BANGS – The Bangs Dragons may have provided more of a challenge than the Class 3A Division II No. 15 Early Longhorns anticipated in Friday night’s 2022 season opener, but the larger school prevailed in a 34-20 road triumph for the purple and gold.
Tied at 7 after one quarter, Early (1-0) took a 22-14 halftime lead. Bangs (0-1), new to Class 2A Division I this season, remained within a touchdown, 28-20, through three periods, but the Longhorns added an insurance score in the fourth quarter.
“It looked like a Week 1 football game for us,” said Early third-year head coach Daniel Price. “We learned some hard lessons tonight, we’ve got some things to work on for sure, but it’s always good to win.”
Bangs fifth-year head coach Kyle Maxfield said, “Our kids battled, we just came up a few plays too short. We had chances to make more plays, but at the same time our defense came to play and got some stops when it looked like Early could have blown it open. But Early’s going to play a long time.”
The Longhorns finished with 433 yards of total offense – 249 passing and 184 rushing – with three turnovers.
The Dragons churned out 204 yards – 147 on the ground and 57 through the air with a pair of interceptions – and were limited to 29 total yards in the second half.
Early quarterback Jaxyn Price connected on 19 of 38 passes for 249 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and also rushed for a score. Ki Houston led the Longhorns with six catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns, John-Stewart Gordon grabbed four passes for 66 yards, Jeremy Brown pulled down four catches for 36 yards, Cedrick Morelan finished with three grabs for 23 yards, and Griffin Cheslock and Kaleb Ozuna added receptions of 35 and 15 yards, respectively.
Cheslock sparked the ground attack with 151 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, while Ozuna also toted the ball 16 times for 60 yards.
For Bangs, Guy Powell rushed for 110 yards and scored once, while quarterback Kenny Cole completed 6 of 22 passes for 57 yards with two interceptions, but also scored a rushing touchdown. Guy Funk led the Bangs receivers with two catches for 41 yards, Skylar Minshew added two grabs for 7 yards, and Hunter Newton caught a 10-yard toss while rushing for 26 yards as well. Keygan Pitts also chipped in a 13-yard carry.
“I was really proud of our ability tonight to not drop our heads when things went south,” Price said. “We had a couple of moments there where we did some bad things and gave up a couple of plays, but our kids responded, and we overcame that adversity. It was good to see those kids do that.”
Next week, the Longhorns welcome Class 2A Division I No. 12 Tolar (1-0) – which downed Peaster, 29-15, to start its campaign – in their home opener, while the Dragons are at home for the second week in a row against Comanche (1-0), which blasted Brady, 49-7, Friday night.
“You could the look in our kids’ eyes after the game, they were worn out, but they had their heads up,” Maxfield said. “We’re a different team on both sides of the ball from last year, but it doesn’t get any easy for us.”
