Big Spring 28, Monahans 6 — The Steers outgained the Loboes 311-223 on Friday, getting 216 passing yards from quarterback Gabriel Baeza to overcome four turnovers in their second consecutive win to open the season.
Big Spring, which was idle last week, held Monahans to 126 yards rushing and forced three turnovers of its own to remain unbeaten heading into next week’s game at Brownfield.
Snyder 40, Lamesa 8 — After a couple of hard-fought losses to open the season, the Tigers broke into the win column Friday, routing former district mate Lamesa to move to 1-2 on the year.
Snyder led 20-0 by halftime and was never threatened after that, posting its highest scoring total in Wes Wood’s 14 games as head coach.
Comanche 35, Early 7 — The Indians controlled the clock and the game with 277 yards rushing on 33 carries to improve to 3-0.
Luke Wilson led the way with 144 yards and two scores. Logan Wilkerson added 72 yards and two more touchdowns to lift Comanche, which led 28-7 at the break.
Cisco 14, Breckenridge 0 — Cisco improved to 2-1while handing Breckenridge (0-3) its third straight shutout defeat.
Hunter long rushed for 116 yards and a score and threw for 81 more to lead the Loboes, who limited Breckenridge to 137 yards in total offense.
Jim Ned 62, Eastland 27 — The Indians pounded out 312 yards rushing to level off ant 1-1 on the year. Xavier Wishert led that effort with 175 yards and three scores on 13 carries.
Jim Ned led 42-14 by the break and was never seriously threatened beyond that point.
Santo 27, Cumby 12 — Playing the area’s only Thursday game, the Wildcats rallied for 21 fourth-quarter points to pull away from the Trojans in a neutral site matchup at Rio Vista.
Case Procter, who had a hand in each of Santo’s first three touchdowns, sparked the comeback, hitting Andrew Sanders from 32 yards out to give the Wildcats a 14-12 lead early in the fourth quarter before making it an eight-point game with his second rushing touchdown of the contest.
Ballinger 34, Colorado City 2 — Carter Arrott threw for 102 yards and two scores and Weston Rollwitz rushed for 127 yards on only three carries with one TD to lead Ballinger (3-0).
The Bearcats were never threatened after building a 27-0 halftime lead.
Colorado City (0-3) was led by Jake Connell, who threw for 83 yards and rushed for 55. The Wolves’ lone score came with 0:16 to play on a safety.
Coahoma 59, Eldorado 34 — Brysen Kerby rushed for 254 yards and five scores as Coahoma improved to 3-0 in dominating fashion.
CHS rushed for 408 yards as a team to stay unbeaten, but was efficient through the air as well. Kolt Redden was 9 of 15 through the air for 94 yards and one score.
Peaster 18, Collinsville 12 — Playing at home for the first time this season, the Greyhounds outlasted the Pirates to improve to 3-0 on the year.
Peaster, which got 263 yards passing and 61 yards rushing from quarterback Gunner McElroy, led 12-6 at halftime, before Collinsville tied things up with a touchdown midway through the third quarter. That score stood until the seven-minute mark of the fourth, when Tramar Gilbert scored his third touchdown of the game to account for the final margin.
Salado 61, Stephenville 45 — Leading the Eagles 31-19 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets were outscored 42-14 over the final two quarters in suffering their second consecutive loss.
Stephenville (1-2) scored first out of half to go up by 19 points in the third quarter, but Salado erased that deficit by the end of the third quarter and dominated the final period to pull away.
Miles 29, Roscoe 7 — The Plowboys couldn’t get anything going offensively Friday, gaining just 111 total yards and turning the ball over three times in their third straight loss to open the season.
Antonio Aguayo passed for 107 yards and a touchdown for Roscoe, which fell behind 29-0 before the quarterback’s 16-yard scoring strike to Kolten Hope in the fourth quarter.
Miles (1-2) was led in the victory by Brayden Dunlap, who rushed for 97 yards and two touchdowns to stake the Bulldogs to a 22-0 halftime lead.
COAHOMA — After losing 18 lettermen to graduation, including seven offensive and six defensive starters from last year’s 9-3 team, the preseason prospects for Coahoma football weren’t exactly off the charts coming into 2020.
It was, afterall, the Bulldogs’ best season in more than 15 years and the bulk of that club’s experienced players had just been handed their diplomas.
Add the fact that one of the graduates was standout quarterback/linebacker Zack Schneider (1,598 yards rushing 20 TDs; 1,293 yards passing, 15 TDs, 63 tackles) and most prognosticators viewed Coahoma as a fringe playoff candidate that was likely to be rebuilding this year.
Thus far, the Bulldogs are making the “experts” look rather silly — posting wins over archrival Forsan (15-13) and Miles (49-0) with a balanced offense, a physical defense and more players touching the football than one may have thought possible from CHS a year ago.
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 3)”
You don’t have to go back too far to find a time when Cross Plains’ lack of on-field competitiveness made it a common homecoming choice for opponents.
In fact, such was the case when 10th-year Buffaloes coach Daniel Purvis inherited the program in 2011.
But in just 100 games, Purvis has taken a program that won 14 contests from 2002 to 2010, including a trio of winless campaigns in the five seasons leading up to his hire, and built a consistent winner in Cross Plains, Texas.
In posting a 30-17 record over the past four seasons, Purvis’ Buffs are in the midst of the longest run of sustained success in school history. And with the No. 9 statewide ranking marking its progress heading into a nondistrict road clash with former district mate Haskell on Friday, Cross Plains has its sights set even higher for the future.
LAST WEEK: 40-11, .784
SEASON TOTAL: 74-26, .740
Between COVID-19, wet fields and disciplinary actions taken by coaches, finding the right game to go to on Friday nights these days is often a last-minute decision.
Nonetheless, we have settled on Hamlin (2-0) at Albany (2-0) as our Game of the Week, assuming field conditions hold up.
Be safe out there. Watch for slick road conditions and please obey social distancing requirements so that we can continue playing football.
I’ll see you on the road.
With eight starters back from a unit that limited its opposition to 21.3 points per game a year ago, Comanche coach Stephen Hermesmeyer expected to have a pretty salty defense in 2020.
But after seeing the transfer of standout linebacker RJ Pepper, last year’s All-Big Country Preps Defensive Newcomer of the Year, kick off a chain reaction of position changes that impacted all levels of his defense, he knew he’d need some guys to adapt well — and quickly — to new roles for that group to achieve its full potential.
Judging from the Indians’ first two games, through which they’ve allowed a combined seven points, it would appear they’ve adjusted just fine. And though Hermesmeyer won’t go so far as to say he’s been surprised by his defense’s early-season dominance, he’d be thrilled to see its current run of success extended.
VIDEO PODCAST NO.3: Comanche coach Stephen Hermesmeyer joins the show. Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood look at the top games of last week and this week.
By Seth LaRue (special to Big Country Preps)
The Dublin Lady Lions rebounded from two consecutive losses in pre-district play with a convincing defeat of the Early Lady Horns on Tuesday at the Early Longhorn Gym.
The Lady Lions controlled the match from the onset with a first set win, 25-21, and never once lost stride. They proceeded to win the next two sets 25-20 and 25-22, respectively.
Dublin Coach Kaitlyn Embry had nothing but praise for her varsity team saying, “They did such a good job. They pushed through, they never let up and it’s everything we really have been working hard for in preseason that actually showed up on the court tonight.”
Jacee Miller isn’t used to watching the action from afar.
The Bangs junior is a four-sport standout who has been on varsity since she began high school. Miller never leaves the floor for the Lady Dragons’ volleyball team.
But after snapping her fibula and tearing a ligament during a summer trip to the beach, the vocal Miller has been forced to do all her encouraging and observing from the sidelines.
“It’s a very different perspective,” Miller said. “Watching my team grow and watching its up and downs has helped me see what I can do when I come back.”
No one could have imagined when Shelby Leavenworth moved from Tuscola to Edinburgh, Scotland, as an eighth-grader that she would return four years later as a much improved volleyball player with a wealth of international experience.
Leavenworth’s family moved back to Tuscola in July. Now as a Jim Ned High School senior outside hitter, the 6-foot-1 Leavenworth has been a pleasant and perhaps unexpected surprise for the 6-1 Lady Indians.
Big Country Preps will publish area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
With starting quarterback Isaac Brann out with an injury in Week 2, Anson looked to unproven junior Dylyn Pyle to lead them in a road trip to Coleman on Friday.
He responded with one of the area’s more memorable first starts for a varsity quarterback in recent memory, hitting 14 of 21 passes for 193 yards and two scores in a 38-14 win.
But he wasn’t finished there.
Pyle also rushed for 71 yards and a score on 11 carries and took a punt return 58 yards for another score to lift the Tigers (2-0). He even played a little defense, collecting three solo tackles.
After spending the past couple of weeks watching their counterparts from Classes 1A through 4A getting to practice and play games, Abilene’s three local programs got to get their fall officially started on Monday.
Cooper took to the practice fields at 7 a.m. under third-year coach Aaron Roan, while Abilene High and Wylie got rolling at 9 a.m.
The Eagles are being led on an interim basis by Jeff Rhoads while head coach Mike Fullen is out for medical reasons. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are being led by longtime defensive coordinator Clay Martin, who was promoted to head coach during the offseason.
The teams are allowed to start their seasons later this month. Cooper opens at Odessa Permian on Sept. 24. The next day AHS will host Amarillo Tascosa while Wylie heads to Brownwood in what will be the Lions’ fifth game of the year.
DUBLIN — Following in the footsteps of what some would argue is the top quarterback in Dublin history, would be a difficult task for any players who venture through DHS.
But when you hand that duty over to a sophomore with no varsity experience, an eyebrow raise is a common first reaction.
Chris Teten is the man tasked with the job of replacing the graduated Cy Wing, a player who helped Dublin to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2018-19 (a feat DHS has only achieved three times since the 1960s.
BROWNWOOD — The replacements surrounding the tradition-rich Brownwood Lions’ football program all succeeded with winning colors Friday night.
COVID-19 sidelined Brownwood’s head coach and entire four-person radio crew, including legendary broadcaster Dallas Huston, for Friday’s high school game against the Midland Greenwood Rangers. On the field, defensive coordinator David Jones filled in for missing head coach Sammy Burnett, and the Lions never trailed in beating the Rangers 35-15.
“Coach Jones did a fine job,” said Burnett, who watched a livestream of Friday’s game. “He’s an experienced coach, and he knows what he’s doing. I had no concerns with Coach Jones because I trust him wholeheartedly. He’s very loyal.”
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Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Monday and Tuesday were normal days for the Sweetwater football team as it prepared for Friday night’s scheduled game against Jim Ned.
That all changed around 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon when Indians coach Matt Fanning notified Sweetwater coach Ben McGehee of a positive COVID-19 case on his team resulting in a cancellation of their game.
The phone call from Fanning set off a wild 48 hours for the Mustangs and their coach.
HAWLEY — It was billed as a rematch of last year’s overtime thriller.
But from start to finish, the Big Country Preps Game of the week belonged to the Hamlin Pied Pipers, who handed their hosts from Hawley a 35-6 loss to avenge the Bearcats’ 46-44 win over the Pipers last year.
Jackson Sepeda rushed for 120 yards, caught two passes for 29 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Hamlin (2-0), which limited Hawley to 257 yards in total offense.
Xavier Rodela threw for 130 yards, rushed for 85 and scored the Bearcats’ lone touchdown on a 42-yard third-quarter run to lead Hawley (1-1).
WALL — The Wall Hawks offensive line saw plenty of positives in the first half and, despite being down by a score to Cisco at halftime, had plenty of ideas of changes to make.
Coach Houston Guy’s squad adapted to what the Loboes were giving them and pulled away for a 35-14 win at Hawk Stadium on Friday night in a game between teams that were both ranked No. 4 in their respective classes.
COMANCHE — The Comanche defense continued its dominant start to the 2020 season, following a shutout in last week’s opener against Mason with another gem of a performance Friday in a 28-7 victory over Brady.
The Indians limited the Bulldogs to just 130 total yards and forced three turnovers, covering for some early offensive misfires until the CHS offense could finally put the game away with a pair of touchdowns late in the fourth quarter.
Brock 66, Nevada Community 7 — Cash Jones rushed for 175 yards and a pair of touchdowns on just 15 carries Friday to fuel the top-ranked Eagles to their second blowout victory in as many games.
Chris Palfreeman added three touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving and one on an interception return — for Brock, which used a 28-0 run through the second quarter to take a 30-0 lead into halftime.
Santo 21, Valley Mills 7 — Quarterback Case Procter ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns and the SHS defense limited the Eagles to 130 yards of total offense Friday as the young Wildcats improved to 1-1 with a neutral site victory in Dublin.
Santo built a 14-7 halftime lead and shut out Valley Mills over the final two quarters to preserve the win.
Levelland 26, Snyder 10 — The Tigers struggled to get on track offensively Friday, gaining just 203 total yards in suffering their second straight loss to open the season.
Trailing 18-2 after three quarters, Snyder scored on an 11-yard pass from Cam Smith to Tim Henderson and got the two-point conversion to make it a one-score game (18-10) midway through the final period. But Levelland used a 6-yard touchdown run from Dylan Bordayo with just over a minute remaining to put the game away.
Brownwood 35, Midland Greenwood 15 — Royshad Henderson rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns, while Jason Jackson caught four passes for 51 yards and a score to lead the Lions to their first win of the season.
Brownwood held a 21-2 advantage by halftime, and the Rangers never got closer than 13 points of the lead the rest of the way.
Merkel 24, Stanton 22 —Three different Badgers — Joey Zink, Preston Jackson and Isaac Sebastian — all threw touchdown passes as Merkel improved to 2-0.
The Badgers trailed 22-18 heading into the fourth quarter before rallying for the win.
Continue reading “District 5-3A Div. II Week 2 Report: Badgers rally for win over Stanton”
Coahoma 49, Miles 0 — Brysen Kerby rushed for 136 yards and two scores and Kolt Redden passed for 156 yards and two more TDs to lead Coahoma to an easy win at Miles.
The Bulldogs (2-0) raced out to a 36-0 halftime lead before coasting home. Miles dropped to 0-2 with the loss.
Anson 38, Coleman 14 — The Tigers had a big offensive night, charting 432 total yards, including 248 on the ground to improve to 2-0.
Anson led 19-14 at the break, but put the game away with 19 unanswered points in the second half. It was their second straight win on the road to open this season.
Ballinger 13, Breckenridge 0 — Ballinger struggled to overcome a stout Breckenridge defense, but two first-half touchdowns were enough to improve to 2-0.
Garrett Dixon supplied the game-winner at the 9:41 mark of the first quarter on a 4-yard run. He later found the end zone from 30 yards out at the 10:11 mark of the second quarter.
Early 41, Tolar 25 — Alex Jacobs rushed for 120 yards and one score and Tre Beam rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns as the Longhorns evened their record to 1-1.
Early which led 28-11 at the break, rushed for 258 yards as a team.
Stamford 27, Roscoe 0 — The Plowboys managed just 138 yards of total offense while allowing 425 in a shutout loss to the Bulldogs.
Stamford, which got a big game from quarterback Zhawn Holden, led 7-0 after a quarter and 13-0 at halftime before putting the game away with 13 points in the third period.
San Angelo Lake View 44, Pecos 41 — Trailing 34-15 at halftime, the Chiefs outscored the Eagles 29-7 over the final two quarters to rally for a thrilling win and improve to 2-0 on the season.
Led by Ezekiel Saldana, who rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, Pecos pounded out 313 yards on the ground. But Lake View countered with a big game from quarterback Albert Rodriguez, who passed for 203 yards and four touchdowns while adding a rushing score.