The Bangs Dragons and Early Longhorns will kick off their football season in the battle of Brown County being played Friday night in Bangs at 7:30 at Memorial Stadium. According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Bangs is an 11-point favorite. You can listen to the ballgame on KBWD 1380 AM Radio or on the KOXE App, search for Bangs football.
“Our first year at Bangs they took it to us pretty good and last year we were unknown and got all the breaks and had a good game against them,” said Bangs Head Coach Kyle Maxfield. “This is the third year for us as a staff and both communities are pretty fired up, but unfortunately it’s not going to be as big of a crowd as we’ve had in the past with COVID going on.”
At Early, Daniel Price is taking over as head coach, but has experienced the rivalry as the Longhorns’ former defensive coordinator.
“It’s always fun,” Price said of playing Bangs. “Being a transplant to the area it was all new to me when I got here. It’s been the first week since I’ve been here, the kids get excited, they want to beat Bangs and that’s what they talk about all week, and for the couple of weeks leading up to this one. I know it’s probably the same at Bangs. We’re excited and I love that rivalry idea, that was one our biggest crowds last year. There probably won’t see as many people in the stands this year, but I know the community really gets behind it so it should be a good time.”
For Early, key returnees are running back/defensive back Alex Jacobs (453 rushing yards, 4 TDs; 7 catches, 51 yards, 1 TD); running back/linebacker Tre Beam (433 rushing yards, 5 TDs; 11 catches, 81 yards; 106 tackles); second-team all-district defensive lineman Marcus Morelan; receiver/defensive back Tyson Tyler (48 tackles); defensive end Bradon Schwartz; receiver/defensive back Rylie Hill; and cornerback John-Stewart Gordon.
New additions to the roster include quarterbacks Tucker Hale and Jaxyn Price, who are vying for playing time along with Ryan Parisi.
The rest of the offense will feature a combination of Chris Crawford, Chris Fernandez, Bradly Roman, Casey Moseley, Korbin Hall, Cole Martin and Morelan along the front line. Additional skill players include Jeremy Brown, Caydon Laird, Hayden Schroeder, Caleb McCullough, Jake Simpson, and Adan Aleman.
On defense, the front will consist on a rotation of Bradon Schwartz, Hall, Morelan, Crawford, Fernandez, Roman and Moseley. Linebacker candidates are Dowton Taylor, Beam, Schroeder, and McCullough, while the secondary will include Jacobs, Gordon, Hill, Simpson and Aleman.
Bangs’ offense will feature Sanchez (1,200 rushing yards, 18 TDs) and Powell (750 all-purpose yards) in the backfield, while Wedemen, Damien Santillanes, Trevor Bowers and Wyatt Lykins will line up in the receiver spots. The front line consists of Logan Bishop and Azreal Escebedo at left tackle, left guard Warren Theriaque, center Samuel Packer, right guard Trey Ivey, and right tackle Charlie Smith, and Cortez has taken over at quarterback.
On the defensive side of the ball, Powell, Cortez and Wedeman will rotate at the safeties, while cornerbacks include Evan Belez, back after ACL tears in consecutive seasons, and Bowers. Trevor Lorah, Lykins, Santillanes and Sanchez (80 tackles) will man the linebacker positions, while the trenches will feature a combination of Donovan Ruiz, Braden Montgomery, Bishop, and Escobedo at the ends and Ivey, Smith, Packer, Theriaque and Luke Duncan at the tackles.