Archive : September 2005

September 26, 2005

Early 14 Clifton 0 continued

Early Longhorns 14 Clifton Cubs 0

As they say, this one wasn’t exactly ‘pretty’, but it is a “W”, and the Early Longhorns have never looked better at 4 – 1 going into the bye week. Actually, there were some really beautiful parts of this game – we got to spoil Clifton’s Homecoming; the defense forcing 7 Clifton turnovers; outclassing the host team with the Longhorn’s Tunnel, stadium flags, banners, and awesome “tailgate party”, to name a few.

But maybe the most beautiful, the most classy, the most indicative demonstration of what Early Students are all about, was the performance of the Early High School Marching Band, under the leadership of our Director of Half-time Operations – Jerry Everett. Since it was Clifton’s Homecoming, the Cub’s Band performed before the game. At half-time, when it came time for the Longhorn Band to perform, they had the hometown fans standing and applauding! But that’s not all. The Longhorn Band wasn’t finished by a long shot. You see, Mr. Everett and crew have set a new standard for Band Students everywhere, they’ve started doing something at the end of every game, that one Early ISD Administrator said he’s never seen done in his 26 years of service. After the game was over, after their instruments were packed away, after the bus was loaded, after most everyone else was headed home, the Early Band Students went out and picked up trash on the Visitor’s side of the Field. Make sure you understand what I’m saying – the Band Students cleaned up the opposing School’s facility, just because! At Early, it’s not just about what happens during the game that makes us proud, it’s the whole package, Team, Band, Flag Corp, Heartland Belles, Cheerleaders, Students, Booster Club, etc., etc., etc..

This week is the bye week for all Longhorn teams except one: the Freshman Longhorns. If you’re like me, you can’t go 14 days without cheering for the Early Longhorns, so try to make it over to Comanche this Thursday, the 29th, for a 5:30pm kickoff.

We’ll wait until next week to look at the stats for the pre-District games, and make some comparisons for District match-ups. Between now and then, I would love to hear any comments and/or predictions for what the Horns are facing. We travel to Ballinger a week from Friday to face 6’5” QB Wes Vanicek and a currently undefeated Bearcat team. Early surprised the ‘Cats last year with a 14-7 win on District’s opening night, what do you think things will look like this year? The Longhorn’s defense has now notched 14 quarters without allowing a touchdown(and only 19 points allowed in the last 4 games), does anyone in our District have an answer for that? Teams in our District are a combined 20 – 8(I think), so far this year, is this one of the toughest 2A Districts in the State? I’d love to hear what you think, and to let everyone else know what you think as well, so comment early and often. Go Horns.

Note: To the Longhorn fans that brought their FM radios to Clifton for the in-stadium broadcast, thanks for listening, and yes, we did realize that you could hear our comments during the commercial breaks, although I not sure we were using an abundance of caution. Oh well. Also, best wishes and get well soon to Bart Holliman.

September 24, 2005

Early Longhorns 14 Clifton Cubs 0

The Early Longhorns took advantage of a rare opportunity to spoil the Homecoming of a team that spoiled their own homecoming the year before. The 2004 game was an offensive shootout that saw the Clifton Cubs walk away with the win in the final minutes. As I predicted, this one was decided much earlier. In fact, it was essentially decided after only 19 seconds had ticked off the clock. The Horns took the opening kickoff and on the first play from scrimmage, Josh Conley went around the right side for 57 yards and six points, after Cochran added the PAT kick the Horns led 7-0, and that was really all they needed. The offense added 7 more on the next possession for a 14 - 0 lead. Fourteen points along with a swarming, pounding, extremely aggressive defense, that allowed a total of 80 net yards for Clifton's offense, gives you a 4 game win streak for the Early Longhorns. Although I predicted a 28 - 0, final score, I think we can all be happy with the 14-0 shutout. Great job guys! More to come...

September 20, 2005

Horns 19 Mavs 9 continued

Early 19 Eastland 9, continued…

Summary:

While the Longhorn’s playoff drought hasn’t ended just yet, Early fans are really enjoying what they’re seeing in the last 3 games. The Eastland Mavericks are a perennial playoff squad, and extremely well coached. Felts and Huitt make up a tremendous backfield, and everyone in Central Texas is looking forward to seeing Colt Williamson kick for many years to come. The Longhorns, however, are an emerging team. Many programs have the good fortune of proven playoff experience, and a legacy of winning teams over many years. For Early, the only year that matters is this one, right now, the next play, the next game, the ‘literal’ here and now. And that may be one of the things that makes this group of Early Longhorns, just a little bit dangerous. This is a group of guys that has something to prove. I’m not sure that they’re concerned about proving it to you and I, but I’m certain that they’re bent on proving it to themselves. Fortunately, you and I get to join them and support them on their quest. In a post-game interview Friday night, senior Blake Reid spoke for several minutes describing a couple of key plays in the game – the word “I” was never heard. Instead, Blake talked about the “team” and “we”, and those kind of things. Although every coach tries to teach “teamwork” and “unity”, any intelligent coach will tell you that “team unity” is something that is “caught” rather than “taught”. I believe the Early Longhorns version 2.005, may have been diagnosed with a severe case of “team unity”, and I for one, am looking forward to how this infects our entire community.

Defense:

In a word, “stifling”. Look at the numbers for the last 3 weeks: 1st downs allowed – 9 per game; net yards allowed – 172 per game (3.3 yds/play); 10 forced turnovers; opponents average field position – their own 25; Horns average field position – Early 45; Zero offensive touchdowns scored by opponents in the last 10 quarters; 16 tackles for lost yardage; opponents 3rd down conversions – 7 of 35; and 4th down conversions – 2 of 7. And, to quote Coach Alan Luker – “We’re still not playing with the intensity that we’re capable of.” Kind of makes you look forward to next week doesn’t it!

Special Teams:

This is an area that Coach Tindol said they were really working on this year. It looks like the hard work is paying off: Wills Setzler’s punts average over 35 yards – and the punting team has allowed only 10yd returns on average, compared with over 12 for the Horns; the kick-off team has allowed an average of 9.3 yds on returns, while our average return has been over 22 yards.

Offense:

Every week the Longhorns offense continues to improve. Our running attack is becoming more balanced, which takes some pressure off the passing game. And, through the air, Eric Skaggs is beginning to hit his stride, hitting Tim Chandler for long strikes, and knowing when not to throw the ball. Maybe the most impressive part of the Offense is the O-Line, (John Atchley, Brian Pettit, Rhyn Cason, John Proud, Kaleb Hopson, Jake Jeffrey, and others) these guys are really getting the job done. They are controlling the line of scrimmage with authority, providing excellent pass protection for Skaggs, and blocking downfield like pros! Think about how many times in the past few weeks we’ve seen the runner apparently stopped, only to see the O-Line push the pile forward for 3 or 4 more yards, it’s a beautiful thing.

Next up –the Clifton Cubs

Clifton did a great job of spoiling the Longhorn’s Homecoming last year, they came in and played a great game, an exciting game, but a disappointing game for Longhorn Fans. This year we travel to Clifton, and guess what, it’s the Cub’s Homecoming. “Instant karma” does get you after all! Look out Cubs, the sound you hear isn’t Bush flying overhead in Air Force One on his way to Crawford, that’s the sound of stampeding Longhorns. I expect lots of Cub’s fans to go home after the Queen is crowned, very disappointed.

Early 28 Clifton 0

September 17, 2005

Early Longhorns 19 Eastland Mavericks 9

"Welcome, unbeaten Eastland Mavericks, to McDonald Field for the 2005 Early Homecoming. We'd like to introduce you to the Early Longhorn Football Team, version 2.005, have a nice drive home - you are now no longer, unbeaten."

In a hard-hitting, tough defensive battle, the Horn's exacted just a little revenge on the "previously" unbeaten Mavericks. Last year's game was decided by a field goal in the final minutes - this year's game was decided far earlier when the Horns went up 16 - 3 on the strength of Josh Conley's 4 yd run, and Brian Cochran's PAT, with 10:12 left in the 4th. More to come...

Congratulations to Bethany Hopkins - 2005 Homecoming Queen!

September 15, 2005

Early Longhorns 55 Dublin Lions 0

Early Longhorns 55 Dublin Lions 0

Friday night at 7pm, construction crews were still bolting together parts of the new bleachers at the football stadium in Dublin. Three hours later the Dublin Lions were still trying to pick up the pieces after being decimated by the Early Longhorn’s swarming defense. This was a night that the Longhorns would strike early and often on offense, and on defense, well consider the final numbers for Dublin – 75 yards of total offense (90 yds in the 1st half, minus 15 yards in the 2nd half).

Summary:
It became obvious at the coin toss just what the Horns planned to do – Early won the toss and elected to defer to the 2nd half. Dublin started at their own 35, picked up a first down, then began to go backwards and punted from their own 44. The Longhorns took over on their own 35, then Josh Conley went off-tackle for 65 yards and 6 points on the first play from scrimmage. The Horns led 7-0, and never looked back.. Conley would add another TD and PAT early in the 2nd quarter, followed by a 40 yd interception return for a TD by Chase Rome, then Bryan Cochran punched it in from 1yd out just before the half, and the Horns went into the locker room leading 28-0.

When asked at the half what he thought of the Horn’s defensive play so far, Coach Alan Luker responded by saying that “we are still not playing with the level of intensity that we want to see”. It appears that he made that clear to the Longhorns in the locker room, because in the second half, the Dublin Lions were absolutely stifled! Negative 15 net yards gained in the 2nd half!

Offensively, the Longhorns continue to improve. While the 1st half saw the Horns build a big lead, there were still some turnovers, and various miscues. In half #2, the offense scored on all 4 of it’s possessions, all the while giving ample playing time to some key back-up players. In short, this team is, as I said last week, coming together in all the right ways.

Also, last week I predicted that the Horns would shut out Dublin. I’m not right very often, but it feels good when it happens. To their credit the Dublin boys (and girl), played a fine game and were great sports the entire time. And, the new stadium is beautiful, congratulations Lion’s fans.

Next week:
It’s Homecoming at EHS and the Horns face the Eastland Mavericks. Last year’s game against Eastland went right down to the wire. I expect this one will be decided in the 3rd.

My expectation - Longhorns 28 Eastland 7

September 3, 2005

Early 13 Llano 10

Longhorn fans were treated to one of the most exciting endings in memory in Friday night's home field victory. With 1:56 left to play, the Longhorn's Kade Horton punched the ball into the end zone from the 1-yard line to give the Horns a 12-10 lead, 13-10 after the Conely kick. That would have been a great ending, but Llano didn't give up. The ensuing kick-off put the yellowjackets 86 yards away from the end zone and less than two minutes to get there. The Horn's defense was content to give up yards down the middle to burn the clock, but things got dicey when the Jackets set up offense near the Horn's red zone. The Horns, however, had an answer, and it came in the form of a leaping Tim Chandler interception at the Early goal line. Game over, Lonhorns win!

Defense:
This game saw the Horn's defense continue to improve. The yellowjackets put together two scoring drives, both consisting almost entirely of one big play. The first, a 49 yard run off a sweep around the right side by Branden Long for Llano's only TD, and then a 66 yard pass and run by Shane Pope to set up the Jackets field goal. Those two plays, 115 yards total, were really the only bright spots for the Jackets offense all night. The Horns defense, led in tackles by Taylor Singleton (18 tackles), and Wills Setzler (15 tackles), were able to over come the enormous offensive line of the yellowjackets to consistently stop drives and force punts (9), and give the Longhorn's offense plenty of opportunities to win the game. In a half-time interview on KBWD 1380AM, Defensive Coordinator Alan Luker said the he was very pleased with the defensive play in the first half and that the goal for the second half was to force turnovers and continue to give the offense opportunities to score. It took 23 minutes and 41 seconds of the second half to achieve that goal, but Chandler's interception was the turnover they were looking for, and that sealed the deal!

Offense:
Junior QB Eric Skaggs(7 of 28, 1pick) continued to grow into the leader of the Horn's offense. Although his numbers and completion percentage are not impressive for the game, his poise and leadership were very impressive. The Horns were plagued early and late with dropped passes, and a hard hitting Llano defense. The Horns were forced to punt 9 times during the game, and managed only 163 yards of total offense, with 1 turnover. However, the 2005 Early Longhorns showed that they are a team that will not give up. When the key receivers were covered on the Horn's final scoring drive, Skaggs hit Stephen Hopkins on a drag across the middle, key downfield blocks by Tim Chandler and Blake Reid kept Hopkins running all the way to the Jackets 1 yard line. The Horn's offense continued to show improved execution and varied play selection, as they worked hard the entire 48 minutes to get the win.

Summary:
Last year against Llano, the Longhorn's defense kept the game close, but the offense couldn't close the deal. This year, as I mentioned last week, the Horn's fielded a much more balanced team, the defense continues to make adjustments and improvements, and the offense showed incredible growth and took great strides toward maturity. Couple that with the psycological boost that comes from winnig a game in "come from behind" fashion, and you have an Early Longhorn's football team that is coming together in all the right ways.

Next Week vs Dublin:
Although the Lions stayed close against Comanche through the first half last Thursday, they proved no match for Indian standout Shelden Feist in a 21 - 0 loss to Comanche. The big (and they are big, 300+lbs) green Lions from Dublin may have a difficult time adjusting to a multiple set offense, with several players that are a constant threat. Not only that, injured seniors Brian Pettit and Chase Rome, are likely starters after missing the Llano game. Coming off the great win, the Longhorn defense will continue to grow stronger, and would love to hold the Lions scoreless. Coach Tindol talks about the "pride" of this defensive squad, I expect this pride will result in a shut-out. The Longhorn's offense will work on play execution this week and the results will show up in caught passes, blocks made, first downs, and points on the scoreboard.

Early 20 Dublin 0
(it may be important to note that although I missed the exact score in my prediction for this week, the 'spread' or differential in the score was only 12 points, compared to a 'spread' of 23 points for my counterpart)

Special Note: Fans should bring their portable FM radios to Dublin this week. The game will be broadcast on an 'in-stadium' FM frequency, with the Longhorn's broadcast team: Joseph King and Tracy Ebarb. Kick-off 7:30pm, Friday September 9, 2005.

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