Month: October 2019

by Daniel Youngblood

District 1-4A Division II: Week 7 Report

Kent

Sweetwater 45, Lamesa 8 — The Mustangs kicked off district play in dominant fashion, racking up 572 yards of offense in a blowout win over the Golden Tornadoes.

Leo Holsey led the effort for Sweetwater, passing for 351 yards and four touchdowns while adding 62 rushing yards on just three carries. Elijah Kent was his Holsey’s favorite target, hauling in six passes for 100 yards, while Kei’Arriyen Griffin (3-83, 2 TDs), Darian Carr (3-86, 1 TD) and Tyler Warner (3-60, 1 TD) also had nice days catching the ball.

The win improved the Mustangs to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in district play heading into a big home matchup next week with Pecos. Lamesa, which dropped to 0-7 overall and 0-3 in 1-4A DII with the loss, will be idle next week.

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by Evan Ren

District 3-2A Division I: Week 7 Report

Hawley 58, Winters 14 — As always, the still-unbeaten Bearcats used a punishing ground game to score a big win. This time, against a district adversary to improve to 7-0 overall and 1-0 in league play. 

Big Country rushing leader Colton Marshall put up big numbers yet again, charting 200 rushing yards and four scores on just 19 carries. 

Winters (4-3, 0-1) put up 183 yards rushing via committee, with Jon Kullen Busher charting 58 yards on 10 carries with one score. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 7-2A Division II: Week 7 Report

Cross Plains 25, Haskell 22 — The Buffaloes outscored the Indians 25-8 over the final three quarters Friday to overcome an early two-score deficit and kick off District 7-2A Division II play with a huge victory.

Trailing 14-0 after a quarter, Cross Plains (6-1, 1-0) got the first of two Caleb Hernandez rushing touchdowns to trim the deficit to one score by halftime, and the Buffs took their first lead in the third quarter with a pair of Hernandez TD passes. The CPHS quarterback added his second rushing score with about three minutes remaining in the game to put coach Daniel Purvis’ squad up 25-14 and effectively seal the victory.

Haskell got a pair of rushing touchdowns from Jacari Holland in the loss, which dropped the Indians to 2-5 overall and 0-1 in league play heading into next week’s home game against Hamlin. Cross Plains will be idle next week before hosting Albany on Oct. 25.

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by Evan Ren

District 6-3A Division II: Week 7 Report

Wing

Dublin 35, Tolar 20 — The Lions overcame one miscue after another to improve to 5-1 and 1-0 in district play. 

Aside from four lost fumbles, Dublin crippled itself with 12 penalties for 100 yards, yet still managed to put the Rattlers away on their home field. 

Cy Wing had 175 yards passing and Hagen Huffman rushed for 90 yards and a score to lead Dublin, which has won four straight games since a Week 2 loss at Albany. 

Tolar, which was limited to 216 yards in total offense, dropped to 3-3 and 0-1.

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by Evan Ren

District 4-3A Division II: Week 7 Report

Callahan

Cisco 47, Coleman 0 — The Loboes rolled up 533 yards in total offense including 490 yards rushing in a big win over Coleman. 

Quarterback Gibson Hearne only threw four passes, but rushed for 150 yards on just five carries for two TDs. Stanley Callahan also had a big night, rushing for 106 yards on six touches with one score.

Five different Loboes had rushing touchdowns as Cisco improved to 5-1 and 3-0.  Coleman, which was limited to 61 total yards, fell to 3-3 and 2-1 and saw a three-game winning streak snapped.

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by Evan Ren

District 2-3A Division II: Week 7 Report

Lubbock Roosevelt 43, Colorado City 8 — The Wolves had a difficult time offensively while falling to 0-6 and 0-1.

C-City was limited to just 153 yards in total offense by Roosevelt (2-4, 1-0) which put the game away with a 21-0 second half. 

RHS finished with 357 yards in total offense, led by AJ Trevino, with 100 yards rushing and one score.  C-City was led by quarterback Chris Ortiz, who threw for 108 yards and one TD. 

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by Evan Ren

District 5-4A Division I: Week 7 Report

Huff

Brownwood 49, Gatesville 0 — Reece Rodgers rushed for 215 yards and three scores and Drew Huff threw for 182 yards and three scores to lead Brownwood (7-0, 1-0) which continues to play in a dominating fashion. 

The Lion defense posted its third straight shutout and fourth overall while collecting the win.

Brownwood will now move into its bye week, prior to facing archrival Stephenville on Oct. 25. 

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by Evan Ren

District 3-3A Division I: Week 7 Report

Dickey

Wall 35, Clyde 7 — In a high-profile game between the district favorite and perhaps the most-improved team in the league, the Hawks got the better of the upstart Bulldogs. 

Mason Fuchs threw for 79 yards, rushed for 23 and threw one TD pass to lead Wall (6-0, 1-0), tallied 222 rushing yards via committee. 

Leading 14-0 at the break, third-ranked Hawks blew the game open with a 5-yard TD run by Cinch Dickey at the 7:30 mark and a 17-yard TD jaunt by Chase Rios at 0:53. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME RECAP: QB Brown, Central too much for Abilene High in 35-13 win

SAN ANGELO — Leading Abilene High 21-13 after three quarters, the San Angelo Central football team scored the only two touchdowns of the fourth period Friday to leave San Angelo Stadium with an impressive and important 35-13 win over the Eagles.

The Bobcats, who outgained AHS 432-246, got a big game from quarterback Malachi Brown in improving to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in District 3-6A play. The junior signal caller passed for 321 yards, rushed for a team-high 52 and accounted for four of his team’s five touchdowns in dropping the Eagles to 2-5 on year and 1-2 in league play.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wichita Falls Rider pulls away from scrappy Wylie squad for 30-12 win

Wylie shut out Wichita Falls Rider for a quarter and held its first lead of the season during Friday’s District 3-5A Division II opener, but 30 unanswered points for the Raiders over the middle two quarters lifted the visitors to a 30-12 victory at Bulldog Stadium.

Balin Valentine’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Brodey Baker put the Bulldogs up 6-0 with a 8:20 remaining the second quarter, but a botched snap on the point-after try led to an interception that was returned the length of the field to put Rider on the board and get the Raiders going after a slow start offensively.

RHS (3-3 overall, 1-0 in district) closed the first half with a pair of touchdowns — a 47-yard Jacob Rodriguez touchdown run with 2:45 left in the second quarter and a 19-yard scoring strike from Rodriguez to Ranse Radtke about a minute and a half later — to take a 16-6 lead into the halftime break. The Raiders then put the game away with touchdowns on their first two possessions of the third quarter.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Garcia, Sifuentes lead Cooper past Palo Duro

Noah Garcia and Dalziel Sifuentes combined to run for 321 yards and quarterback Aidan Thompson accounted for four touchdowns as the 10th-ranked Cooper football team moved to 7-0 on the season and 3-0 in District 2-5A Division I play with a 42-6 win over Amarillo Palo Duro on Friday night at Shotwell Stadium.

Garcia ran for 207 yards and a touchdown to put him over 1,400 yards on the season, while Sifuentes made his varsity debut in a big way.

The varsity newcomer had 114 yards on 20 carries as he got a chance to shine under the Friday night lights for the first time.

Continue reading “GAME STORY: Garcia, Sifuentes lead Cooper past Palo Duro” →

by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Coahoma tops Idalou 29-21

COAHOMA — Most burgeoning football programs have a game they can point to that signaled they had turned a corner. 

The Coahoma Bulldogs may have reached that point on Friday with a difficult 29-22 win over perennial toughie Idalou in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week. 

Zack Schneider rushed for 170 yards and four scores on 28 carries to lead Coahoma (5-1, 1-0 District 2-3A DII) which snagged a piece of the district lead with the win in the league opener for both clubs. 

Idalou (3-3, 1-0) was lead by Dylan Lopez, who threw for 148 yards and two scores. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 7)

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.

For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday morning.

Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: District play offers Wylie a clean slate, fresh start

It’s no secret that the Wylie Bulldogs’ first five games didn’t go the way they had hoped they would.

Hugh Sandifer’s team closed nondistrict play at 0-5, getting shut out in its last three contests to extend a multi-season losing streak to 17 games.

But heading into Friday’s district opener against Wichita Falls Rider, the veteran coach’s message to his team was simple: What happened in the first five weeks matters far less than what happens in the next five.

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: AHS cornerbacks Jones, Holloway ready for Central passing attack

Playing a San Angelo Central team that has averaged 36.8 points per game this season, the Abilene High defense will have its work cut out for it Friday at San Angelo Stadium.

And perhaps no two Eagle players will face more pressure to perform than cornerbacks Nathaniel Jones and Witt Holloway, who will be tasked in large part with slowing a potent Bobcat passing attack.

But if you ask those two, facing off with standout quarterback Malachi Brown and his deep stable of receivers is a challenge they welcome — especially after struggling at times in their first two games against pass-first opponents.

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Coahoma to receive huge test from Idalou (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

LAST WEEK: 34-9, .790

OVERALL: 251-51, .831

There comes a point when every emerging football program has to show its hand. And it’s usually around the midpoint of the season when we can differentiate between who has a full house and who’s holding a pair of deuces. 

The Coahoma Bulldogs (4-1) will reach that point this Friday when they host perennial toughie Idalou (3-2) in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Cooper line at the heart of team’s defensive success

At the heart of any good 3-4 defense is a strong defensive line.

Fortunately for Cooper coach Aaron Roan, he has both.

With three-year letterman Colton Grimes manning the middle at the nose guard spot, and ends Jorrian Moses and Douglas Sims flanking him on the edges, the Cougars have been consistently disruptive at the point of attack this season. 

So if you’re interested in learning how the 10th-ranked Coogs have limited a strong slate of opponents to just 20.2 points and 323.7 total yards per game while posting a 6-0 record, those big boys up front would be a good place to start.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 65: Daniel talks Cooper football with coach Aaron Roan

In his second year as Cooper’s head football coach, Aaron Roan has the Cougars unbeaten at 6-0 and ranked No. 10 in Class 5A Division I.

Earlier this week, Roan took a few minutes to chat with Big Country Preps’ Daniel Youngblood about the start his team’s gotten off to, the factors behind the Cougars’ success and his growth as a coach for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.

Also in this episode, Daniel and Brandon McAuliffe discuss last week’s top results and the biggest area football matchups Week 7 has to offer.

Continue to check back at BigCountryPreps.com each Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when Evan and Dan discuss the current happenings in Big Country High School sports — often with an interesting sports figure from around the area.

You can also peruse our BCP Podcast archive, which features dozens of our previous shows with prominent coaches and Big Country media fixtures. 

Inquiries regarding these podcasts may be directed to Evan Ren at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com. 

If you have a suggested topic of conversation or a recommended guest, don’t hesitate to contact us! 

BCP PODCAST ARCHIVE 

BIG COUNTRY PREPS FACEBOOK PAGE 

BIG COUNTRY PREPS TWITTER PAGE 

by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: High school athletics has forgotten itself

What is the purpose of interscholastic athletics? It seems silly to even pose the question.

I bring it up because within the word purpose lies the problem — a poisonous problem, brought on by our own lack of vision.

Must I say it?

The original purpose behind high school sports was the teaching of teamwork, work ethic, sacrifice, respecting authority, overcoming adversity and accepting discipline.

Sports taught our kids that the world wasn’t perfect. It taught our kids that there would be disappointments to endure. It taught them the benefits of hard work and we hired our coaches accordingly. 

Somewhere along the line we injected winning into the mix and it has resulted in something truly ugly.

Continue reading “EVAN REN: High school athletics has forgotten itself” →

by Evan Ren

FEATURE: Smallish Cash Jones proving to be Brock’s money man

BROCK — He stands in at all of 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds soaking wet. 

Yet Brock running back Cash Jones has proven invaluable for a team that was hit hard by graduation following the 2018 season. 

At present, Jones is leading Brock with 1,040 yards rushing and in pass receptions with 11 for 106 yards.  He’s even 3-of-3 passing for 129 yards and one TD.

All this from a 17-year-old junior, who — out of necessity — was pressed into service as the go-to weapon for BHS in 2019. And ironically, Jones is actually feeling less pressure than he did a year ago when he had a lesser role. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

BCP SIX-MAN SPOTLIGHT: Strawn gets everyone’s best shot while reloading

STRAWN — The Strawn Greyhounds are the two-time defending state champions and, as such, get their opponent’s best shot on a weekly basis.

In 2017, Tanner Hodgkins (127 rushing yards, 4 total TDs) and Christian Villanueva (104 rushing yards, 76 passing yards, 4 total TDs) led Strawn to a 78-42 win over Balmorhea in the Class 1A Division I state title game.

Playing for the Division II championship last year, the duo combined for four touchdowns as the Greyhounds rolled Follett 48-0.

That duo is gone this year and Strawn has turned to senior running back J.W. Montgomery to fill the void that was left.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Anson’s Hagler earns the top spot

With a large portion of the Big Country enjoying a bye week, there were a limited number of games last Friday from which to glean top-flight performances.

Nonetheless, the area managed.

Taking our Player of the Week award for the week ending Oct. 5: Anson’s Drew Hagler, who has already had a number of near-misses with the accolade in 2019.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 3-6A: Week 6 Report

Abilene High 13, Hurst Bell 0 — The Eagle defense held the Blue Raiders to just 160 total yards Friday to secure a shutout win and even their district record at 1-1.

AHS (2-4 overall) gained just 196 yards of its own but used a blocked punt and long punt return to set up their first 10 points — a first-quarter field goal and a third-quarter touchdown — and was never really threatened after that. Running back Phonzo Dotson did most of the damage for the Eagles, rushing for 100 yards and the game’s only touchdown on 20 carries.

Up next for coach Mike Fullen’s team is a big game at San Angelo Central, while Bell (2-4, 0-2) will try to get its district season on track at home against Richland.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 2-5A Division I: Week 6 Report

Cooper 52, Lubbock Coronado 24 — Trailing 24-21 at halftime, the 10th-ranked Cougars outscored the Mustangs 31-0 during a dominant second half to open district play with an impressive road victory and remain unbeaten at 6-0.

Cooper outgained Coronado 521-363, including 370-23 on the ground, in avenging last year’s 42-23 loss in Abilene. Noah Garcia led that effort, rushing for 262 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries, while Jessus Menjivar added 110 yards and two scores on 12 rush attempts.

The Coogs, who also got a solid day passing from quarterback Aidan Thompson (10-17-1—151), will host Amarillo Palo Duro this week, while Coronado will travel to Amarillo High for an important district game.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 3-5A Division II: Week 6 Report

Wylie (0-5) — Like everyone else in this district, the Bulldogs had the night off Friday, giving them an extra week to heal up and prepare for this week’s district opener against Wichita Falls Rider. 

Coach Hugh Sandifer’s team will try to regroup after a difficult nondistrict schedule through which it was outscored 195-45, including shutout losses in each of its past three ballgames. After Friday’s home game against Rider, Wylie will have important matchups against struggling teams from Wichita Falls High (Oct. 17) and Canyon Randall (Oct. 25).

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Being healthier, bigger are plusses for Stephenville QB Renfro

The football life of Stephenville quarterback Kade Renfro has steadied after an injury-plagued 2018 season in which he missed the Yellow Jackets’ first four games with a hip flexor injury.

Renfro is healthy so far this season. He won the starting quarterback role over left-hander Cole Stanley. And he gave a verbal commitment over the summer to play college football for the University of North Texas.

“I’m more experienced, and I’m a lot calmer,” Renfro said when asked the difference in him now versus last season. “I can go out and lead the guys. They can look in my eyes and see that I’m ready to lead them.”

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 4-3A Division I: Week 6 Report

Jones

Brock 67, Bowie 7 — The Eagles bounced back from their district-opening loss to Pilot Point, routing the overmatched Jackrabbits by 60 points.

Brock led 19-0 after a quarter and scored at least two touchdowns in every period after that. The Eagles outgained Bowie 424-85, pounding out 387 rushing yards on 34 attempts. Cash Jones (8-182, 2 TDs) and Kutter Wilson (10-101, 2 TDs) both topped the 100-yard rushing mark, while Myles Semas added 89 yards and two scores on eight carries.

The Eagles, who improved to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in 4-3A DI play with the victory, will be idle in Week 7 before traveling to Whitesboro for a big district road game on Oct. 18. Bowie (0-5, 0-1), meanwhile, will host Whitesboro next week.

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by Evan Ren

District 5-4A Division I: Week 6 Report

Brownwood 35, Conroe Grand Oaks 0 — Drew Huff threw for 217 yards and a score and rushed for two others to lift the Lions to a relatively easy win over Conroe’s newest program. 

Reece Rodgers contributed 129 yards rushing and two TDs for Brownwood, which built a 28-0 halftime lead before putting things into cruise control. 

Brownwood improved to 5-0 with the win. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 13-3A Division II: Week 6 Report

Brady (1-4) — Like every other team in this league, the Bulldogs were off Friday, giving them an extra week to prepare for next week’s district opener against Ingram Moore.

Brady has lost three straight games since defeating Haskell 59-24 in Week 2, but those three opponents — Llano, Dublin and Jim Ned — have combined for a 13-2 overall record.

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by Evan Ren

District 2-4A Division I: Week 6 Report

Canyon 62, Big Spring 0 — CHS outmatched Big Spring, tallying 545 yards in total offense, including 366 yards of rushing to improve to 6-0. 

The Eagles led 27-0 at the end of the first quarter and 41-0 at the break. The game ended with a running clock due to heavy rain that arrived in the second half. 

Big Spring fell to 1-5 with the loss while suffering its second straight shutout. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 1-4A Division II: Week 6 Report

Snyder 14, Fort Stockton 12 — The Tigers scored what may end up being the upset of the year Friday, grinding out a defensive victory over the previously unbeaten Panthers in their district opener.

Snyder, now 1-4 overall and 1-0 in 1-4A DII play, rallied from an early 6-0 deficit to take a 7-6 lead into halftime. And after going up 14-6 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Jayden Samaniego midway through the third quarter, the Tigers kept Fort Stockton from tying the game by stopping a two-point conversion attempt with 3:18 remaining in the fourth.

SHS limited a potent Panther offense to just 313 yards, including 139 rushing, while forcing four turnovers in the win, the first in coach Wes Wood’s head coaching career. The Tigers will try to build on that next week when they host Monahans, while Fort Stockton will have its open date. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 7-2A Division I: Week 6 Report

Petrolia 42, Hico 37 — The Tigers, the only active team in this district this week, played their best game of the season Friday. But it wasn’t enough to avoid their fifth consecutive loss. 

Hico led 14-8 after a quarter, but coach Randy Thornton’s squad was outscored 28-16 over the middle two quarters to enter the fourth down 36-30. The Tigers took a 37-36 lead early in the fourth quarter on Ryan Irvin’s rushing touchdown, but Petrolia answered in the final minutes to hand HHS a heartbreaking defeat.

Hico, which has been outscored 243-69 on the season, will try to build on Friday’s performance next week when it opens league play at home against De Leon.

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by Evan Ren

District 4-3A Division II: Week 6 Report

Anson 27, Ballinger 20 — The Tigers built a 20-0 first-quarter lead then held on for a tough win over Ballinger. 

Drew Hagler threw for 289 yards and three scores and rushed for 145 yards and another TD to lead Anson (3-2, 2-0) which has won three straight games after an 0-2 start. 

Garrett Zertuche led Ballinger with 170 yards on 19 carries with two scores.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 7-2A Division II: Week 6 Report

Cross Plains 42, Miles 6 — Facing off with a previously unbeaten Miles squad on the road, the Buffaloes scored early and often in routing the Bulldogs.

Cross Plains led 14-0 after the first quarter and increased their lead to 35-6 by halftime, ending the competitive phase of the game before the break. This concluded an impressive nondistrict run for the Buffs who will enter district play with a 5-1 record, having outscored their first six opponents by a 261-51 margin.

Coach Daniel Purvis’ squad will open 7-2A DII play next week with a big home game against Haskell, before following their Oct. 17 open date with a tough two-week stretch against Albany (Oct. 25) and Hamlin (Nov. 1).

Continue reading “District 7-2A Division II: Week 6 Report” →

by Evan Ren

District 5-2A Division II: Week 6 Report

Munday (1-2) — The Moguls took the night off on Friday, but will open district play on Oct. 11 at home against Wheeler. 

Quanah 47, Olney 19 — The Indians rolled up 447 yards in total offense to get their first win of the year. 

Quanah was almost perfectly balanced, rushing for 227 yards and passing for 220 to improve to 1-4.

Landin Leija led QHS, throwing for 227 yards and three scores. 

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