PREVIEW: Wall Hawks Ready for War Against District Opponent Early Longhorns

WALL- The Wall Hawks are dominating district play so far but that could change this week when they take on the Early Longhorns.

Last week, the Hawks shut out the San Angelo TLCA Eagles 55-0. The Hawks rushed for 372 yards and seven touchdowns and quarterback Gunner Dillard went 2/4 for 89 yards and one touchdown. Dillard also put up 109 yards and three scores on the ground. Luke Kemp had 114 yards and two touchdowns. Landon Beeles and Dane Reynolds had 53 yards combined and one touchdown a piece.

Worth noting, Wall had a passing touchdown. Kemp had one catch for 60 yards and the score. Mason Snowden and Ryan Allen had 36 receiving yards together. In all, the Hawks put up 468 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Hawk’s defense has been playing lights out this season and that continued against the Eagles. Logan Thomas, Colter Gilchrest, and Matthew Steen led the team in tackles with 14 combined. The defense overall had 38 tackles and seven for loss. Steen also led in quarterback hurries with three. Brylan White, Justin Allen, and Kirkland Pritz each had a sack and Caleb Valles had one interception. Grayson Tanner had two passes defended.

Before the TLCA game, Wall played both Ballinger and Grape Creek and held them scoreless as well. Through district, Wall has put up 159 points to zero points.

Wall has been running over team all season as they have 2,730 rushing yards as a team with 36 touchdowns. Nathan Pepper leads the team in touchdown with 10. Followed by Canyon McCabe, Dillard, and Kemp with five. Pepper also leads the team with 711 yards on the ground. Garrett Guy is second in yards with 503. Dillard, Kemp, and McCabe have 316, 223, and 266 yards respectively. Reynolds, Beeles, and Jayden Sellers have 538 yards combined. Through the air, Kemp is far and away the leader with 167 yards with the next closest being Guy with 49 yards.

White leads the defense in tackles with 45 and also leads in tackles for loss with 14. Not only that, but White is second on the team in sacks with 6 only behind Dylan Gidney with seven. Those two combined for 37 quarterback hurries. The Hawks get after the quarterback on defense as they’ve amassed 24 sacks and 70 quarterback hurries.

The pass defense has been really good as well. Wall has 10 interceptions and 37 passes defended. They’ve caused three fumbles and recovered five this season.

Wall should have won against Grape Creek, Ballinger, and San Angelo TLCA. Those three teams are a combined 3-21 and 1-8 in district. This week, they’ve got the Early Longhorns who could give the Hawks a run for their money.

The Longhorns have only given up 27 points in district and have scored 146 points. Early quarterback Jaxyn Price went 15-22 for 258 yards and four touchdowns. They put up 237 total rushing yards and 346 passing yards last week.

Overall, Price has good numbers throwing 149-264 for 2,011 yards, 22 touchdowns, and five interceptions. His backs, Giffin Cheslock and Kaleb Ozuna, have 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns combined. Price adds another 87 yards and two scores.

Jeremy Brown is the go-to guy out wide with 784 yards and 11 touchdowns. John-Stewart Gordon follows Brown with 327 yards and one score. Cedrick Morelan, Caleb McCullough, and Ki Houston have 693 yards and nine scores combined.

Defensively, Ozuna is a tackling machine with 85 followed by McCollough with 72 and Gavin Sanders has 47. McCoullough and Dalton Adams have 30 tackles for loss and McCollough has eight of the Longhorns 19 sacks. Adams again follows with five. The Longhorns have eight interceptions and Colten Allen has five of those. Early has five fumble recoveries and five caused fumbles.

Coach Guy won’t let the Hawks look past Early and he’s brought up how tough they will be. Both teams have a good defense and have difference makers on both sides of the ball.

Tune into COVER1 for exclusive coaches’ interviews, score updates, highlights, and more at around 4:00, 8:00, and 10:00 p.m. only on San Angelo LIVE!