BRADY – Facing their second consecutive District 2-3A Division II opponent on the road to begin league play, the Early Longhorns kept the Brady Bulldogs at arm’s length en route to a 41-27 victory Friday night.

The Longhorns (4-3, 2-0) finished with 361 yards of total offense – 229 passing and 132 rushing – and did not turn the ball over, while allowing Brady (3-4, 1-1) a total of 395 yards – 268 through the air and 127 on the ground – with one takeaway.

Quarterback Jaxyn Price sparked Early’s offense effort as he completed 17 of 30 passes with three touchdowns – two to Jeremy Brown and one to Caleb McCullough.

Brown led the receiving corps with seven catches for 101 yards followed by McCullough with four for 66, John-Stewart Gordon with two for 8 yards, Ki Houston with a 19-yard grab, Cedrick Morelan and Gavin Sanders each with a 13-yard reception, and Griffin Cheslock added a 9-yard catch.

The ground game featured 91 yards and a touchdown from Kaleb Ozuna, while Cheslock contributed 74 yards with a trip to the end zone.

Brady quarterback Hayden Baronet passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a team-high 55 yards. Keegan Farris caught six passes for 165 yards and score once, Israel Morales hauled in a 70-yard touchdown reception, and J.D. Ibarra rushed for 47 yards and a score.

Early took a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard touchdown from Price to Brown at 3:26 of the first quarter, but Brady closed the gap to 7-6 with 22 seconds left in the period on a 2-yard touchdown run by Baronet.

Cheslock’s 3-yard touchdown run at 9:03 of the second extended Early’s lead to 14-6, but again Brady answered to close within 14-12 on a 65-yard scoring toss from Baronet to Farris just 58 seconds later.

The Longhorns pushed the lead to 21-12 as Price and Brown again connected from 38 yards out at 6:31, while Brady’s Angel Lopez booted a 23-yard field goal to bring the Bulldogs within a touchdown, 21-15, at the 3:30 mark.

With 24 seconds left before intermission, Price hooked up with McCullough on a 27-yard touchdown pass, giving Early a 27-15 halftime edge.

Ibarra’s 2-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left in the third brought Brady within 27-21. With the ball back in the Bulldogs’ possession, but pinned deep in their own territory with with 5:39 to go, Early’s Colton Allen picked off Baronet and returned the interception 3 yards for a touchdown to swing the momentum back in favor of Early, 34-21.

Just 21 seconds later, Baronet found Morales on a 70-yard touchdown pass as Early’s lead stood at 34-27 with 5:18 left.

The Longhorns, however, were able to milk the clock down the stretch as their final possession ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Ozuna with 1:33 remaining.

Next week, Early hosts winless Grape Creek (0-7, 0-2), coming off a 28-0 loss to San Angelo TLCA (3-4, 1-1), while Brady is at Ballinger (0-7, 0-2), which was blanked 36-0 by Wall (6-1, 2-0) Friday night.