Kickoff between Early (5-4, 3-1) and San Angelo TLCA (4-5, 2-2) is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Longhorn Stadium.
Early suffered a 10-7 setback at Wall last week, a game in which the Longhorns were unable to capitalize on a handful of opportunities that could have reversed the final outcome.
“There was a lot riding on it, it was a big game,” said Early third-year head coach Daniel Price. “I’m very proud of the way our kids competed. We ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard but we had every opportunity to go win a football game, they just made one more play than we did. When you play good football teams, there has to be a loser at some point.”
Regarding the positive takeaways from the effort against Wall, Price immediately pointed to the defense.
“I’m super excited about the way the defense played,” Price said. “We held them three or four times on goal line stands that kept us in the game. We were really physical Friday night. I’m excited about where we’re at team-wise as far as the physicality of it.”
As for areas of concern after the Wall contest, Price said, “I’m really worried that we have to clean up some execution things on offense for sure. We missed some things we haven’t missed in a long time and when you’re playing a really good football team that margin of error is very small and you can’t miss. There’s a handful of plays where we had an overthrown ball, or missed a pass, some of the things we normally don’t do on a Friday night. When you’re playing a good football team that hurts. Hopefully we learn from that and we’ll be better for it Friday.”
TLCA secured a playoff berth, the first in nine years for the program, with last week’s 34-27 victory over Ballinger. The Eagles compiled 361 total yards – 192 passing and 169 rushing – and gave up 371 total yards, with 330 coming the ground. The Eagles’ district wins have come against Ballinger and Grape Creek (28-0) with losses to Brady (49-6) and Wall (55-0).
“TLCA is a really good football team, they’ve won four games and two district games so they’re in,” Price said. “It’s great to see their improvement. I know Coach (Matt) Jones has done a lot of hard work and has suffered quite a few of those lopsided losses over the last few years to get to where they’re at.
“They’re big, they’re athletic, you can see that they’ve got some buy in and they’re healthy. We talked last year about how they weren’t healthy when we played them, half their team was in jeans and jerseys. Being healthy this year helps them for sure. Their size and athleticism has been way better. It’s going to be interesting to see how it is on the field, and hopefully we can respond and play well.”
Early enters the game averaging 35 points and 407 yards – 243 passing and 164 rushing – per game, with nine turnovers.
Quarterback Jaxyn Price has connected on 152 of 279 passes for 2,093 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. Leading receivers include Jeremy Brown (47-784, 11 TDs), John-Stewart Gordon (27-328, TD), Cedrick Morelan (20-282, 2 TDs), Ki Houston (13-190, 3 TDs), Griffin Cheslock (12-85), and Caleb McCullough (11-257, 4 TDs). Top ground gainers are Cheslock (902 yards, 8 TDs) and Kaleb Ozuna (410 yards, 5 TDs).
“Offensively we need to get back to being us, throwing and catching and executing,” Price said. “That’s the big part of it. We missed some throws, missed a couple of blocks and that’s the difference in a three-point ball game. Hopefully we see that change this week and we’ll be better on the execution side of it Friday.”
Defensively, the Longhorns yield 23 points and 265 yards – 153 on the ground and 112 through the air – per outing, with 15 takeaways.
Stalwarts include Ozuna (98 tackles, 7 for loss, 1 sack), McCullough (89 tackles, 21 for loss, 8 sacks, 1 fumble recovery), Gavin Sanders (57 tackles, 3 for loss), Dalton Adams (54 tackles, 15 for loss, 6 sacks, 1 interception), Chris Fernandez (44 tackles, 4 for loss, 1 sack), Colton Allen (40 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack, 5 interceptions), Morelan (37 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 interception), Brown (35 tackles, 3 for loss, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery), Casey Moseley (33 tackles, 1 for loss), and Rohyn Price (31 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery).
“Defensively, I want to see them continue to keep rolling,” Price said. “They’ve done a good job throughout district, played really well, and I’d like to see them continue that Friday night Running to the ball, tackling well, those are things we did really well last Friday in Wall.”
According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 35-point favorite.
***
Early Longhorns 2022 Football Season Stats
Through 9 Games (5-4, 3-1)
TEAM OFFENSE
35.0 points per game (315)
407.6 yards per game (3,669)
164.4 rushing yards per game (1,480)
243.2 passing yards per game (2,189)
PASSING
* Jaxyn Price
152 of 279 for 2,093 yards, 22 TDs, 6 INTs
* Justin Pierce
2 of 2 for 88 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT
* Rohyn Price
1 of 3 for 8 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
RUSHING
* Griffin Cheslock
902 yards on 144 carries, 8 TDs
* Kaleb Ozuna
410 yards on 76 carries, 5 TDs
* Jaxyn Price
77 yards on 16 carries, 2 TDs
* Dillon Miller
59 yards on 9 carries, 1 TD
* Cedric Morelan
15 yards on 3 carries, 3 TDs
* Justin Pierce
14 yards on 6 carries
* Ki Houston
3 yards on 1 carry
RECEIVING
* Jeremy Brown
47 catches, 784 yards, 11 TDs
* John-Stewart Gordon
27 catches, 328 yards, 1 TD
* Cedrick Morelan
20 catches, 282 yards, 2 TDs
* Ki Houston
13 catches, 190 yards, 3 TDs
* Griffin Cheslock
12 catches, 85 yards
* Caleb McCullough
11 catches, 257 yards, 4 TDs
* Kaleb Ozuna
9 catches, 53 yards
* Colton Allen
7 catches, 60 yards, 1 TD
* Reece Middleton
4 catches, 57 yards
* Rohyn Price
1 catch, 45 yards
* Houston Ortiz
1 catch, 11 yards
* Gavin Sanders
1 catch, 11 yards
* Sebastian Constancio
1 catch, 11 yards
###
TEAM DEFENSE
22.9 points per game (206)
265.0 yards per game (2,385)
152.9 rushing yards per game (1,376)
112.1 passing yards per game (1,009)
TACKLES
* Kaleb Ozuna
98 tackles, 7 for loss, 1 sack
* Caleb McCullough
89 tackles, 21 for loss, 8 sacks, 1 fumble recovery
* Gavin Sanders
57 tackles, 3 for loss
* Dalton Adams
54 tackles, 15 for loss, 6 sacks, 1 interception
* Chris Fernandez
44 tackles, 4 for loss, 1 sack
* Colton Allen
40 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack, 5 interceptions
* Cedrick Morelan
37 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 interception
* Jeremy Brown
35 tackles, 3 for loss, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery
* Casey Moseley
33 tackles, 1 for loss
* Rohyn Price
31 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery
* Griffin Cheslock
30 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 fumble recovery
* Houston Ortiz
24 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack
* Izik Delgado
19 tackles, 5 for loss, 1 fumble recovery
* Dillon Miller
12 tackles
* Dylan Brame
11 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack
* Justin Pierce
9 tackles
* Sebastian Constancio
8 tackles
* Reece Middleton
6 tackles
* Nicolas Thames
2 tackles
* Malcham Williams
1 tackle
###
TURNOVER MARGIN (+6)
* Early: 9 (2 fumbles, 7 interceptions)
* Opponents: 15 (5 fumbles, 10 interceptions)