EARLY – Despite a valiant effort, enough breaks didn’t go the way of the Early Longhorns, who came up short in four overtimes Saturday afternoon, 17-15, to the Brady Bulldogs in a battle of the last two undefeated teams in the District 5-3A Division II standings.
Seeking their first district championship since 2007 after posting just one win over their first five outings, Early (3-5, 2-1) held the Brady (6-2, 3-0) offense 28 points below its season of 45 per game.
“I am dang proud of our kids,” said Early first-year head coach Marvin Wilson. “A 1-9 ball club last year, where they’ve come from day one to now, just get ready because we’re going to play some more football. This one is on us, but a couple of things happened that should not have, and this ball game goes the other way.”
Knotted at 7 at the end of regulation, the victor was finally determined in the fourth extra session as Brady’s Ashton Taylor barreled into the end zone from 3 yards out – the equivalent of a two-point conversion – thanks to a considerable amount of extra effort, for the decisive points.
The first overtime began with each team starting at the opponents’ 25, as Early eventually missed a 26-yard field goal attempt, then Brady failed to convert a fourth-and-4 at the Longhorn 19.
Controversy arose in the second overtime as Taylor scored on a 5-yard carry to push Brady in front, 13-7. According to UIL rules, teams are to attempt two-point conversions only in the second overtime, though the Bulldogs kicked at an extra point. Brady missed the extra point try, however, the officials then allowed the Bulldogs to go for two as the rules state, and Taylor plunged into the end zone to extend Brady’s lead to 15-7.
“You know in overtime No. 2 you have to go for two and you kick it, that should not change and you should not get another chance, but it is what it is,” Wilson said.
Early quickly responded in one play as Caden Wilson connected with Andrew Reedy on a jail break screen and a 25-yard sprint to the end zone. Down 15-13, Early’s two-point try featured Wilson completing another toss to Reedy, this time on a fade in the corner of the end zone, which knotted the score at 15.
“Reedy’s a player, he’s fast and they had him doubled most of the game, but we ran some stuff to finally get him single,” Wilson said. “You get him the ball and just let him go to work.”
Neither team scored in the third overtime, which began a sequence of the teams getting one chance to score from the opponents’ 3 yard line. First, Brady bobbled a pass that was eventually caught out of bounds, then the Bulldogs recorded an interception on Early’s attempt in the end zone.
The Longhorns started the fourth overtime with the ball at the Brady 3, and their one play – a rollout pass at the goal line – fell incomplete. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs found the end zone to end the contest.
Brady grabbed a 7-0 lead with 4:03 left in the contest after Early’s initial drive stalled at the Bulldog 3. A five-play, 97-yard touchdown march was ignited by a 79-yard cutback and sprint from Taylor, then Johnny Roque finished the surge with an 8-yard scoring sprint.
The score remained 7-0 – as Early blocked a 23-yard field goal attempt just before halftime – until the Longhorns drew even with 6:48 left in the third period.
Starting at their own 16 after again turning away a Brady scoring attempt, the Longhorns drove 84 yards in six plays before Reedy hauled in a 4-yard touchdown from Wilson on fourth-and-goal. The touchdown was set up by a 79-yard connection from Wilson to Stone Ratliff, which moved the ball inside the Brady 10.
Early finished the game with 271 yards of total offense – 230 passing and just 41 rushing – and committed the game’s two turnovers.
Wilson completed 15 of 30 passes with the two touchdowns to Reedy, who tallied six grabs for 87 yards, and one interception. Ratliff led the Longhorns with 122 receiving yards on five catches, and Isaac Ybarra was the top ground gainer for Early with 25 yards.
Brady compiled 354 yards – 283 on the ground and 71 through the air – as Taylor finished with 205 yards on 24 carries, and also caught three passes for 51 yards. Quarterback Sean Jacoby chipped in 33 yards on the ground and completed 4 of 13 passes for 71 yards. Alijah Stark contributed 27 rushing yards and an 11-yard reception, while Roque finished with 16 yards on the ground and a score.
The Longhorns wrap up the regular season at Eastland (0-8, 0-3) then at home against Dublin (1-7, 1-2), while Brady still has tests remaining at home against Tolar (3-5, 1-2) next week and the regular season finale at Clifton (6-2, 2-1). On paper, Early has an easier road to the finish line, so a share of the district championship isn’t out of the question, while a postseason berth is all but cinched.
“We’re not done,” Wilson said. “We’ve got a couple more games in district left, but we have a lot of football to still play.”
The Early-Brady game was played Saturday due to lightning in the area Friday night, which led to the postponement of the contest.
