With boys basketball season upon us, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players we’ll be writing and you’ll be reading about throughout the 2020-21 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
One dominating performance deserves another.
Having already helped Albany reach the Region I-2A finals with a 17-kill performance in a win over Plains (22-25, 25-10, 25-22, 25-16) last week, Sarah Beth Cotter wasn’t finished.
With AHS facing perennial power Wink in the regional finals Saturday in Big Spring, she helped the Lady Lions reach the state semis with 16 kills, two blocks, four digs and an ace in a stunning 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 sweep of the Lady Cats.
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BIG SPRING — Prior to Saturday’s Region I-2A championship match with Wink, Albany volleyball coach M.J. Reneau knew her team had an advantage up front over WHS. The key to winning would be in consistently getting an attack set up, without letting postseason nerves lead to too many mistakes.
Mission accomplished.
The Lady Lions held their unforced errors in check, dominated the net and swept Wink in three games, 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 at Big Spring High School.
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WALL — After missing the district title game with Cisco last week with a private medical issue, San Saba senior running back Justin Yarbrough made up for lost time on Friday, rushing for 129 yards and a score in a 31-17 bi-district win over Forsan .
Yarbrough scored on a 6-yard pass and a 21-yard run and Stone Sears added a pair of TD runs to lead San Saba (9-2), which advances to face Panhandle (9-2) in the area round.
With the score tied at 10 at the break, San Saba gained the upper hand in the second half by stopping the Buffaloes on five of their final six possessions.
ROSCOE — Friday the 13th may have a reputation of providing frights and scares in the dark, but this version took place under the lights of Plowboy Field and shone a light on the dominant Anson defense.
The Tigers defense pitched a shutout on the field and forced four turnovers as Anson rolled to a 45-7 win over Winters in a Region I-2A Division I bi-district matchup.
The win set up a showdown next week with second-ranked Post — a team the Tigers beat 48-22 on the road in their last matchup in 2016 to claim the district championship.
FORT WORTH — Kason Philips ran for 167 yards and four touchdowns and Gavin Rountree went 8-for-11 passing for 183 yards and two more scores to lead the Stephenville Yellow Jackets to a resounding 56-14 thumping of the Benbrook Bobcats in a Region II-4A Division I playoff game Friday night at Farrington Field.
Philips powered, raced, zigged and zagged to scoring runs of 1, 3, 18 and 40 yards, as the Yellow Jackets struck early and often to improve their record to 6-5. In fact, Stephenville scored on five of its first six offensive possessions. And the Jackets even added a defensive score in between when Ryder Lambert returned a fumble 42 yards to help punctuate a dominant effort by Stephenville in all three phases of the game.
Facing off with Wolfforth Frenship in a game both teams needed to win to turn their playoff hopes into reality, Abilene High made it clear early which squad would still be standing after the final buzzer sounded Friday at Shotwell Stadium.
Celebrating homecoming in style, the Eagles scored 14 points in each of the first three quarters and took a shutout into the fourth to hand the Tigers a devastating 42-7 loss and put themselves in prime position to end a three-year playoff drought.
Phonzo Dotson rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns on just 12 carries, and the AHS defense limited Frenship to 263 yards of total offense while forcing four turnovers in what was a thorough whipping from start to finish.
SAGINAW — Noah Garcia rushed for 236 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries Friday to fuel a shorthanded Cooper football team to a 48-13 victory over Saginaw and keep the Cougars unbeaten in District 3-4A Division I play at 4-0 heading into next week’s clash with co-district leader Azle.
The Coogs, 5-1 overall, rushed for 329 yards as a team, finishing with 506 yards of total offense behind an offensive line that had seen most of its varsity members spend the week in COVID quarantine.
After the Rough Riders scored the game’s opening touchdown, Cooper rattled off 42 consecutive points to put the game on ice heading by the start of the fourth quarter.
CANYON — The Wylie football team couldn’t get any offense going against Canyon Randall on Friday, amassing just 175 total yards in a disappointing 28-14 loss to the Raiders at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.
Coming off their best offensive showing of the year last week against Wichita Falls High, the Bulldogs managed just 84 yards rushing on 32 carries, allowing Randall to create some distance in the fourth quarter.
Wylie, now 3-2 overall and 1-2 in District 3-5A Division II play, is now a game behind Randall for third in the league standings and is looking at a likely three-way tie for the final two playoff spots if it cannot upset Lubbock Cooper on the road next week.
REGION I-4A DIV. I
Big Spring 32, El Paso Riverside 26 (3OT) — Quarterback Gabriel Baeza rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns Friday to overcome a pair of interceptions and lead the Steers to a thrilling triple overtime win over the Rangers.
The junior, who threw for 156 yards and one touchdown on 21-of-35 passing, sealed the victory through the air with a scoring pass to Pablito Dehoyos, who caught six passes for 47 yards for the game. Kaegen Mitchell also had a nice game receiving, catching nine passes for 88 yards.
REGION I-3A DIV. I
Jim Ned 21, Paradise 18 — Trailing 10-7 after three quarters, the Indians outscored the Panthers 14-8 over the final period to rally for the victory Friday.
A Xavier Wishert rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter was followed a Tate Yardley touchdown pass to give Jim Ned (9-1) a 21-10 lead and the Indians held on from there to escape with the win.
Wishert rushed for 177 yards and two scores in the victory, while Yardley passed for 116 yards a the one TD to Austin Martin. Zach Henderson led the Indians in receiving with three catches for 48 yards.
REGION I-2A DIV. I
Hawley 34, Goldthwaite 20 — Trailing the Eagles 20-19 at halftime Thursday, the Bearcats finished the game with 15 unanswered points to fend off an upset bid and advance to the area round of the playoffs.
Hawley (9-2) outgained Goldthwaite by a 394-254 margin, getting 125 yards and three touchdowns passing from Rodey Hooper and 151 yards and one TD rushing from Xavier Rodela.
The Eagles (3-8) led by quarterback Jackson Patrick, who passed for 96 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a team high 68 yards on nine carries.
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DUBLIN – He guided a long-struggling program from the doldrums to respectability, winning the first playoff game at the school in 50 years.
Yet it was his humanity that Dublin football coach Bob Cervetto became best known for during his time at DHS — a tenure that we now know will officially end on June 30 following the announcement of his retirement today in Dublin.
Cervetto, 62, will finish out the school year as Athletic Director, before settling into retirement with his wife Norma. He will be succeeded by longtime assistant Greg Hardcastle.
ABILENE HIGH (1-4, 1-2) AT WOLFFORTH FRENSHIP (2-5, 1-3)
7 p.m. Friday at Shotwell Stadium, Abilene
COOPER (4-1, 3-0) AT SAGINAW (0-7, 0-4)
7 p.m. Friday at Rough Rider Stadium, Saginaw
Continue reading “VIDEO: Cooper’s Roan discusses road game at Saginaw”
WYLIE (3-1, 1-1) AT CANYON RANDALL (3-4, 1-2)
7 p.m. Friday at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium, Canyon
Continue reading “VIDEO: Wylie’s Clay Martin discusses road trip to Canyon Randall”
If he was one to dwell on the negative, Cooper coach Aaron Roan could find plenty to dislike about this COVID-challenged football season.
The coronavirus pandemic that has left no team in Texas unimpacted has given him and his Cougars more reason than most to complain.
But if you’re waiting on Roan to vent his frustration or make excuses over the disruptions and distractions this virus has caused, you don’t know the Cooper coach very well.
Entering Friday’s game at Saginaw with a shorthanded roster just a week after having his second game of the season called off due to COVID complications, Roan remains his usual upbeat self. And while there are certainly things about this season he’d change if he could, he’s choosing to focus on what his team can take away from this experience rather than what — and who, in some cases — it has taken away from his team.
BRECKENRIDGE — As sportswriters, we are blessed to be able to get to know high school athletes as their careers get started and then we get to watch them grow.
In the fall of 2017, when a Hamlin game was moved to McMurry University due to field conditions that September night, I was introduced to a pair of freshmen that the spotlight wasn’t too bright for — quarterback Braydin Warner and running back Jackson Sepeda.
That night, I could tell the duo was destined to do big things for coach Russell Lucas, the Pied Piper program and the community of Hamlin as a whole.
BRECKENRIDGE — The Hamlin Pied Pipers entered the Region II-2A Division II playoffs as the favorite to reach AT&T Stadium in December for a state championship game rematch with Mart.
Their road to a second consecutive title game appearance got a lot tougher on Thursday during a 44-6 bi-district win over Olney at Buckaroo Stadium, when senior running back Jackson Sepeda suffered a gruesome leg injury just seconds into the third quarter as he was tackled from behind on a short run.
Hamlin coach Russell Lucas didn’t have much of an update on his star’s condition after the game.
CLYDE — Coming off 560-yard rushing performance in a district title-clinching rout of San Saba, the Cisco Loboes followed a similar blueprint to a similar result Friday in a 70-32 bi-district win over Stamford.
Led by sophomore quarterback Hunter Long, who rushed for 277 yards and four touchdowns on just 17 carries, CHS ran for 477 yards as a team to bury the Bulldogs early and advance to take on Olton in the second round.
The sixth-ranked Loboes (8-3) outgained Stamford 585-463, building a 63-18 lead in the third quarter before taking their foot off the gas in the fourth.
DUBLIN — The Wall Hawks were two yards and a hooked 27-yard field goal away from seeing their season end on Thursday.
But courtesy of a game-saving tackle and a well-executed game-winning pass, the Hawks prevailed with 20-14 win over Boyd in a Class 3A DI bi-district game at Bob and Norma Cervetto Field.
Gabe Haskins hit Chase Rios in the corner of the end zone with a 20-yard touchdown pass in overtime to lift the Hawks (8-3), who will advance to face Bushland in the area round.
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 12)”
Wylie senior Balin Valentine has a pretty simple view of his job as the Bulldogs quarterback. He’s back there to make plays, plain and simple.
Viewing each and every play call as a potential touchdown, Valentine treats each snap with that type of urgency, refusing give up on its success until the whistle is blown.
With a knack for scrambling and the ability to throw accurately on the move, Valentine’s fearlessness and gunslinger mentality have served him and the Wylie offense well this year. And while those things may or may not have added a gray hair or two to the head of Clay Martin, the first-year Wylie head coach isn’t about to change the way his quarterback views or plays the game.
Editor’s note: The records and statistics reflected in this story are just from games played. Cancellations and forfeits related to the COVID-19 pandemic have been excluded.
The 2020 high school football season has been unlike anything that any of us have ever experienced — from players to coaches, administrations to journalists, cheerleaders to bands and for fans in the stands.
Even so, this week brings the start of the playoffs for Classes 4A and below, and 29 teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area made the postseason — a number that doesn’t include Coleman, which shut down its program prior to the final regular season game due to an outbreak.
Across the board, Big Country teams finished a combined 30 games over .500 while playing remarkably tough schedules. Teams averaged a combined 28.4 points per game while giving up 24.2 per contest. When looking only at teams that made the playoffs, the offensive numbers went to 31.7 points per game.
LAST WEEK: 26-4, .866
SEASON TOTAL: 377-81, .823
Week 12 of the football season is here. And you know what that means.
The horses are at the starting gate with a finish line set up in Arlington for the state championship games.
More than 97 percent of the teams won’t make it. And by the time Thanksgiving arrives, 75 percent of them will already be finished. Such is the magnitude of our postseason.
In the meantime, hundreds of teams from Class 1A through 4A have their dreams of reaching Jerry World still intact. Classes 5A and 6A will start their postseason journeys in mid December, after having their seasons delayed by COVID-19.
That said, it’s time to choose which of our Big Country entries have the best shot of conquering their regions. Who are the favorites? Who are the dark horses? An perhaps most importantly, where are the elephants in the room — the teams from outside of our area with the most potential to spoil the Big Country’s chances?
Let’s get started, shall we?
After highlighting the top guards and forwards on the Big Country girls basketball scene the past two nights, it’s time to shift our attention to the block.
For the final installment in our three-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 post players for the 2020-21 season.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these rankings, and make sure to come back next week when we’ll feature the top boys basketball players in the Big Country.
VIDEO PODCAST NO. 11: Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood examine this year’s playoff brackets.
Top games of this week discussed: All playoff pairings involving Big Country teams this week are mentioned.
Top games of last week discussed: Wylie vs. Wichita Falls, Cisco vs. San Saba
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Needing a win to keep its hopes of a No. 2 playoff seed alive, the Cooper volleyball team couldn’t solve Lubbock Coronado on Tuesday at Cougar Gym, dropping a 25-22, 13-25, 25-22, 25-22 decision to fall into a third-place tie with the Lady Mustangs in the District 4-5A standings.
Had the Lady Cougars won, they’d have remained in play for second heading into Friday’s match with crosstown rival Wylie. But Tuesday’s loss, combined with Wylie’s sweep of Lubbock High, secured the Lady Bulldogs’ hold on the runner-up spot behind league champion Lubbock Cooper.
Now, with a third-place ceiling, coach Nora Campbell’s squad will be forced to play either Amarillo High or Canyon Randall, both region powers and state tournament threats, in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Wylie volleyball team took care of Lubbock High quickly and easily Tuesday, sweeping the Lady Westerners 25-15, 25-8, 25-11 at Bulldog Gym to clinch the No. 2 playoff seed out of District 4-5A.
Improving to 12-5 overall and 7-2 in league play with the victory, the Lady Bulldogs locked up the runner-up spot behind league champion Lubbock Cooper when Abilene Cooper fell in four games to Lubbock Coronado across town.
Wylie’s win over Lubbock High marked the fifth victory in six matches for the Lady Bulldogs, who will wrap up the regular season Friday when they take rival Cooper at Cougar Gym in a match that would have determined the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds out of 4-5A had the Lady Cougars defeated the Lady Mustangs. Instead, coach Shay Cox’s team locked up the No. 2 spot, avoiding a bi-district playoff match with region powers Amarillo High and Canyon Randall.
After kicking off our girls basketball position rankings series with the guards on Monday, we now turn our attention to the forwards.
For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top 10 players at that position to watch out for in 2020.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the girls basketball season underway, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact during the 2020-21 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this season.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.
Some quick observations from Friday’s 48-6 Cisco win at San Saba, which I have a feeling, will stick in my memory for some time.
In more than 20 years of covering high school football, I have never seen a higher rate of successful execution in a game that was projected to be close than I saw from the Loboes on Friday.
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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.
