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Month: October 2019
GAME RECAP: Big second half fuels No. 10 Cooper past Lubbock Coronado
Photos by Ikechukwu Dike, courtesy of HubCityPreps.com
LUBBOCK — The No. 10 Cooper Cougars gained a big leg up in the District 2-5A Division I race Friday, outscoring preseason league favorite Lubbock Coronado 31-0 in the second half of a 52-24 victory at Lowrey Field.
Coach Aaron Roan’s squad pounded out 370 yards rushing on their way to 521 total yards, while pitching a second-half shutout against an explosive Mustang offense.
The win, Cooper’s third in a row by at least three touchdowns, kept the Coogs undefeated on the season at 6-0 and improved their district record to 2-0.
Continue reading “GAME RECAP: Big second half fuels No. 10 Cooper past Lubbock Coronado”
GAME STORY: Turnovers doom Strawn in loss to Garden City
STRAWN — A 24-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Garden City’s John Michael Alegria set the tone for the Bearkats, who upset No. 2 Strawn 78-32 on Friday night in a game that ended with 4:30 to play.
Alegria added four catches for 172 and three touchdowns as the Bearkats had touchdowns on 10 of their 12 drives on the night, while the Greyhounds had five fumbles, losing three.
BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Clyde dominates Stamford 61-0
STAMFORD — If this was a midterm exam, someone slipped Clyde all of the answers.
From the opening whistle until the final seconds ticked away, the Clyde football team turned Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week into its own personal highlight reel in a 61-0 win at Bill Anderson Stadium.
Bo Baker rushed for 126 yards and four touchdowns and Canaan Charleston rushed for 104 and two more scores to lead the Clyde offense. But it was the CHS defense that truly shined, limiting one of the Big Country’s top offenses to 45 total yards, including a minus-24 tally on the ground.
GAME STORY: Abilene High shuts out Bell to get back in 3-6A race
Coming off a 35-34 loss to North Hills Richland in last week’s district opener, the Abilene High football team needed a win over Hurst Bell on Friday to get back in the District 3-6A race.
The Eagle defense made sure they got it, holding the Blue Raiders to 160 total yards while pitching a shutout in a 13-0 homecoming victory at Shotwell Stadium.
AHS bottled up the Bell option game, limiting the Raiders to 144 rushing yards on 42 carries (3.4 yards per carry), and intercepted a pair of passes deep its own zone to turn away the visitors’ two best scoring chances. The Eagle offense, meanwhile, did just enough, turning two short fields into the team’s first 10 points, before tacking on a late field goal to make it a two-touchdown game.
GAME STORY: Eldorado pulls away from scrappy Haskell squad in second half
WINTERS — Despite gaining just 184 yards of total offense, including 65 on the ground, the Haskell Indians hung with Eldorado for three quarters Friday at Blizzard Stadium. But the Eagles finally pulled away in the fourth to secure a 35-14 win in the final nondistrict game for both teams.
Tied with Haskell at 14 after the Indians scored on their first possession out of halftime, Eldorado responded with the final 21 points of the game — 14 in the final period — to stave off the upset bid.
The Eagles, who rode a balanced offensive effort to 459 yards of total offense, improved to 5-1 with the victory, while Haskell fell to 2-4 with its third consecutive loss.
Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 6)
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.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 6)”
BCP Game of the Week: Stamford, Clyde about to take a tough midterm (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)
LAST WEEK: 44-8, .846
OVERALL: 217-42, .838
If the Big Country Preps Game of the Week is about learning who is who, then the Clyde Bulldogs (3-1) and Stamford Bulldogs (4-1) are about learn a great deal about each other, but more importantly, about themselves.
Friday night at Bill Anderson Stadium in Stamford, both clubs will square off in what amounts to a midterm exam.
Clyde, which has held its four opponents to an average of just five points per game, has done so against a series of run-heavy teams. Stamford is the first true up-tempo spread passing team that CHS has faced this season. So we’re about to find out just how good this Clyde defense may or may not be.
FEATURE: Abilene High’s Hernandez takes playmaking abilities to safety
Coming off a junior season for which he earned first-team all-district honors at outside linebacker, Abilene High’s Jorge Hernandez wasn’t expecting to be learning a new position as a senior.
But first year AHS head coach Mike Fullen, Hernandez’s former defensive coordinator, decided during two-a-days his team would be better served with the speedy playmaker at safety. So he swapped the diminutive Hernandez (listed on his Hudl profile at 5-foot-6 and 142 pounds) with the bigger Phillip Tellez during the Eagles’ scrimmage against Copperas Cove in a move that was made permanent the following week against Amarillo Tascosa.
That switch came with some early growing pains, but it has since achieved its desired effect. The same skills that made Hernandez a standout linebacker — his speed, instincts and nose for the ball — have followed him to the secondary, and the results are speaking for themselves.
FEATURE: Cooper RB Menjivar a valuable asset out of complementary role
Sharing carries with one of the top running backs in the region, Jessus Menjivar and his contributions are often overlooked by casual observers.
But the 5-foot-6, 145-pound senior provides far more for coach Aaron Roan and his Cougars than an occasional breather for Noah Garcia.
In addition to averaging almost seven yards per carry in his role as the Coogs’ “change of pace” back, Menjivar is also a committed blocker when asked to clear holes in Cooper’s two-back sets and a mainstay on special teams.
But perhaps his biggest contribution to the CHS program is found in the type of example he sets on the practice field and the type of teammate he’s been since transferring to Cooper from Sanger late in the fall semester of his sophomore year.
BCP Podcast No. 64: Evan, Daniel discuss biggest storylines, surprises from season so far
With Week 6 upon us, we’ve hit the halfway point of the 2019 regular season.
Most Big Country teams have either started district play or will in the next week or two, and fans have seen enough to form some informed opinions on their teams. This week, Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood forego a guest to share their biggest takeaways from the season so far and discuss the things their most looking foward to down the stretch in this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.
Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel give a brief rundown of the week’s top matchups.
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!
FEATURE: Wing’s leadership emerges in the absence of Stanley
DUBLIN — A year ago, the Dublin Lions and quarterback Cy Wing had a solid go-to man in Jacob Stanley to lean on when crucial yards were needed.
He nearly always delivered, ending the 2018 campaign as an all-stater after hauling in 68 catches for 1,288 yards and 17 touchdowns. He then earned a diploma — leaving a crater on the Dublin stat sheet.
This left Wing with the responsibility of delivering compensation. And thus far, the senior with a reputation for making clutch plays has done exactly that.
To date, Wing has hit 54 of 112 throws for 907 yards and nine touchdowns — supplementing those numbers with a team-high 339 rushing yards and five more scores.
FEATURE: Clyde defense quietly becomes one of the area’s best
CLYDE — With Jim Ned capturing much of the area’s attention with three shutouts in as many weeks to open the season, it hasn’t been easy for anyone else in the Big Country to snag the defensive spotlight this year.
The Clyde Bulldogs, however, are making a bid to do exactly that.
Through four games, Clyde (3-1) has limited the opposition to a combined 21 points (5.3 per game), including shutouts of Comanche on Sept. 13 and Colorado City on Sept. 27.
“The guys have done an exceptional job,” second-year coach Scott Campbell said. “We’ve got a lot of experience on that side of the ball and a lot of good senior leaders who have an understanding of how to get aligned and play extremely fast.”
BCP SIX-MAN SPOTLIGHT: Ira’s Goodwin reaping rewards of longevity
Feature photo by Summer McCowen
Toby Goodwin has been at Ira now for 23 years, spending the past 22 of as the man in charge of the Bulldog football program.
Inheriting an Ira outfit that had gone 158-262 since starting varsity competition in 1947, Goodwin provided a steady hand at the top and quickly went about reversing the Bulldogs’ fortunes.
Since taking over program in 1998, Goodwin has posted a 195-51 record in his lone stop as a head coach, including five straight wins to open this season.
But as large a role as he’s played in the Bulldogs’ turnaround, he’s quick to deflect praise that comes his way.
