EARLY – The Early Longhorns will carry a win streak and a winning record into the District 3-3A Division I opener on Oct. 9 thanks to Friday night’s 36-0 homecoming victory over the Grape Creek Eagles.
“We’ve talked about putting things together, winning and building a little momentum going into district and I think we’ve done that,” said Early first-year head coach Daniel Price. “Now we have to get ready for that next step, but I like the momentum of a two-game winning streak to lead us into it, and hopefully that will pay off when we get to Jim Ned in a couple of weeks.”
Early (3-2) – which kicks off district action against Jim Ned in two weeks – recorded its second straight homecoming shutout as the Longhorns blanked Hico, 63-0, a year ago. Prior to last season, Early last tallied a shutout on Oct. 30, 2009 in a 28-0 decision over Coleman.
“That’s huge and something that’s very rare in the modern football age,” Price said of the shutout. “I was really proud of Coach Cliff and Coach Fisk and Coach Clip, they’ve done a great job with those guys on the defensive side of the ball. It was fun to watch, they were real physical up front, and that single wing was a challenge to defend, but they did a good job all night and made some big plays, and some fourth down stops when they had some good drives going.”
The Longhorns allowed just 82 yards of total offense to Grape Creek (1-4) – 52 rushing on 37 carries and 30 through the air, allowing just 5 completions in 17 pass attempts.
On the flip side of the ball, Early generated 331 total yards with 284 coming on the ground. Alex Jacobs rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries, Jaxyn Price added 47 yards on eight rushes and Tre Beam finished with 45 yards and a touchdowns on seven carries. Wade Kennedy tacked on 27 yards on four carries while Rylie Hill and Franky Villarreal chipped in one 4-yard carry apiece.
“Our o-line did a great job,” Coach Price said. “They were dominant up front for most of the night. Alex had over 100 rushing yards tonight and that’s with a 93-yard touchdown called back in the second half. It’s fun to watch those guys grow up, they did a great job of being physical up front which allowed us to run the football successfully tonight.”
Through the air, Price connected on 3 of 11 passes for 47 yards with a 25-yard scoring toss to Beam. Tyson Tyler added a 12-yard reception and Jake Simpson hauled in a 10-yard catch.
