Five-point victory over Dublin in finale would land Early in playoffs

November 7, 2024 at 7:15 am Derrick Stuckly

A postseason berth is still a possibility for the Longhorns (1-8, 0-4) heading into Friday’s last game of the regular season {Photo courtesy of Mike Jones}

EARLY – The Early Longhorns have experienced their trials and tribulations during the 2024 football campaign, but with a victory of at least five points over a one-win Dublin Lions squad in Friday night’s regular season finale, first-year head coach Randall Case’s team will be headed to the postseason.

Kickoff between Early (1-8, 0-4) and Dublin (1-8, 1-3) is set for 7 p.m. Friday in Dublin.

Though they’ve lost eight games in a row, the Longhorns are coming off a 33-31 four-overtime setback to Eastland (3-6, 1-3). If Early were to knock off Dublin, whose only win this year came against Eastland, 35-28, it would create a three-way tie for fourth place in the final District 5-3A Division II standings.

A three-way tie would be determined by a points tiebreaker, where Dublin currently sits at +7 points, Early is at -2 and Eastland is at -5. Therefore, a Longhorns win Friday night by 5 points would push Early to +3 in points and drop Dublin to +2, which would result in the purple and gold claiming the league’s fourth and final playoff seed.

Despite the high stakes of the contest, Case has his team solely focused on trying to finish the regular season on a positive note.

“We don’t want to focus solely on the playoff possibilities because then our kids may tense up a little bit, so we really haven’t really stressed that to the kids yet,” Case said earlier in the week. “At the moment we’re just focusing on the game plan and going and getting a win against Dublin, and hoping the cards fall in our favor. But if we go over there and win by five we will be in, and it would be good for our kids to experience that.”

Dublin enters the contest averaging 27 points and 338 yards – 227 passing and 111 rushing – per outing.

The Lions are led by quarterback Kaden Gaiten (136 of 269, 2,041 yards, 23 TDs, 9 INTs; 389 rushing yards, 7 TDs), receivers DJ Ferguson (32-504, 8 TDs; 219 rushing yards, TD), Francisco Garcia (32-443, 6 TDs), Reynaldo Chacon (15-222, 2 TDs), and Alex Teten (14-339, 3 TDs), along with running back Fernando Esparza (225 rushing yards, TD).

Early’s defense counters by allowing 41 points and 408 yards – 274 on the ground and 134 through the air – per game, with 16 takeaways.

Leading the charge are Kaeden Byrd (136 tackles, 7 for loss, 2 sacks), Mario Vazquez (93 tackles, 3 for loss, 3 fumble recoveries), Rhett Williams (45 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 2 fumble recoveries), Ben Morris (45 tackles, 6 for loss, 1 sack), Angel Marquez (42 tackles, 2 for loss, 2 fumble recoveries), Weston Barton (41 tackles, 2 for loss, 4 INTs, 1 fumble recovery), Will Speck (39 tackles, 2 for loss), Brayden Schafer (39 tackles, 4 for loss, 1 fumble recovery), Ben Bleth (35 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery), Andrew Reedy (30 tackles, 1 INT) and Brennen Rasor (25 tackles, 1 fumble recovery).

“Dublin throws and catches really well and we’re going to have to play pretty well on the back end to be able to stop them and not allow them to have big momentum plays and chunk yardage plays to keep drives alive,” Case said.

On the flip side of the ball, Dublin has surrendered 53 points per game on average, yielding at least 60 points on three occasions, with just 10 sacks and two takeaways – both interceptions.

Leading tacklers for the Lions are Alonso Moreno (85 tackles, 9 for loss, 1 interception), Ferguson (59 tackles, 8 for loss, 2 sacks), Caige Balvantin (53 tackles, 8 for loss, 3 sacks), Jake Southall (48 tackles, 5 for loss, 1 sack), and Gaiten (48 tackles, 2 for loss).

The Early offense heads into the contest producing 21 points and 332 yards – 167 passing and 165 rushing – but has coughed up the ball 18 times.

Andrew Reedy has caught 67 passes for 914 yards with seven touchdowns and also rushed for 195 yards and eight scores, while Cameron Love has chipped in 778 yards on the ground with five trips to the end zone. Quarterback Weston Barton is 123 of 224 for 1,502 yards with 11 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and 214 yards rushing, while Ben Bleth has pulled down 30 receptions for 421 yards and scored four times.

“We have to take better care of the football and that’s been the case all year,” Case said. “We’ve got to do a better job of that. We can’t throw picks, can’t have fumbles. We’ve got to take care of our opportunities in the red zone and go punch those in and get six points. If we can do that, sustain drives, take advantage of the opportunities we’re given, I think we had a really good shot to be successful.”

Reflecting on last’s week loss to Eastland, the Longhorns jumped out to a 10-point first-quarter lead, trailed by five at halftime, then fell behind by 14 in the fourth quarter before rallying to knot the score at 31 heading into the extra sessions.

“Four overtimes is a long time to play a football game,” Case said. “I thought our kids played really hard. They started out hot but let Eastland climb back in and then we had a lull and got behind in the middle of the ball game. In the second and third quarters it felt like we were letting the game get away from us but we were able to regroup and get ourselves back in it and put ourselves in position to go win at the end. A lot of crazy things happened, it was exciting, it was intense, but the cards didn’t fall in our direction. I’m proud of the way they fought from the start to the end, and it’s a big learning experience for us.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 20-point favorite.

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Early Longhorns 2024 Football Season Stats

Through 9 Games (1-8, 0-4)

TEAM OFFENSE

21.4 points per game (193)

332.3 yards per game (2,992)

165.6 rushing yards per game (1,490)

166.7 passing yards per game (1,502)

PASSING

* Weston Barton

123 of 224 for 1,502 yards, 11 TDs, 14 INTs

RUSHING

* Cameron Love

778 yards on 103 carries, 5 TDs

* Weston Barton

214 yards on 42 carries

* Andrew Reedy

195 yards on 34 carries, 8 TDs

* Ben Morris

176 yards on 49 carries, TD

* Brandon Walker

127 yards on 23 carries, TD

RECEIVING

* Andrew Reedy

67 catches, 914 yards, 7 TDs

* Ben Bleth

30 catches, 421 yards, 3 TDs

* Jaxson Stockman

9 catches, 87 yards, TD

* Brayden Moya

6 catches for 53 yards

* Cameron Love

4 catches for 10 yards

* Angel Marquez

3 catches for 17 yards

* Da’Corrain McBride

2 catches, 1 yard

* Ben Morris

1 catch, -3 yards

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TEAM DEFENSE

40.6 points per game (365)

408.5 yards per game (3,677)

274.4 rushing yards per game (2,470)

134.1 passing yards per game (1,207)

TACKLES

* Kaeden Byrd

136 tackles, 7 for loss, 2 sacks

* Mario Vazquez

93 tackles, 3 for loss, 3 fumble recoveries

* Rhett Williams

45 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 2 fumble recoveries

* Ben Morris

45 tackles, 6 for loss, 1 sack

* Angel Marquez

42 tackles, 2 for loss, 2 fumble recoveries

* Weston Barton

41 tackles, 2 for loss, 4 INTs, 1 fumble recovery

* Will Speck

39 tackles, 2 for loss

* Brayden Schafer

39 tackles, 4 for loss, 1 fumble recovery

* Ben Bleth

35 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery

* Andrew Reedy

30 tackles, 1 INT

* Brennen Rasor

25 tackles, 1 fumble recovery

* Brandon Walker

24 tackles, 4 for loss

* Rhett Smith

19 tackles

* Da’Corrain McBride

17 tackles

* Eli Pallette

7 tackles, 1 for loss

* Aaron Mendoza

7 tackles

* Cameron Love

6 tackles

* Brayden Moya

3 tackles

* Jaxson Stockman

3 tackles

* Jack Nowell

3 tackles

* Ethan Moseley

3 tackles

* Riley Barton

2 tackles, 1 for loss

* Logan Jackson

1 tackle, 1 for loss, 1 fumble recovery

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TURNOVER MARGIN (-2)

* Early: 18 (4 fumbles, 14 interceptions)

* Opponents: 16 (11 fumbles, 5 interceptions)