EARLY – The Early Longhorns overcame a sluggish start and secured their fourth straight victory to start the 2021 football season, eventually rolling past the Merkel Badgers for a 47-13 homecoming triumph Friday night.
Early (4-0) produced 357 yards of total offense – 215 through the air and 142 on the ground – with no turnovers, while holding Merkel (2-2) to 260 yards – 191 passing and 69 rushing – with six takeaways, giving the Longhorns 14 through four outings.
After mustering just 156 yards in the first half, Early – which led 14-6 at the break – racked up 201 second-half yards. The Longhorns pulled away in third quarter, outscoring the Badgers 26-0 during the stanza.
Longhorn quarterback Jaxyn Price completed 13 of 29 passes for 215 yards with three scoring tosses, while rushing for 16 yards and another score.
Leading receivers for Early were John-Stewart Gordon with four grabs for 49 yards with a trip to the end zone, Jeremy Brown with three receptions for 28 yards, Tre Beam with a pair of touchdown catches totaling 65 yards, Vic Cooper with two catches for 24 yards, Kaleb Ozuna with a 25-yard grab and Franky Villarreal with a 24-yard catch.
On the ground, Beam led the charge with 57 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Ozuna chipped in 39 yards, Villarreal rushed for 18 and Tucker Hale added a 12-yard gain.
Next week, the Longhorns wrap up their pre-district schedule at Grape Creek (1-3), which suffered a 49-0 loss to Coleman Friday night.
