Kickoff between Early (1-0), ranked No. 21 in Class 3A Division II this week by Harris Ratings Weekly, and Tolar (1-0) is set for 7:30 p.m. at Longhorn Stadium.
Reflecting on the Longhorns’ performance against Bangs, Price said, “I really enjoyed their response to the negative things that went on. We did a lot of things Friday night that we hadn’t done in a while, but we didn’t falter or panic. That’s a sign of the leadership I was hoping to see from those guys. At one point when I first got here, when bad things happened it would snowball on us.”
Meanwhile, Tolar upended Peaster by a 29-15 count in Week 1. Tied at 7 after one quarter, the Rattlers owned a 22-7 edge heading into the fourth period.
“Tolar’s a good football team,” Price said. “We’ve seen them in track the last couple of years and how fast they are, and we’ve played them all five years I’ve been here.”
The Rattlers produced 293 yards of total offense – 186 rushing and 107 passing – with no turnovers, while limiting Peaster to 229 yards, including a mere 36 rushing yards on 23 carries. Tolar also intercepted a pair of passes.
Offensive standouts for Tolar were Peyton Brown with 158 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, quarterback Jackson LeCluyse connected on 10 of 16 passes for 107 yards with a scoring toss to Drake Owens, who grabbed two receptions for 20 yards. Matthew Behrens led the Rattlers with four catches for 61 yards.
“They’re going to be a physical football team, physical up front, well-coached, run some spread with the two back, zone read, and counter read,” Price said. “They do some things where if you’re not disciplined it will cause some fits. They’ve got some athletes on the outside and they can throw it up to any one of them and they’ll go up and make a play.”
The Longhorns will counter with a defense that surrendered 20 points and 217 yards – 159 rushing and 58 passing – to Bangs, with three takeaways. After yielding a 77-yard touchdown run on the first snap of the contest, the Early defense gave up just 140 yards the rest of the night.
Caleb McCullough and Chris Fernandez led the way with nine tackles, including two for loss, apiece; Dalton Adams logged six tackles, with two for loss, and a fumble recovery; Kaleb Ozuna, Casey Moseley and Jeremy Brown chipped in five tackles each, with Brown also intercepting a pass; Griffin Cheslock and Gavin Sanders recorded four tackles apiece; and Cedric Morelan picked off a pass.
“Defensively we did really well after the first snap,” Price said. “I’d like to see them get a better pass rush and continue creating a lot of turnovers like we did last year. Friday night we had a big interception after our first turnover, then we recovered a fumble later in the game and had a big interception from Jeremy Brown to seal it. The defense played well all night long. They hit us in the mouth first play but we bottled them up pretty well after that.”
Defensively for Tolar, Isaac Blessing led the charge with nine tackles followed by Keaton Morrison with eight, Clayton Stembridge with seven, and Mason Berry and Brock Owens with six apiece. Stembridge and Cade Moody intercepted passes, while Owen, Morrison, Bryce Brown and Luke Wilson recorded Tolar’s four sacks.
“Defensively they’re bend but don’t break, they like to keep everything in front of them,” Price said. “They aren’t going to let you get vertical. I think we’ll be a little more successful than we were last year against them having another year in this offense.”
Early’s offense generated 506 yards – 254 rushing and 252 passing – against Bangs and overcame a pair of turnovers, including an interception returned for a touchdown.
Quarterback Jaxyn Price completed 18 of 37 passes for 252 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while Cheslock contributed 180 rushing yards and a pair of scores. Leading receivers included Ki Houston (6-72, 2 TDs), Brown (4-38), John-Stewart Gordon (3-66), and Cedrick Morelan (3-42).
“The offense played well, it was just one of those nights where we had big mistakes in big moments that can bring everybody down,” Price said. “We can’t make big mistakes in big moments like we did last week. We have to be able to snap the ball to the quarterback.”
Regarding what else it will take for the Longhorns to emerge victorious, Price said, “We have to control the game, take care of the football and control the clock. Defensively, getting off the field on third down will be huge. They have to ability to go fast and go big and hit home runs and they also have the ability to grind it out and burn the clock, so we need to be in control of the game.”
According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 2-point favorite.
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Early Longhorns 2022 Football Season Stats
Through 1 Game (1-0)
TEAM OFFENSE
34 points per game (34)
506 yards per game (506)
254 rushing yards per game (184)
252 passing yards per game (252)
PASSING
* Jaxyn Price
18 of 37 for 252 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
RUSHING
* Griffin Cheslock
180 yards on 18 carries, 2 TDs
* Kaleb Ozuna
59 yards on 17 carries
* Jaxyn Price
15 yards on 2 carries, 1 TD
* Cedric Morelan
0 yards on 1 carry
RECEIVING
* Ki Houston
6 catches, 72 yards, 2 TDs
* Jeremy Brown
4 catches, 38 yards
* John-Stewart Gordon
3 catches, 66 yards
* Cedrick Morelan
3 catches, 42 yards
* Kaleb Ozuna
1 catch, 18 yards
* Griffin Cheslock
1 catch, 16 yards
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TEAM DEFENSE
20 points per game (20)
217 yards per game (217)
159 rushing yards per game (159)
58 passing yards per game (57)
TACKLES
* Caleb McCullough
9 tackles, 2 for loss
* Chris Fernandez
9 tackles, 2 for loss
* Dalton Adams
6 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 fumble recovery
* Kaleb Ozuna
5 tackles, 1 for loss
* Casey Moseley
5 tackles, 1 for loss
* Jeremy Brown
5 tackles
* Griffin Cheslock
4 tackles, 1 for loss
* Gavin Sanders
4 tackles
* Izik Delgado
2 tackles, 1 for loss
* Houston Ortiz
2 tackles
* Colten Allen
2 tackles
* Reece Middleton
2 tackles
* Rohyn Price
1 tackle
* Sebastian Constancio
1 tackle
* Cedric Morelan
1 interception
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TURNOVER MARGIN (+1)
* Early: 2 (1 fumble, 1 interception)
* Opponents: 3 (1 fumble, 2 interceptions)