Early looks to halt two-game skid as Troy visits

September 15, 2022 at 6:40 am Derrick Stuckly

High School Football

Jeremy Brown (2) and the Longhorns are averaging 29 points and allowing 40 points per game through three outings. [Photo courtesy of Mike Jones]

EARLY – The Early Longhorns will be back on their home turf Friday night, looking to put a two-game losing streak behind them as they welcome the Class 3A Division I Troy Trojans, led by former Comanche head coach Stephen Hermesmeyer.

Kickoff between Early (1-2) and Troy (1-2) is slated for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Longhorn Stadium.

Since opening the season with a 34-20 victory at Bangs, Early has fallen to Tolar, 51-14, and last week to Comanche, 49-40. A nightmarish second quarter in which the Longhorns yielded five touchdowns proved to be the difference against the Indians.

“I thought we played really well for three quarters,” said Early third-year head coach Daniel Price. “We didn’t play well the second quarter and with that really bad second quarter it cost us an opportunity to win a football game. Comanche is really good, they played well. I felt like we competed and played well for three quarters.”

Despite the loss, Price feels the turning point of the Longhorns’ season may have occurred during the second-half comeback attempt.

“When you go into halftime down 35-14 and you lose 49-40, you see a lot of resolve and character within the boys,” Price said. “We saw the team finally come together like we want them, and that was the biggest takeaway.”

Meanwhile, Troy finds itself in a similar spot as Early, having won its season opener against Whitney (23-20), followed by losses to Lexington (43-24) and Rogers (28-21).

“Coach Hermesmeyer was at Comanche, and I’ve known him for a while and know the way he coaches and what he expects out of his players,” Price said. “They’re going to be well-coached and physical, which is what we need to get ready for the district run.”

Troy is averaging 23 points and 308 yards – 157 rushing and 151 passing per game.

Quarterback Ethan Sorenson has completed 30 of 65 passes for 454 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Leading receivers include Reed Ketcham (11-206, 2 TDs), Cooper Valle (7-50, 3 TDs), and Gibson (4-133, 2 TDs). Top rushers are Valle (115 yards) and Gage Richardson (113 yards).

“They are really big up front, probably the biggest group collectively we’ll see all year,” Price said. “They’re physical, they come downhill at you, so it presents a different challenge for us that we haven’t seen. They’ve got some good skill players and they’re a lot of ground and pound, but it’s a little different from what he had going on at Comanche. It’s definitely downhill run the football at you, and they sprinkle in a little spread and throw it around a little bit. They use the run game to lull you to sleep and hit you over the top with their fast skill kids on the play action pass.”

Defensively, Early is yielding 40 points and 373 yards – 250 rushing and 123 passing – per game, with six takeaways.

Standouts include Caleb McCullough (28 tackles, 8 for loss, 4 sacks), Kaleb Ozuna (24 tackles, 1 for loss), Dalton Adams (21 tackles, 5 for loss, 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery), Chris Fernandez (21 tackles, 2 for loss), Houston Ortiz (16 tackles, 1 for loss), Cedric Morelan (16 tackles, 1 interception), Gavin Sanders (15 tackles), Casey Moseley (13 tackles, 1 for loss), Griffin Cheslock (13 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 fumble recovery), Jeremy Brown (12 tackles, 1 interception), and Colton Allen (9 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 interceptions).

“We have to tackle better, we talked about it all week,” Price said. “We’ve done some different things this week to hopefully improve our tackling. That’s what really got us in a bind Friday night, we missed more than 20 tackles. In order for us to be successful, we can’t miss that many tackles.”

The Troy defense has surrendered 30 points per game with three sacks and eight takeaways.

Leading the charge for the Trojans are Elijah Sunderman (20 tackles), Kadyn Martinez (17 tackles, 2 INTs), Gibson (13 tackles, 1 for loss), Cannon Negron (13 tackles, INT), Ketcham (12 tackles, 2 INTs), Andrew Mitchell (11 tackles, 1 sack, 1 for loss, INT), and Peyten Crawford (10 tackles).

“They’re going to be a 4-3 and sometimes transition into a 4-1,” Price said. “They’re athletic on the back end and huge up front. That’s the biggest line we’ll see all year. We’re strong and we can get after it, but we’re just not that big so it will be interesting to see how we much up with them up front and if we can control the scrimmage, we have a chance to win us a football game.”

The Longhorn offense through three games is producing 29 points and 406 yards – 277 passing and 129 rushing – with five turnovers.

Quarterback Jaxyn Price has connected on 62 of 114 pass attempts for 822 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions, while receiving threats include Brown (20-235, 2 TD), John-Stewart Gordon (16-214, TD), Morelan (6-92, TD), Ki Houston (6-72, TD), Cheslock (5-35), Ozuna (4-41), and Allen (3-25, TD).

Anchoring the ground game are Cheslock (245 yards, 3 TDs), Ozuna (102 yards), and Price (38 yards, TD).

“We can’t take a quarter off, we can’t ride a roller coaster and take on a lull where things go bad and we can’t stop the bleeding,” Price said of Friday’s keys for the offense. “We have to learn to live for another play and move on from one mistake on one play and not let it snowball into four or five like we did last Friday. If we do that, we’ll put ourselves in position to win Friday night.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 5-point favorite.

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Early Longhorns 2022 Football Season Stats

Through 3 Games (1-2)

TEAM OFFENSE

29.3 points per game (88)

406.3 yards per game (1,219)

129.6 rushing yards per game (389)

276.7 passing yards per game (830)

PASSING

* Jaxyn Price

62 of 114 for 822 yards, 7 TDs, 3 INTs

* Rohyn Price

1 of 3 for 8 yards, 0 TD, 1 INTs

RUSHING

* Griffin Cheslock

245 yards on 39 carries, 3 TDs

* Kaleb Ozuna

102 yards on 34 carries

* Jaxyn Price

38 yards on 6 carries, 1 TD

* Cedric Morelan

7 yards on 1 carry

RECEIVING

* Jeremy Brown

20 catches, 325 yards, 2 TDs

* John-Stewart Gordon

16 catches, 214 yards, 1 TD

* Cedrick Morelan

6 catches, 92 yards, 1 TD

* Ki Houston

6 catches, 72 yards, 2 TDs

* Griffin Cheslock

5 catches, 35 yards

* Kaleb Ozuna

4 catches, 41 yards

* Colton Allen

3 catches, 25 yards, 1 TD

* Houston Ortiz

1 catch, 11 yards

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TEAM DEFENSE

40.0 points per game (120)

373.3 yards per game (1,120)

249.6 rushing yards per game (749)

123.7 passing yards per game (371)

TACKLES

* Caleb McCullough

28 tackles, 8 for loss, 4 sacks

* Kaleb Ozuna

24 tackles, 1 for loss

* Dalton Adams

21 tackles, 5 for loss, 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery

* Chris Fernandez

21 tackles, 2 for loss

* Houston Ortiz

16 tackles, 1 for loss

* Cedric Morelan

16 tackles, 1 interception

* Gavin Sanders

15 tackles

* Casey Moseley

13 tackles, 1 for loss

* Griffin Cheslock

13 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 fumble recovery

* Jeremy Brown

12 tackles, 1 interception

* Colton Allen

9 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 interceptions

* Reece Middleton

3 tackles

* Izik Delgado

2 tackles, 1 for loss

* Rohyn Price

2 tackles, 1 fumble recovery

* Justin Pierce

2 tackles

* Dillon Miller

2 tackles

* Sebastian Constancio

1 tackle

* Dylan Brame

1 tackle

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TURNOVER MARGIN (+1)

* Early: 5 (1 fumbles, 4 interceptions)

* Opponents: 6 (2 fumbles, 4 interceptions)