
On the ground, Jacobs rushed for a team-high 52 yards followed by Price with 30 and Tre Beam with 10.
“On the offensive side I’d like to see us be a little bit more consistent,” Price said in regard to the goals for this week. “We had a great opening drive but we sputtered at the end of it. I’d like to see us finish that eight-minute drive where we get all the way down there. If we go ahead and finish that off and score I think that changes the complexion of the game and does a lot to benefit our youth.”
Defensively, Early yielded 359 yards to Bangs – 232 rushing and 117 passing – but trailed just 14-0 heading into the fourth quarter. Leading tacklers for the Longhorns included Beam with 10, Marcus Morelan with nine, Korbin Hall with 7.5 including one for loss, and Bradon Schwartz and John-Stewart Gordon with four apiece.
“I’d like to see us tackle better,” Price said of the defensive goals against Tolar. “We didn’t tackle well at times and I think it showed. I’d like to see us play the ball a little bit better defensively. When the ball was in the air there were a couple of spots where they outjumped us for a touchdown. We were in good position we just didn’t make the play. A couple of those areas on the defense I think youth was part of it and inexperience was part of it, so hopefully those will be better Friday night.”
Other keys to the game, according to Price, “We can’t turn the ball over three times, we have to tackle better and limit the big plays, that’s what killed us Friday night. They hit us with third and 29 for a touchdown and a third and 10 for a touchdown. We have to limit big plays and be consistent on offense and that will set the stage for us to be successful.”
According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 3-point underdog.
Early Longhorns 2020 Football Stats
Through 1 Game (0-1)
TEAM OFFENSE
0.0 points per game (0)
135.0 yards per game (135)
92.0 rushing yards per game (92)
43.0 passing yards per game (43)
PASSING
‒ Jaxyn Price
9 of 18 for 43 yards, 2 INTs
RUSHING
‒ Alex Jacobs
52 yards on 9 carries
‒ Jaxyn Price
30 yards on 10 carries
‒ Tre Beam
10 yards on 3 carries
‒ Caleb McCullough
0 yards on 1 carry
RECEIVING
‒ Caleb McCullough
5 catches for 26 yards
‒ Tyson Tyler
2 catches for 8 yards
‒ Hayden Schroeder
1 catch for 6 yards
‒ Alex Jacobs
1 catch for 3 yards
TEAM DEFENSE
28.0 points per game (28)
359.0 yards per game (359)
232.0 rushing yards per game (232)
117.0 passing yards per game (117)
TACKLES
‒ Tre Beam
10 tackles
‒ Marcus Morelan
9 tackles
‒ Korbin Hall
7.5 tackles, 1 for loss
‒ Bradon Schwartz
4 tackles
‒ John-Stewart Gordon
4 tackles
‒ Caleb McCullough
3 tackles
‒ Franky Villarreal
3 tackles
‒ Tucker Hale
1.5 tackles
‒ Jeremy Brown
1.5 tackles
‒ Tyson Tyler
1.5 tackles
‒ Casey Moseley
1.5 tackles
‒ Rylie Hill
1 tackle
‒ Chris Fernandez
1 tackle
‒ Wade Kennedy
.5 tackles
‒ Bradly Roman
.5 tackles
TURNOVER MARGIN: (-3)
Early 3 — 2 INTs, 1 fumble
Opponents 0 — 0 fumble
