SAN ANGELO – Making their fourth trip in a row to the postseason, the Early Longhorns secured a third straight bi-district championship, easing past the Odessa Compass Cougars, 54-13, Friday night at San Angelo ISD Stadium.
With the win over District 1-3A Division II third seed Odessa Compass (4-7), the District 2 runner-up Longhorns (6-5) will advance to the area round of the playoffs where No. 2 Canadian (11-0) – the District 3 champion fresh off a 65-7 win over Littlefield – awaits at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17 at Wolfforth Frenship.
In the win over Compass, Early generated 483 yards of total offense behind a balanced attack of 243 ground yards and 240 air yards. Defensively, the Longhorns gave up 255 yards – 165 passing and 90 rushing – and intercepted five Cougar passes.
Rohyn Price completed 14 of 18 passes with three touchdowns for the Longhorns – all to Andrew Reedy who finished with six receptions for 134 yards. Weston Barton added five catches for 68 yards and Ki Houston hauled in three catches for 38 yards.
On the ground, Griffin Cheslock was one of nine Longhorns to carry the ball and led the way with 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Price tacked on 53 yards and a score and Kaleb Ozuna compiled 38 yards and reached the end zone once. Houston also scored and contributed 10 yards on the ground. Reedy rushed for 23 yards, Reece Middleton added 22, Barton finished with 19, and Ben Morris tallied 8 yards.
Leading 14-7 after one quarter, the Longhorns stretched the lead to 33-7 by halftime and possessed a 47-7 cushion through three periods of play. Early produced 317 yards of total offense in the first half alone.
