EARLY – A second consecutive trip to the playoffs is just a victory away for the Early Longhorns, who venture to face the winless San Angelo TLCA Eagles at 7 p.m. Friday in District 3-3A Division I action.

The Longhorns put themselves in position to secure a postseason berth with last week’s 34-15 road victory over Clyde.

“It was nice to get back in the win column,” said Early second-year head coach Daniel Price. “I did some research and it’s the first time since 2004 that we’ve beaten Clyde. We haven’t played them consistently, but we haven’t been able to find a way to beat them. We went up there and played really hard and it was nice to have that success.”

Further reflecting on last week’s win, which snapped a two-game skid, Price said, “The defense played like what we had seen earlier in the year so it was good to have that back. We knew their offense was going to be a little different than what we’ve seen before and the secondary stepped up to the challenge with nine or 10 pass deflections, so it was a good night.”

Early allowed just 193 yards of total offense and forced a pair of turnovers – both interceptions by Jeremy Brown – while the offense churned out 502 total yards. Jaxyn Price returned to the lineup and passed for 325 yards and three touchdowns, Tre Beam rushed for 137 yards and two scores and grabbed a 31-yard scoring toss, and Brown caught a season-high seven passes for 131 yards.

TLCA (0-8, 0-3) has been outscored 326-91 this season, an average of 49 to 13 per outing. Losses have come at the hands of Brady (37-6), Junction (20-14), Grape Creek (50-22), Reagan County (40-14), Stanton (46-13), Wall (64-13), Clyde (61-22), and Jim Ned (70-0).

“TLCA has struggled this year quite a bit, but they’re very athletic on film,” Price said “They run multiple offensive formations, they do some things where they have some success then a kid will disappear off the film – not sure if they get hurt or have COVID of what the deal is. They’ve had kids that are on and off the film and some guys have had success and then they disappear.

“Defensively, they’re a 3-3 stack, they bring multiple people, they cause a lot of confusion up front so it’ll be a good challenge.”

The Longhorns enter the contest averaging 37 points and 382 yards – 216 passing and 166 rushing – with eight turnovers.

Price has completed 96 of 164 passes for 1,448 yards with 20 touchdowns and four interceptions, while Beam has picked up 906 yards on the ground with 13 trips to the end zone. Leading receivers include Brown (42-506, 3 TDs), John-Stewart Gordon (25-370, 4 TDs), Beam (15-237, 4 TDs), Ki Houston (9-214, 3 TDs), Cedrick Morelan (6-176, 2 TDs) and Caleb McCullough (6-65, 2 TDs).

On the defensive end, Early is yielding 19 points and 247 yards – 126 passing and 121 rushing – with 19 takeaways.

Standouts include McCullough (67 tackles, 11 for loss, 5 sacks), Kaleb Ozuna (62 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks, 2 FRs, 1 INT), Tucker Hale (59 tackles, 5 for loss, 1 sack, 1 INT), Franky Villarreal (57 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 sacks, 2 for loss, 1 FR), Korbin Hall (46 tackles, 10 for loss), Beam (42 tackles, 16 for loss, 6 sacks, 1 FR), Brown (33 tackles, 1 for loss, 3 INTs), Vic Cooper (32 tackles, 1 INT), Chris Fernandez (27 tackles, 1 FR), Gordon (22 tackles, 5 INTs), Dalton Adams (21 tackles, 1 for loss), and Brooks Clippinger (20 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 FR).

“I like where we’re at and we’re excited about the opportunity to get back in the playoffs for the second year in a row,” Price said. “We just have to make that long trip, and hopefully show up and get off the bus and play well and give ourselves a chance to win.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, there is no line for this game. Early is ranked 60 points higher than TLCA this week.

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Early Longhorns 2021 Football Stats

Through 8 Games (6-2, 1-2)

TEAM OFFENSE
37.4 points per game (262)

382.3 yards per game (3,059)
166.0 rushing yards per game (1,328)
216.3 passing yards per game (1,731)

PASSING
‒ Jaxyn Price
96 of 164 for 1,448 yards, 20 TDs, 4 INTs

‒ Tucker Hale
22 of 41 for 283 yards, TD, 2 INTs

RUSHING
‒ Tre Beam
906 yards on 143 carries, 13 TDs

‒ Kaleb Ozuna
126 yards on 28 carries, 2 TDs

‒ Franky Villarreal
119 yards on 28 carries

‒ Tucker Hale
89 yards on 25 carries, TD

‒ Michael Morales
71 yards on 22 carries, TD

‒ Riley Hill
32 yards on 4 carries

‒ Ryan Parisi
-3 yards on 1 carry

‒ Jaxyn Price
-12 yards on 15 carries, TD

RECEIVING
‒ Jeremy Brown
42 catches for 506 yards, 3 TDs

‒ John-Stewart Gordon
25 catches for 370 yards, 4 TDs

‒ Tre Beam
15 catches for 237 yards, 4 TDs

‒ Ki Houston
9 catches for 214 yards, 3 TDs

‒ Cedrick Morelan
6 catches for 176 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Caleb McCullough
6 catches for 65 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Vic Cooper
5 catches for 54 yards

‒ Gavin Sanders
5 catches for 53 yards, TD

‒ Franky Villarreal
3 catches for 47 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Kaleb Ozuna
1 catch for 14 yards

‒ Hayden Welch
1 catch for 5 yards

‒ Michael Morales
1 catch for 1 yard

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TEAM DEFENSE
19.4 points per game (155)

247.2 yards per game (1,978)

120.6 rushing yards per game (965)
126.6 passing yards per game (1,013)

TACKLES

‒ Caleb McCullough
67 tackles, 11 for loss, 5 sacks

‒ Kaleb Ozuna
62 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks, 2 FRs, 1 INT

‒ Tucker Hale
59 tackles, 5 for loss, 1 sack, 1 INT

‒ Franky Villarreal
57 tackles, 4 for loss, 3 sacks, 2 for loss, 1 FR

‒ Korbin Hall
46 tackles, 10 for loss

‒ Tre Beam
42 tackles, 16 for loss, 6 sacks, 1 FR

‒ Jeremy Brown
33 tackles, 1 for loss, 3 INTs

‒ Vic Cooper
32 tackles, 1 INT

‒ Chris Fernandez
27 tackles, 1 FR

‒ John-Stewart Gordon
22 tackles, 5 INTs

‒ Dalton Adams
21 tackles, 1 for loss

‒ Brooks Clippinger
20 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 FR

‒ Gavin Sanders
15 tackles

‒ Casey Moseley
11 tackles, 1 for loss

‒ Cedric Morelan
9 tackles

‒ Bradly Roman
6 tackles

‒ Ki Houston
5 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Riley Hill
4 tackles

‒ Houston Ortiz
4 tackles

‒ Cooper Jacobs
3 tackles

‒ Jaxyn Price
2 tackles

‒ Hayden Welch
2 tackles, 1 FR

‒ Sebastian Constancio
2 tackles

‒ Ryan Parisi
1 tackle

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TURNOVER MARGIN: (+11)
Early 8 – 2 fumbles, 6 INTs
Opponents 19 — 8 FRs, 11 INTs