EARLY – The Early Longhorns are hoping the third time is the charm as their quest for their first victory at home continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday when the Peaster Greyhounds visit for homecoming.

After opening the season with a 33-12 victory at Bangs, the Longhorns (1-2) have since fallen at home to Hamilton, 41-21, and Junction, 49-12, allowing 1,051 yards in those two games along with 90 points.

“Defensively, we have to fix our tackling,” said Early first-year head coach Randall Case. “Right now we’re not tackling very well or getting hats to the football and that’s on me. We’re going to work toward getting that fixed.”

Further reflecting on the Junction game, Case said, “Junction was as good as advertised. A good football team, well coached and they come in and beat us in all three phases of the game. We have to come back and work and get ready for this upcoming stretch and make sure we’re ready and prepared for district. I told the guys if we let Week 3 define the rest of our season, shame on us. It didn’t go our way obviously and you’re always disappointed with a loss. We saw some good things but we also saw some bad things we need to clean up.”

Peaster (2-1), meanwhile, suffered its first loss to Jacksboro, 32-13, this past week after starting its season with victories over Tolar, 10-0, and Ferris, 41-17.

“Peaster is a heck of a football team,” Case said. “They run the spread, they’re fast, they’re physical and well coached with a ton of depth. We’re going to have to be on our ‘A’ game Friday night.”

The Greyhounds enter the game averaging 21 points and 288 yards – 150 rushing and 138 passing – per outing, while giving up 16 points per game on average.

Quarterback Kaden Albert has completed 21 of 41 passes for 288 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and ranks second on the team in rushing yards with 162 and a team-best five scores on the ground. Hudson Salyers has contributed 179 rushing yards and a touchdown, while receiving threats are Slayte Robertson (15-166, TD), Troy Berkins (5-64) and Brayden Gent (3-102).

Charged with slowing down the Peaster offense is an Early defense led by Kaeden Byrd (49 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack), Mario Vazquez (29 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries), Weston Barton (20 tackles), Ben Bleth (16 tackles, 1 for loss), Ben Morris (15 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack), Brayden Schafer (14 tackles), Andrew Reedy (13 tackles, 1 INT), Brandon Walker (12 tackles, 1 for loss), Brennen Rasor (12 tackles), Rhett Williams (11 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), Will Speck (11 tackles), and Da’Corrain McBride (10 tackles).

Offensively, Early enters its fourth game of the year averaging 22 points and 367 yards – 211 passing and 156 rushing – per outing.

Barton has connected on 37 of 73 passes for 634 yards with six touchdowns and one interception, while rushing for 84 yards. Reedy leads the way with 22 catches for 462 yards and three touchdowns, along with Bleth’s 12 receptions for 157 yards and two trips to the end zone. The ground game has featured Morris (127 yards), Brandon Walker (110 yards, TD), Cameron Love (78 yards), and Reedy (68 yards, 3 TDs).

“Our offense has showed some good spurts and we had some kids show up in different areas that can help us with depth,” Case said. “At times we played hard, there’s just little things you see throughout the game, but there’s a lot that needs to be fixed, too.”

Regarding what it will take for Early to snap its current two-game skid, level its overall mark and achieve its first win at Longhorn Stadium this season, Case said, “We have got to figure a way to start fast. We can’t keep putting ourselves in a hole early and trying to dig out of it. We have to learn how to start fast and a lot of that comes with the maturity of our team, having a bunch of young guys, but once they get that figured out, they’ll get it rolling.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 24-point underdog.

***

Early Longhorns 2024 Football Season Stats

Through 3 Games (1-2)

TEAM OFFENSE

22.0 points per game (66)

367.0 yards per game (1,101)

155.7 rushing yards per game (467)

211.3 passing yards per game (634)

PASSING

* Weston Barton

37 of 73 for 634 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT

RUSHING

* Ben Morris

127 yards on 32 carries

* Brandon Walker

110 yards on 21 carries, 1 TD

* Weston Barton

84 yards on 16 carries

* Cameron Love

78 yards on 8 carries

* Andrew Reedy

68 yards on 15 carries, 3 TDs

RECEIVING

* Andrew Reedy

22 catches, 462 yards, 3 TDs

* Ben Bleth

12 catches, 157 yards, 2 TDs

* Jaxson Stockman

2 catches, 18 yards, 1 TD

* Ben Morris

1 catch, -3 yards

###

TEAM DEFENSE

34.0 points per game (102)

411.3 yards per game (1,234)

295.7 rushing yards per game (887)

115.6 passing yards per game (347)

TACKLES

* Kaeden Byrd

49 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack

* Mario Vazquez

29 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries

* Weston Barton

20 tackles

* Ben Bleth

16 tackles, 1 for loss

* Ben Morris

15 tackles, 3 for loss, 1 sack

* Brayden Schafer

14 tackles

* Andrew Reedy

13 tackles, 1 INT

* Brandon Walker

12 tackles, 1 for loss

* Brennen Rasor

12 tackles

* Rhett Williams

11 tackles, 1 fumble recovery

* Will Speck

11 tackles

* Da’Corrain McBride

10 tackles

* Aaron Mendoza

7 tackles

* Angel Marquez

6 tackles

* Eli Pallette

4 tackles

* Rhett Smith

3 tackles

* Jack Nowell

3 tackles

* Jaxson Stockman

2 tackles

* Cameron Love

2 tackles

* Brayden Moya

1 tackle

* Riley Barton

1 tackle

###

TURNOVER MARGIN (+2)

* Early: 3 (2 fumbles, 1 interception)

* Opponents: 5 (3 fumbles, 2 interceptions)