BANGS – Clinging to a two-point halftime lead, the Early Longhorns in the second half made a concerted effort to get the ball in the hands of sophomore receiver Andrew Reedy more often, and it paid huge dividends.
Reedy – who finished with almost 900 receiving yards as a freshman – scored three second-half touchdowns on receptions of 43 and 23 yards, and added a 15-yard scoring sprint for the final touchdown as the Early Longhorns knocked off the Bangs Dragons, 33-12, Friday night in a Brown County battle to open the 2024 football season.
Delayed more than an hour and half by weather in the head coaching debuts for both Early’s Randall Case and Bangs’ Colton Buzzard, the first half was even as both teams scored two touchdowns, but extra points gave the Longhorns a 14-12 halftime edge.
Bangs committed three second-half turnovers, however, and finished with 13 penalties for 130 yards – many of those being personal fouls – which further aided Early in pulling away.
The Longhorns finished with 306 yards of total offense – 190 through the air and 116 on the ground – while the Dragons generated 191 yards – 151 rushing and 40 passing.
Reedy caught a game-high five passes for 164 yards and the two scores, while quarterback Weston Barton connected on 7 of 15 passes for 190 yards, as Ben Bleth caught the other two passes totaling 26 yards, with a trip to the end zone.
On the ground for the Longhorns, Brandon Walker led the way with 63 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown, followed by Reedy with 20 yards on four totes.
For Bangs, Brayden Gatlin rushed for a game-high 81 yards on 12 carries and scored the Dragons’ lone offensive touchdowns, and also hauled in a 27-yard reception.
Aden Jones tacked on 43 yards on the ground and Jackson Edmiston rushed for 22, while quarterback Skylar Minshew connected on 4 of 7 passes for 40 yards with an interception, and was limited to 5 yards on the ground on seven carries.
Bangs put the game’s first points on the board after driving to the Early 20, where the drive stalled. But the Longhorns couldn’t get out of their own way in the initial stages of the contest, and on third-and 19 from the 11 a bad snap back to Barton found its way into the end zone, where the Dragons’ Noah Castillo recovered the fumble for a touchdown and a 6-0 Bangs edge with 5:53 left in the first period.
Early responded on its second possession with a nine-play, 74-yard trek that ended with a 16-yard scoring toss from Barton to Bleth. Angel Marquez’s extra point at the 2:24 mark the first period gave the Longhorns a 7-6 lead they never relinquished.
Bangs punted the ball away after its second possession, and the Longhorns then marched 60 yards in nine plays as Walker scored on a 7-yard carry at the 8:40 mark of the second quarter. Walker rushed for 31 yards on six carries during the drive, and Marquez’s extra point increased the advantage to 14-6.
Late in the first half, the Dragons were the beneficiaries of a poor Early punt that covered just 12 yards. Taking over at the Early 32, Bangs needed just four plays before Gatlin plowed over a Longhorn defender at the goal line to cap an 18-yard touchdown run. The Dragons’ two-point attempt failed, however, as the Longhorns maintained a 14-12 lead with 1:55 left before the break.
Bangs then dodged a bullet just before halftime as Reedy scored on a 63-yard jet sweep pass, but the play was negated due to a holding call against the Longhorns.
To start the second half, however, Walker returned the kickoff 37 yards to the Bangs 43, and on Early’s first snap of the third period Barton connected with Reedy on a crossing pattern that ended in the end zone, with the Longhorns’ lead boosted to 21-12.
Early’s next drive began at its own 1 following a 57-yard Bangs punt, but the Longhorns moved 99 yards to stretch the lead to 27-12 with 6:09 left in the third period. Assisted by a pair of personal foul calls against Bangs, Early also covered 47 yards in one pass from Barton to Reedy, then the drive ended with the same connection as Reedy found the end zone from 23 yards out. The two-point try failed, leaving Bangs still within two scores, 27-12.
The Dragons’ next three possessions, however, ended with two fumbles, an interception, and a punt, as Bangs mustered just 89 yards of total offense after halftime.
Early’s final touchdown, which occurred with 1:32 left in the contest, was set up by a Reedy interception of Minshew that was returned to the Dragons 15. On the next snap, Reedy broke through the Bangs defense out of the backfield for a 15-yard touchdown carry and the final 21-point margin.
Next week, Early (1-0) opens its home slate against Hamilton (1-0), which thumped Millsap, 33-18, Friday night. Meanwhile, Bangs (0-1) welcomes Merkel (0-1), which is coming off a 28-10 loss the Dragons’ District 5-2A Division I rival Ballinger.
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Early 33, Bangs 12
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Early | 7 | 7 | 13 | 6 | – 33 |
| Bangs | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | – 12 |
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SCORING SUMMARY
B: Noah Castillo recovered fumble in end zone (run failed), 5:53, 1st
E: Ben Bleth 16 pass from Weston Barton (Angel Marquez kick), 2:24, 1st
E: Brandon Walker 7 run (Marquez kick), 8:40, 2nd
B: Brayden Gatlin 18 run (kick failed), 1:55, 2nd
E: Reedy 43 pass from Barton (Marquez kick), 11:30, 3rd
E: Reedy 23 pass from Barton (run failed), 6:09, 3rd
E: Reedy 15 run (kick blocked), 1:32, 4th
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| TEAM STATS | E | B |
| First Downs | 19 | 10 |
| Total Offense | 306 | 191 |
| Rushes-Yards | 32-116 | 33-151 |
| Passing Yards | 190 | 40 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 7-15-0 | 4-7-1 |
| Fumbles Lost | 1 | 2 |
| Penalties-Yards | 6-45 | 13-130 |
| Punts-Average | 3-18.0 | 4-42.0 |
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PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: E – Brandon Walker 13-63, TD; Andrew Reedy 4-20, TD; Ben Morris 7-19; Weston Barton 8-4. B – Brayden Gatlin 12-81, TD; Aden Jones 8-43; Jackson Edmiston 6-22; Skylar Minshew 7-5.
PASSING: E – Barton 7-15-0-190, 3 TDs. B – Minshew 4-7-1-40.
RECEIVING: E – Reedy 5-164, 2 TDs; Ben Bleth 2-26, TD. B – Gatlin 1-27; Rex Guerrero 1-5; Noah Castillo 1-4; Braxton Wommack 1-4.
