The Wildcats put the Early Longhorns away in the first half and never looked back for a 77-22 blowout win in an area round clash on Friday night at Peoples Bank Stadium at Frenship High School.
The No. 2-ranked Wildcats stay unbeaten at 12-0 and will face an old playoff rival in Idalou (8-4) in the regional semifinal at 2 p.m. on Friday at Dick Bivins Stadium. With the win, Canadian also set a new milestone by making an 11th straight appearance of playing on Thanksgiving weekend.
“It’s become an expectation to play on Thanksgiving weekend,” Canadian head coach Andy Cavalier said. “We’re very fortunate that’s an expectation and that we’ve accomplished that goal for so long. That’s a tribute to the success of the great players and the hard work this program has seen for many years.”
The Wildcats and the Longhorns (6-6) were actually tied at the start of the first quarter until Canadian turned it on with 42 unanswered points to take a 49-7 lead before Early scored right before the half.
Quarterback Camren Cavalier put together another complete game with his talented arm and his dangerous feet. The dual-threat senior lit up Early going 18-of-25 through the air for 386 yards with six touchdowns and ran it only seven times for 114 yards with two more scores. Receiver Max Dumbauld had his second straight solid performance snagging two TD receptions of 68 and 37 yards. Teammate Luke Flowers made four catches for 105 yards with a touchdown and Preston Neumeier added five catches for 91 yards with a score of his own.
“We probably had the best week of practice we’ve had all year coming into this game,” Cavalier said. “We got off to a really fast start though Early did challenge us. I think we’ll learn and get better from it and I’m just excited to see how far we’ll keep going.”
In the other Class 3A Division II area game, Wall held off Childress 21-14. The Bobcats end a solid year at 8-4.