Ballinger 61, Ingram Moore 0 — Briley Clinton threw for 197 yards and three scores and rushed for 79 more and another TD to help Ballinger snap a two-game losing streak.
The Bearcats (4-3, 1-2) amassed 317 yards rushing while collecting the win, but did their share of damage through the air as well. Trey Matschek was the game’s leading receiver, hauling in eight catches for 117 yards and two scores.
Sweetwater 61, Pecos 37 — The Mustangs stayed perfect in district play with a blowout win over the Eagles, piling up 553 yards of total offense in a dominating effort.
Coach Russell Lucas’ squad, which has now one four straight games, led 35-9 by halftime and was never threatened after that in improving to 6-3 on the year and 3-0 in league play.
Pecos (4-4, 0-2) rushed for 456 yards in the loss, getting 336 yards and three touchdowns rushing from star running back Ezekiel Saldana, but the Eagles never pulled closer than 19 points of the lead after halftime.
Wall 29, Breckenridge 26 — Dominic Garcia rushed for 113 yards and a score and Gabe Haskins had 90 yards combined rushing and passing while accounting for two TDs to lead Wall in a thriller.
The win was crucial for Wall (4-3, 2-1) which is in strong contention for the No. 2 seed in the district race.
Brownwood 56, Alvarado 35 — The Lions picked up a huge victory for their playoff hopes, outscoring the Indians 14-7 in each of the final three quarters to turn a 14-all tie after one period into a three-touchdown win.
Running back Konlyn Anderson fueled the effort for Brownwood (3-5, 1-2), rushing for 230 yards and five touchdowns, while quarterback Chance Jones went 8-of-10 passing for 113 yards and two scores.
The Lions were outgained 492-423, but they forced three turnovers and turned each into touchdowns to snap a three-three game losing streak and pull into a fourth-place tie with Alvarado (2-6, 1-2) in the district standings.
Big Spring 48, Andrews 19 — Gabriel Baeza made a triumphant return to the Steers lineup, passing for 404 yards and five touchdowns and rushing for an additional 87 yards to lift coach Cannon McWilliams squad to a district-opening rout of the Mustangs.
Baeza, who missed Big Spring’s nondistrict finale against Pampa (a 58-7 loss), rallied the Steers (6-2, 1-0) from down 19-14 at halftime with four unanswered touchdowns to start the second half. And backup Gavin Padron led a scoring drive at the end to cap the thorough victory.
Kaegen Mitchell (12-132, 2 TDs receiving) and Eli Cobos (8-110, 3 TDs) were Baeza’s favorite targets in the passing game, while Cobos also threw a scoring pass to kick off the scoring in the first quarter. Defensively, the Steers limited Andrews (2-6, 0-1) to 360 yards and intercepted Mustangs quarterback EJ Lopez four times.
Comanche 49, Millsap 34 — Comanche (1-7, 1-2) earned its first win of the year behind 169 yards rushing and five TDs from Luke Wilson.
Hudson Welch supplemented the CHS attack with 125 yards rushing and 87 rushing.
Coahoma 55, Reagan County 7 — Jaidyn Vineyard rushed for 154 yards and two scores and Brysen Kerby rushed for 91 yards and another TD to help Coahoma (3-5, 1-2) snap a three game losing streak.
The Bulldogs limited Reagan County to only 130 yards in total offense and nine first downs, including just 47 yards rushing.
Forsan 28, Haskell 0 — Forsan remained unbeaten behind 216 yards in combined rushing.
Nate Hernandez led the Buffaloes (8-0, 3-0) with 122 yards rushing and two scores on 14 carries. Sawyer Stallings was perfect through the air, going 6-for-6 for 59 yards and a score.
With their back against the wall after a disappointing loss at Wichita Falls High last week, the Wylie Bulldogs left themselves no choice but to beat Canyon Randall on Friday night at Hugh Sandifer Stadium if they hoped to get back in the playoff picture in District 3-5A Division II.
Entering the game at 0-2 in league play, the Bulldogs knew their cleanest — and likely only — path to the postseason was a 3-0 finish to the regular season. And to get to 3-0, they had to first go 1-0 against the Raiders.
Fueled by a shutdown defensive performance, a handful of timely drives and one heck of a clutch kick by senior Grayson Bearden, Wylie accomplished the first phase of its mission, edging Randall 16-13 on a 45-yard field goal by Bearden with 59 seconds remaining in the game.
Points are crucial in a one-possession game, and missed field goals can cause momentum swings in those situations.
Abilene High faced this scenario early in its homecoming game against Odessa High, when Anthony Ramirez missed a 36-yard field goal attempt off the with the Bronchos leading 7-0 in a District 2-6A game at Shotwell Stadium.
As it would turn out, though, the missed kick would be the springboard the Eagles needed on their way to a 42-7 win that was propelled by an opportunistic defense.
JACKSBORO — Eastland’s Judson Beard sliced through Jacksboro’s defense for a 57-yard touchdown Friday night with 2:34 left, propelling the Mavericks back into the lead.
But no advantage seemed to be safe in a District 5-3A Division II shootout at Tiger Stadium.
Jacksboro had just enough time to answer as quarterback Lando Belcher scored from four yards out with 42 seconds remaining, lifting the Tigers to a wild 51-48 victory.
COLEMAN — For the better part of the last two decades, the Cisco football team has maintained a reputation for dominant physicality. And very seldom have the Loboes been outplayed via their own style.
But in Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, the Coleman Bluecats did exactly that — rushing for 221 yards as a team in a 31-7 win at Hufford Field.
Jadin Jackson rushed for 133 yards and two scores and threw for a third TD to lead Coleman (7-0, 3-0 District 4-2A Division I), which is now in the league driver’s seat.
As a tight end and H-back, respectively, Abilene High seniors Jackson Wilson and Luke Castaneda are accustomed to having their work overlooked.
With names that rarely appear in the Eagles’ box scores, they’ve accepted that most of what they do will go unnoticed by the general public.
But while finding Wilson and Castaneda on the field can be like a game of “Where’s Waldo?” for those who only follow the football, the fact of the matter is those two and their roles are integral parts of Abilene High’s offensive success.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Saginaw-Cooper football (66 images)”
With starting quarterback Chris Warren sidelined with an injury, the Cooper football team turned the offensive keys over to freshman Keegan Anderson as the program searched for the 400th win in its history on Thursday night at Shotwell Stadium.
Armed with a potent rushing attack and a big-play offense, Anderson led the Cougars to the milestone win, knocking off Saginaw 44-13 in District 3-5A Division I play.
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.
LAST WEEK: 35-11, .760
SEASON TOTAL: 322-74, .813
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will send me south to historic Hufford Field in Coleman, where the Bluecats (6-0) will play host to perennial power Cisco (6-1) in what is essentially the District 4-2A Division I championship.
Opened way back in 1934, Hufford is one of the Big Country’s oldest and most unique venues and if you are looking for a game to go to on Friday, this one will not only offer some good football, but some nostalgia as well.
The immense rock wall surrounding the field was built in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration or WPA as the nation battled its way out of The Great Depression.
Hope to see you there.
Here are this week’s picks:
If you were to look at Cooper’s defensive statistics, there’s nothing that would jump off the page at you as a cause for great alarm.
For the season, the Cougars (4-3 overall, 2-2 in District 3-5A Division I) are allowing just 296.6 yards per game and a respectable 25.9 points per contest.
Diving deeper into the numbers, you’ll find a solid 5.0 opponents yards per play, giving further indication that — on a down-to-down basis — the CHS defense is largely doing its job.
But the one thing that has been lacking for that unit is a desired level of consistency, as slow starts and big plays have at times undermined otherwise steady performances. And as the Coogs prepare for their final three games of the regular season, with a likely playoff appearance to follow, remedying that issue sits high on the list of priorities for coach Aaron Roan and his squad.
Evan Ren and Dan Youngblood take an early look at the Big Country Playoff picture.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Lubbock Cooper-Wylie volleyball (98 images)”
COLEMAN — With wild momentum swings like crazy in the fourth set, the De Leon volleyball team closed out its second straight District 8-2A title with a 25-13, 23-25, 25-15, 27-25 win over rival Coleman on Tuesday night.
It wasn’t easy for the Lady Cats as the Bluekatts fought tooth-and-nail in clinging to their hopes of being co-district champions.
The fourth set saw Coleman rally from being down 13-6 to tie the match at 18-18. The two sides then alternated the next 14 points before a pair of hitting errors on the Bluekatts sealed the win for De Leon.
Tuesday’s District 4-5A clash between the Wylie and Lubbock Cooper volleyball teams had everything you could want from a match of that magnitude — a large and rowdy crowd, outstanding efforts on both sides of the net and a thrilling finish.
The only thing missing at the end of five sets of nonstop action at Bulldog Gym was a Lady Bulldog victory.
Hosting the Lady Pirates with a share of the district lead on the line, Wylie fell just short in an 18-25, 27-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13 classic. But after the match, Lady Bulldogs coach Shay Cox had nothing but praise for the way her squad competed.
Photos courtesy of Tayla Rainwater and Rob Mendez
Team photo by De Leon student Tayla Rainwater.
A 6-7 start by the De Leon volleyball team was somewhat understandable despite last year’s unprecedented run to the Class 2A regional semifinals in what was the Lady Cats’ best season on record.
“We lost three really good seniors off last year’s team, so we had some big shoes to fill,” fourth-year De Leon head coach Kinsey Garcia said Tuesday. “Plus we were fitting in a talented newcomer to the team (in sophomore Genesis Mendez). We didn’t play any tournaments last year because of COVID, so we had to get used to playing multiple matches in a day.”
Big Country Preps is publishing 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.
We will continually update the database throughout the regular season.
Photos by Sarah Schlieve
Baird has experienced growth in Derek Schlieve’s second season running the football program.
The Bears got off to their best start in a couple decades, winning their first five games and handing Gordon its only loss of the season.
Even though their momentum was slightly dashed after Friday’s 78-30 loss to Fort Worth Covenant Classical, Schlieve is insistent his guys are remembering the big picture.
It’s one thing to rush for more than 300 yards and three scores against a struggling program. We see that all the time from the area’s top running backs.
But it’s an entirely different thing when those yards come against a solid team with a sturdy defense. That’s earning it the hard way.
Jim Ned’s Xavier Wishert, our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week, took that route on Friday night when he charted 313 yards rushing and three scores on just 20 carries in a 37-20 road win over the Wall Hawks.
Game photos courtesy of Joel Ashby, Amy Raschke and Carrie Gutierrez.
Dan Gainey had to collect his thoughts when asked the feeling at the end of the Colorado City Wolves at Haskell Indians football game Friday at Haskell.
“There are a lot of adjectives to describe it – crazy, nutty. Some things just don’t make any sense at all,” said Gainey, ninth-year head coach at Colorado City.
The finish — which involved two interceptions, a safety, the return of a squib kick for a touchdown and two attempts at the winning extra point – was unbelievable enough. But consider also that Colorado City’s 28-27 win over Haskell ended the Wolves’ 26-game losing streak that dated to 2018.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Roscoe-Ralls football (77 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Forsan-Anson football (65 images)”
Brock 70, Ponder 20 — The No. 2 Eagles faced little resistance from the Lions, scoring 35 first-quarter points on their way to a 50-point drubbing.
Brock (7-0, 4-0) outgained Ponder 535-224, rushing for 311 yards and passing for 224 in a balanced effort. Quarterback Tyler Moody threw for all of those passing yards and five touchdowns, including three to Eli Potts (5-106 receiving), while Kutter Wilson (15-119, 3 TDs rushing) and Jake Lindberg (4-111, 1 TD) both had big days running the ball.
Tight end Nathan Jones was also a productive target for Moody, hauling in seven passes for 62 yards and a score for Brock, which was led defensively by Hunter Fay (6 tackles, 2 sacks, 5 tackles for loss).
San Saba 44, Winters 12 — Wes Lackey rushed for 46 yards, had 148 yards receiving and accounted for three touchdowns to help San Saba to its first win of the year.
Reagan Mejia chipped in as well, catching two passes for 54 yards and an additional score to help the Armadillos (1-6, 1-1) snap a seven-game losing streak dating back to last year’s playoffs.
Bangs 43, Ingram Moore 21 — Guy Powell rushed for an eye-popping 350 yards and two touchdowns to lift Bangs to its first win of the season.
Kade Minshew threw for 54 yards and a score and rushed for 60 yards and three more TDs to lift the Dragons, who put Moore away with a 29-14 run through the fourth quarter.
Colorado City 28, Haskell 27 — Chris Green took a kickoff back with less than a minute left in the game to give Colorado City a miraculous win at Haskell to snap a 26-game losing streak dating back to late 2018.
Trailing 27-19 with just under a to play, Chris Ortiz started the late rally by scoring a two-point safety with a sack in the Haskell end zone to pull the Wolves within six points.
Eastland 21, Comanche 20 — Eastland was fortunate to survive what was nearly the area’s top upset of the year, holding off winless Comanche by a single point.
Judson Beard rushed for 181 yards and two scores and caught three passes for 8 yards and another score to lead the Mavericks (3-4, 2-0) which held off a late Comanche rally to get the win.
Santo 42, Cross Plains 7 — The Wildcats scored early and often in a big district win over the Buffaloes, piling up 367 rushing yards in the victory.
Quarterback Case Procter (13-137, 1 TD) and running back Sam Henderson (10-100, 3 TDs) both went over the century mark for rushing yards, while Procter also threw a touchdown pass to Billy Sandoval. Elijah Pennington had Santo’s other score.
The Wildcats (7-0, 1-0) built a 28-0 lead by halftime and increased that advantage to 42-0 before Cross Plains (4-3, 0-2) finally got on the board. Santo outgained the Buffs 394-163, limiting CPHS to just 57 yards rushing.
Crosbyton 20, Hamlin 0 — The Chiefs picked up a key district win over the Pied Pipers, shutting out coach Chris Evans’ squad to improve to 4-4 on the year and 1-1 in district play.
In a five-team league that features quality outfits from Roscoe (6-1, 1-0), Ralls (5-3, 1-1) and Lockney (6-1, 1-0), this victory likely earned Crosbyton the fourth and final playoff seed over Hamlin, which fell to 0-8 overall and 0-2 in league play.
The Pied Pipers trailed just 6-0 at halftime, but the Chiefs went up two scores with a touchdown in the third quarter and put the game on ice with one more TD in the final period.
Snyder 28, Monahans 21 — The Tigers bounced back from last week’s loss to rival Sweetwater with a huge victory, handing the Loboes their first defeat of the season.
Coach Wes Wood’s squad (6-2, 1-1) played an outstanding first half, using 21 second-quarter points to take a 28-0 lead into the halftime break, before Monahans (6-1, 0-1) rallied in the final two quarters to pull within a touchdown.
Snyder was outgained 430-282 and lost the turnover battle 2-1, but the Tigers made the plays they needed to hang on for the win, forcing a turnover on downs inside their own 20 in the final minute to preserve the victory. Jorge Martinez led the effort for SHS, rushing for touchdowns of 74 and 71 yards and intercepting a pass to set up a 37-yard TD reception by Tim Henderson.
Stanton 30, Coahoma 17 — The Buffaloes slipped past Coahoma with a big second half, blowing open a game that was tied at 10-10 at the break.
Coahoma outgained Stanton 371-318, but hurt itself with a pair of turnovers.
Continue reading “District 4-3A Div. II Week 8 Report: Coahoma falls to Stanton on the road”
Stephenville 56, Alvarado 0 — The second-ranked Yellow Jackets had no trouble with the Indians, piling up 542 yards of offense and taking advantage of three Alvarado turnovers in a shutout victory.
Stephenville (2-0 in district) led 35-0 by halftime and cruised from there to its seventh straight win to open the season. Alvarado, meanwhile, dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Ryder Lambert passed for 277 yards and four touchdowns in the victory, while Tate Maruska rushed for 143 yards and two TDs on just seven carries and Coy Eakin had 135 yards and three scores receiving on four catches.