Go Friday Night

Horns 19 Mavs 9 continued

By Tracy Ebarb
September 20, 2005

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

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