EARLY – The Marvin Wilson era of Early Longhorns football got off to a successful start, now the program begins its quest to do something it was unable to accomplish in 2024 – earn a victory beyond the season opener.

The Longhorns (1-0), fresh off a 35-18 home victory over the rival Bangs Dragons, hit the road for the first of three consecutive away games as they visit the Hamilton Bulldogs (1-0) – a 35-6 victor over Millsap in Week 1 – at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Reflecting on the victory over Bangs, in which the Longhorns pulled away late after trailing 6-3 early, Wilson said, “Our kids played hard. We got ourselves in a little bit of a bind quickly, but we’ve also preached about keeping the mentality and, slowly but surely, we came on.”

Against the Dragons, Early generated 452 yards of total offense – 191 passing and 261 rushing – with one turnover.

Quarterback Caden Wilson connected on 11 of 13 passes for 191 yards with a pair of touchdowns, while rushing for 83 yards and two more scores.

Andrew Reedy recorded three receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown, Brennen Rasor caught three passes for 45 yards and booted a 23-yard field goal, Cameron Love caught a pair of passes covering 68 yards, Stone Ratliff hauled in two receptions for 16 yards with a trip to the end zone, and Jaxson Stockman caught a 7-yard pass.

On the ground, Brandon Walker led the way with 89 yards and a touchdown, Reedy rushed once for a 35-yard gain, Ratliff contributed 33 yards, and Love finished with 21 yards rushing.

“We mixed it up pretty well,” Wilson said of the offense. “We finally opened the door for some quarterback run, which we didn’t do a ton, but we allowed that edge to open for us. We rotated three running backs and got the ball to multiple receivers. We spread it out and kept pushing things.”

Defensively, standouts for the Longhorns included Angel Marquez with 18 tackles and one for loss; Brayden Schafer with 16 tackles; Rhett Williams with 10; Aiden Driskill with 9 and 2 for loss; and Mario Vasquez and Weston Harrison with 8 apiece.

Early allowed 300 yards – 205 rushing and 95 passing – with one takeaway on a Reedy interception.

“Defensively, that offense is tough and if you’re not in the right spot you’re in a bind,” Wilson said. “For the most part, we were where we were supposed to be. We didn’t finish plays a couple of times the way we should have. We kept our eyes in the backfield with our secondary a couple of times and allowed some stuff we shouldn’t have allowed. But everything that happened is 100 percent fixable. We just have to know what we’re doing and stay with what you’re supposed to do and we’ll get all that fixed.”

In the Bulldogs’ victory over Millsap, Hamilton overcame three turnovers – two interceptions and a fumble – to finish with 370 yards of total offense – 212 rushing and 158 passing.

Among the offensive highlights for Hamilton were Carson Roberts’ touchdown passes of 67 yards to Devin Eanes and 55 yards to Halston Haile, a 46-yard touchdown run by Ricky Shank and a 2-yard scoring plunge by Cooper Turner.

Defensively, Hamilton yielded just a first-half touchdown and 242 total yards – 212 rushing and 30 passing – while forcing four turnovers – all fumble recoveries. Bret Bauman led the Bulldogs with 12 tackles including 2 for loss.

Regarding what he expects from Hamilton, Wilson said, “They’ve got some athletes. They spread the ball out in a whole different offense that what we saw last week. They’re going to have three or four wide, maybe throw a tight end in there, run a little bit of wing stuff, and their quarterback can throw a ball. Up front, their o-line and d-line are good, solid kids that move well. We have to come after them, be aggressive and be physical. Defensively, they’ll get after you. They play hard and fast, we just have to take advantage of what they give us.”

In regard to aspects he hopes to see the Longhorn improve upon in Week 2, Wilson said, “There’s a lot we have to improve on, it’s early in the season. We have to learn to get off blocks better, we’ve got to align better. They moved around and we didn’t move correctly all the time. You have to get yourself lined up, put yourselves in the best position, and then just go play.”

The keys to coming away from Friday’s contest with a 2-0 record, according to Wilson, are, “play hard on both sides of the ball, and be disciplined in what we’re supposed to do. If we do that, I think we can stop anybody’s offense the majority of the time. Teams will always gain yards, every offensive play is drawn up to score, you just have to go be more relentless than the other group.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Early is a 28-point underdog, while Dave Campbell’s Texas Football lists the Longhorns as 50-point underdogs.

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Early Longhorns 2025 Football Season Stats

Through 1 Game (1-0)

TEAM OFFENSE

35.0 points per game (35)

452.0 yards per game (451)

261.0 rushing yards per game (261)

191.0 passing yards per game (191)

PASSING

* Caden Wilson

11 of 13 for 191 yards, 2 TDs

RUSHING

* Brandon Walker

89 yards on 5 carries, 1 TD

* Caden Wilson

83 yards on 16 carries, 2 TDs

* Andrew Reedy

35 yards on 1 carry

* Stone Ratliff

33 yards on 7 carries

* Brandon Love

21 yards on 3 carries

RECEIVING

* Andrew Reedy

3 catches, 55 yards, 1 TD

* Brennen Rasor

3 catches, 45 yards

* Cameron Love

2 catches, 68 yards

* Stone Ratliff

2 catches for 16 yards, 1 TD

* Jaxson Stockman

1 catch for 7 yards

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TEAM DEFENSE

18.0 points per game (18)

252.0 yards per game (252)

158.0 rushing yards per game (158)

94.0 passing yards per game (94)

TACKLES

* Angel Marquez

18 tackles, 1 for loss

* Brayden Schafer

16 tackles

* Rhett Williams

10 tackles

* Aiden Driskill

9 tackles, 2 for loss

* Mario Vasquez

8 tackles

* Weston Harrison

8 tackles, 1 for loss

* Caden Wilson

6 tackles

*Logan Jackson

5 tackles, 1 for loss

* Andrew Reedy

5 tackles, 1 INT

* Aaron Mendoza

4 tackles, 1 for loss

* Will Speck

4 tackles

* Stone Ratliff

3 tackles

* Kaden Burleson

3 tackles

* Brandon Walker

2 tackles

* Miguel Brunette

2 tackles

* Brennen Rasor

1 tackle

* Jaxson Stockman

1 tackle

* Rhett Smith

1 tackle

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TURNOVER MARGIN (0)

* Early: 1 (1 fumble)

* Opponents: 1 (1 interception)