Written by Leland Acker – Two halves, two kickoffs, two omens of what was to come as the Early Longhorns fell to the Merkel Badgers 48-14 Friday night at Badger Stadium. The prospect looked bright for the Longhorns after Jonathan Clubb returned the opening kickoff to the Merkel 15 yard line.
Although the return was called back on a holding penalty, the Longhorns were undeterred. The team mounted a 54-yard drive which ended on a failed 4th down conversion play on the Merkel 14 yard line. Even though Merkel scored on the ensuing drive, the Longhorns stayed in the game. The Horns went on to force two fumbles and make an interception, all while scoring two touchdowns in the first half.
Quarterback Ryan Trompler shined in the first half, rushing 61 yards for Early’s first score of the evening, and throwing a 42-yard pass to Rowdy Elkins for the second touchdown of the evening. In the first half, Trompler rushed 9 times for 75 yards and completed 15 of 20 pass attempts for 114 yards.
The Longhorns’ strategy of spreading the defense with five wide receivers, leaving Trompler alone in the backfield was working, and Early went into the locker room at halftime sporting a 14-7 lead.
Then, it happened.
On the opening kickoff of the second half, the Merkel Badgers returned the ball for a touchdown. The initial catch was muffed, but Merkel’s Zach Owens scooped it up, and exploited a hole created in the kickoff coverage by the chaos to make it to the end zone. The PAT failed, but the wind had taken from the Longhorns sails.
The Early offense imploded on the next possession forcing a punt, which set up a 52-yard drive for Merkel for the go-ahead score. For the rest of the game, the Early offense struggled while the Merkel offense soared to a 48-14 victory.
On the stat sheets, the game was an offensive extravaganza. Despite their troubles, Early tabulated 330 yards of total offense, 137 on the ground and 193 in the air. Merkel posted 450 yards of total offense, 403 on the ground and 47 in the air.
For the night, Trompler completed 26 of 37 pass attempts with two interceptions for 193 yards. He also rushed 22 times for 124 yards.
Wide receiver Ty Schafer caught 11 passes for 55 yards. Jesson Tarrant caught nine passes for 45 yards. Rowdy Elkins caught 4 passes for 62 yards and Devyn Burns added a catch for 4 yards. Tarrant also had a 13 yard run. The Early Longhorns fall to 3-6 on the season, 1-3 in District 3-3A. They will wrap up the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Longhorn Stadium against the Comanche Indians. The game will be broadcast on KXYL 102.3 FM, 1240 AM.
