CLYDE – The Early Longhorns’ turnaround featured a share of the District 5-3A Division II championship and the No. 1 playoff seed in their first season under Marvin Wilson, but the preseason No. 7 Holliday Eagles chalked up a 50-36 Class 3A Division II Region II bi-district victory here Friday night.
Early (5-6) fell behind Holliday (7-4), which had lost three games in row to fall to the fourth seed in District 6, by a 22-7 count in the first quarter, drew even at 22 early in the second period, but the Eagles stretched the lead to 42-22 by halftime and 50-22 after three frames.
The Longhorns finished with 418 yards of total offense, including 323 on the round, but Holliday generated 501 yards – 282 passing and 219 rushing.
Early received 95 yards passing and two touchdowns and 92 yards rushing and two more scores from quarterback Caden Wilson.
Andrew Reedy rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown and added four catches for 39 yards and another score; Stone Ratliff ran for 82 yards and grabbed three receptions for 45 yards with a trip to the end zone; Isaac Ybarra chipped in 41 yards on the ground with a 5-yard catch; and Cameron Love rushed for 39 yards.
For Holliday, Landon Jones completed 21 of 33 passes for 282 yards with two scoring tosses and also rushed for 105 yards and a team-high three touchdowns.
Brady Jones grabbed six receptions for 103 yards; Paxton Peppa caught five passes for 57 yards and a touchdown and added 93 yards on the ground; Owen Hays pulled down five receptions for 46 yards; and Jayden Whitley finished with two grabs for 31 yards with a trip to the end zone.
The Longhorns’ district championship in 2025 was the program’s first since 2007.
