After recognizing the top defensive players throughout the Big Country over the past three days, it’s time to honor the specialists.
We continue our eight-part preseason position rankings series by naming our top eight kickers and top eight punters to watch this fall.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff the 2022 season.
After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.
For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top-10 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2022.
We hope you enjoy our list.
After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen on Saturday, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2022.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 10 linebackers to watch this fall, as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2022.
For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Merkel-Sweetwater scrimmage (54 images)”
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Without further ado, it is time for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
This is the culmination of several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor, so we’re more than ready to post it.
Got the truck started yet?
Ready to jump on one of those farm-to-market roads to watch high school football into the late hours on a Friday night?
You’re not alone. And as tradition would have it, I tip my cap to those of you who will be hitting the trails each week in search of pigskin.
Each week for the next 11 weeks, Big Country Preps will be searching for its Game of the Week, and we’re already looking ahead. We now present our preliminary list of Big Country Games worth traveling for. But keep in mind: the following list is subject to change as surprises and disappointments emerge.
And as we all know … surprises and disappointments always emerge so nothing below is set in stone.
That said, here is our list of Big Country games worth traveling for in 2022.
I’ll see you on the road.
When Noah Hatcher was a sophomore, starting in the Abilene High secondary in 2020, coach Mike Fullen said he felt the youngster had the chance to be one of the best safeties in program history before he graduated.
Two years later, the fourth-year AHS head coach — and longtime defensive coordinator before that — is only more confident in that assessment.
Hatcher, now entering his senior year, is the established leader of what should be an outstanding Eagles defense this fall. And after watching his star defensive back follow up that breakout sophomore year with another rock solid campaign as a junior, Fullen wants to see him close out his high school career in fitting fashion.
A move from Class 6A to Class 5A Division I will place the Abilene High football team in a new environment in 2022. But things haven’t necessarily gotten easier for coach Mike Fullen’s squad, which will face its share of challenges in District 2-5A DI.
Placed in a seven-team league with No. 10 Amarillo Tascosa, No. 17 Lubbock Cooper, Lubbock Coronado, Amarillo High, Lubbock Monterey and Amarillo Caprock, the 12th-ranked Eagles could find themselves in an even deeper district than the one they left behind in Class 6A.
But with 35 of 65 lettermen returning from last year’s team, including five offensive and seven defensive starters, AHS will be looking to cap its third consecutive season in the playoffs and to be prepared to do some damage once there.
At 6-foot-2 and and 265 pounds, Cayden Clay is an intimidating presence on the Wylie line. But the senior’s stature on his team extends well beyond the shadow he casts physically.
Now in his third season as a starter, Clay brings a veteran presence backed up by years of hard work and consistently strong play.
And with the athletic ability and knowledge to play any position on the offensive line, he’s a dream to coach, Wylie’s Clay Martin said.
Coming off a 4-6 season in which they finished just outside the playoff picture, the Wylie Bulldogs are hoping for bigger things in 2022.
And with 31 lettermen returning and a new district that features just two playoff teams from a year ago, coach Clay Martin’s squad has reason to be optimistic.
The Bulldogs, who graduated 29 lettermen, will need to replace six starters on offense and eight on defense. But Martin likes the team he has this year and is hoping to see Wylie establish a new level of consistency in his third year as the program’s head coach.
At 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, Johnathan Vanwinkle isn’t the biggest linebacker around. But the Cooper senior plays — and occasionally talks — like he’s 6-3, 220.
A hard-hitting outside backer who pursues the ball like he’s shot out of a cannon, Vanwinkle enjoys making plays and letting those with whom he shares the field know about it.
It’s all part of his plan to bring energy and effort to everything he does — and in doing so, try to raise the level of his teammates’ play in the process.
There’s good news and bad news for the Cooper Cougars in 2022.
The bad news is they graduated 29 of the 49 lettermen from last year’s 6-5 team and will have to replace a number of key players on both sides of the ball. The good news, though, is their district schedule and path to a deep playoff run just got considerably easier with a move to Class 5A Division II.
The 24th-ranked Cougars will still have to contend in District 2-5A DII with quality teams from Wichita Falls Rider (ranked No. 7 in 5A DII by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football) and Wylie, but a 16th consecutive playoff berth is there for the taking in a six-team league that features struggling squads from Amarillo Palo Duro, Plainview and Lubbock High. And if CHS can nab a top-two playoff seed out of its district, history suggests the Coogs could be playing deep into November or beyond.
STEPHENVILLE — If you’re hoping to repeat as state champions in Texas high school football, one of the guys it’s nice to have back is your trigger man.
And in the case of Class 4A DI state champion Stephenville, the return of quarterback Ryder Lambert is one of the biggest arguments for giving the Yellow Jackets a solid shot at going back-to-back.
The Yellow Jackets enter this season ranked No. 1 by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine, with the 17-year-old Lambert listed as its pick for preseason all-state quarterback in Class 4A.
STEPHENVILLE — Many football coaches will tell you (and with a large degree of accuracy) that there is no such thing as perfection on the gridiron.
There is always room to improve.
For the Stephenville Yellow Jackets, however, improving on or even matching their Class 4A DI state championship performance from last season is beyond difficult.
In fact, it may not be a realistic expectation — they were that good.
Logan Knight (#71) can be seen in this Hart High School highlight reel from last year, playing right tackle as a sophomore.
BROWNWOOD — 16-year-old Logan Knight admits he’s currently experiencing some culture shock in Brownwood.
The new arrival from Santa Clarita, Calif., is unaccustomed to such an abundance of friendly people. The lower cost of living has been a stunner. So, as one may expect, has been the level of passion Texas has for the game of football.
And it is football that may provide Knight with his biggest surprise yet as he approaches his junior year and first game under the Friday night lights of Texas. To a certain extent, he’s already suprised, he likes what he has seen and he’s eager to be a part of it when the season rolls around.
BROWNWOOD — After laboring through a 4-7 season with a young team last year, the Brownwood Lions are looking to take a step forward in 2022.
And they have the weapons to do it.
Armed with seven offensive and 10 defensive returning starters among 24 lettermen, Brownwood is expected to field a varsity roster in excess of 40 players — including promotees from a 10-0 JV team.
Big Spring senior Eli Cobos can do it all. And throughout his four-year varsity career, he essentially has for the Steers.
Cobos, who started his football journey as a tight end in seventh grade, has since seen time at quarterback, receiver, free safety, punter and kicker.
Entering his final high school season, the versatile athlete plans to wear many hats once again. And he’s excited to put his many talents to use to help a young Steers team in any way he can.
A quick glance at Big Spring’s roster breakdown would make it easy to assume that the Steers are in for a rebuilding year in 2022.
Coach Cannon McWilliams’ team lost twice as many lettermen to graduation (18) as it returns this fall (9), and the Steers’ district — and path to the playoffs — just got more difficult with the additions of Brownwood and Lubbock Estacado.
But despite bringing back just four offensive and five defensive starters, McWilliams isn’t scaling back his expectations for this year’s team. Now in his fourth year at the helm, he’s betting on his program development and culture to carry it through to its third consecutive winning season.
SWEETWATER — Noel Mekogue’s confidence has done nothing but grow in the past year.
A stellar junior season as Sweetwater’s nose guard is one reason for that. Another is the two new sports Mekogue succeeded in last year.
Now that Mekogue is one of just a few Mustangs with starting experience, even greater things are expected of him in 2022. It’s a challenge he has prepped for.
SWEETWATER — It’s staggering how much Sweetwater lost to graduation after coach Russell Lucas’ first year.
Twenty-seven seniors walked across the stage last May, leaving the Mustangs with only three returning starters from an 8-4 squad that won a district title and advanced to the second round.
Lucas is aware of his team’s youth, but he doesn’t want that to define his 2022 squad, either.
SNYDER — Three years ago, Malakoff assistant football coach Shannon Fink was fighting for his life. Diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma, the prognosis wasn’t good.
He had but two options: Give up and have his life end in his mid-50s, or he battle it out. He chose the latter and after a lengthy fight through multiple rounds of chemotherapy, the 55-year-old (now an assistant at Snyder) stands on the threshold of a possible full recovery. He’s not quite there yet, but he’s getting closer.
SNYDER — Every burgeoning program eventually comes to that season that serves as a barometer. Have we set the foundation? Are we permanently heading in right direction? Do we have enough to overcome major graduation losses?
The Snyder Tigers, who enjoyed a 9-4 campaign a year ago, must now answer all three questions.
Entering the 2022 campaign stripped of nearly all its key players by graduation, the Tigers have only eight lettermen back from a year ago and 10 seniors (some of whom didn’t play football last year).
BROCK — He may not be the biggest quarterback on the block. Others may have a stronger arm and some might be quicker. But if one
can find a tougher, more confident, smarter high school signal caller than Brock senior Tyler Moody, they have a genuine rarity behind center.
Moody, who returns after quarterbacking the Eagles to a 15-1 mark and an appearance in the Class 3A DI state title game last year, enters this season getting far more attention than he did a year ago, and rightly so.
Last season, while playing in his first year as a varsity quarterback, Moody was better known as a solid defender and a first-rate baseball player. That quickly changed he began producing impressive numbers early on, despite limited knowledge of the new playbook brought in by first-year coach Billy Mathis.
BROCK — At most 3A schools the loss of 17 lettermen and more than half of your starters generally brings up the “R” word — rebuilding.
At Brock, however, the “R” word is often reloading and that is expected to be the case in 2022, despite heavy graduation losses.
“We’re excited for the guys we have returning,” said second-year coach Billy Mathis, who guided the Eagles to a 15-1 record and a trip to the Class 3A DI state title game in his inaugural season last year. “We’ll miss the guys who left, but that’s the beauty of what you do during the offseason and getting guys their reps on JV.
“That’s one of the benefits of going deep into the playoffs. The guys get a lot of extra practices that other teams don’t get.”
TUSCOLA — After helping Jim Ned win a Class 3A DI state championship as a sophomore in 2020, Jim Ned running back-linebacker Sergio Hernandez couldn’t wait for another shot at a state title.
He was one of the biggest overall contributors to 8-0 start last season, playing a key role in Jim Ned’s defense while giving the Indians an additional backfield option to All-Big Country Preps running back Xavier Wishert.
That is, until a Week 9 game against Breckenridge when something unfortunate intervened — a “Lisfranc” injury. Which, according to orthobullets.com “is a tarsometatarsal fracture dislocation characterized by traumatic disruption between the articulation of the medial cuneiform and base of the second metatarsal.”
In layman’s terms: A broken foot.
TUSCOLA — To say that graduation took the most talented group of athletes in school history from Jim Ned, is no understatement.
No fewer than seven Jim Ned football players from last season’s team will be playing ball collegiately, five of them in football uniforms and another two will be playing baseball.
The class of ’22 made a three-season contribution to the greatest five-year run in school history that saw Jim Ned post a 51-12 overall record. This included a 33-6 mark between 2019-2021 and a Class 3A DI state title in 2020, with the Class of ’22 leading the way.
The age-old question for Jim Ned at this point is: Will the Indians rebuild or simply reload? And there are reasons to believe it will be the latter.
Serving in a head coaching capacity for the first time in his career last year, Clyde’s Danny Dudgeon admits there are things he didn’t do as well as he would have liked to.
Leading a young Bulldogs team composed primarily of freshmen and sophomores, he and his players were growing together in a lot of ways.
The final result was a tough 1-9 season in which Clyde was outscored by a 358-166 margin. But the bigger, less visible story was the growth that took place on the sidelines and the experience gained on the field — both of which are expected to pay dividends this fall for a Bulldogs squad that returns almost of all of its talent from a year ago.
Things didn’t go quite how Clyde coach Danny Dudgeon or his team had hoped they would in 2021. With a young roster and a first-time head coach last fall, the Bulldogs struggled to a 1-9 record and just their second non-playoff season since 2012.
This year, with a roster comprised almost entirely of returning lettermen, CHS is hoping to put that experience in the rearview.
Of the 36 players to play varsity football for Clyde in 2021, 30 are returning this season, including nine starters on both sides of the ball. And while the Bulldogs will still be young, with more sophomores and juniors than seniors on the roster, Dudgeon feels good about his team’s chances of competing for a playoff spot out of District 3-3A Division I.
BRECKENRIDGE — Show me a team that is running a pre-district gauntlet and I’ll usually be able to show you a team that won 10 or more games in the previous year or went several rounds into the playoffs.
Teams that fall into that category generally have a difficult time finding non-district opposition and they end up saddled with one powerhouse after another.
That’s not the way it works in Breckenridge, Texas. At Breck, a difficult schedule is more of a tradition than a side effect. You could almost view it as a rite of passage for football players at BHS and it has nothing to do with last season’s results — good, bad or ugly.
BRECKENRIDGE — Three years into his building project at Breckenridge, head coach Casey Pearce may finally have enough weapons and experience to create a large blip on the Big Country radar screen.
Coming off a 4-7 season that saw his Buckaroos finish 3-2 in district play and qualify for the playoffs, Pearce has 14 of 22 spots filled by returning starters, including his starting quarterback, two promising running backs and perhaps more overall speed than any Class 3A team in the Big Country.
“We’re in a position to have an opportunity to compete at a pretty high level,” Pearce said. “We’re excited about what we’ve got. Our offensive skill kids and our foot speed are where we want them.
“Our biggest question will be our offensive line and how we put that together. We’re fairly athletic (up front). We’re just not super heavy.”
MERKEL — If the Merkel Badgers are to take a step forward in 2022, it might come with a heavy porcine influence.
Sporting a large, experienced offensive line affectionately known as “The Hogs,” Merkel is hoping to get a consistent, dominating push up front in 2022 — good enough to push the Badgers straight into the playoffs.
“I’ve always called my offensive line “the Hogs,” second-year coach Will Kates said. “We just embrace playing in the slop, getting nasty and getting muddy.
“That’s just our mentality up front.”
MERKEL — If one checks the preseason prognostications for Texas high school football, the Merkel Badgers do not figure prominently in many of them. In fact, the Badgers are scarcely making a blip on the radar screen and have become a popular choice for last place.
And that, as far as second-year coach Will Kates is concerned, is just fine and dandy. You see, the Badgers were far more competitive than last year’s 4-6 record would indicate. They have 12 of 22 starters back from last year, including seven on the offensive side, their starting quarterback and a solid offensive line.
They’re also in the second year of Kates’ system, meaning more reps in practice (due to a lower need for instruction) and fewer mental mistakes on the field. The odds that they will field a better club than a year ago look promising, and only slight improvement last year would have resulted in a playoff berth.
Being underestimated, only fuels their fire.
EASTLAND — To say that Eastland senior nose guard Jesus Lopez isn’t the prototype for the position could be viewed as a gross understatement. He’s not the 6-foot, 300-pound ship’s anchor that coach’s dream of planting in front of an opposing center.
In fact, he’s not even close to it.
What he is, at 5-7, 165 pounds, is an anomaly — and a stunningly effective, all-district anomaly, at that.
“We were kind of skeptical with it at first,” said Eastland coach James Morton of last season’s decision to move Lopez to the nose position. “We were playing him at linebacker and we needed someone to play hard and get after it and Jesus was the guy who kept coming up in our conversations.
“So we ended up making that move with him. It was a good move for him and it was a good move for our team too.”
EASTLAND — The good news for the Eastland Mavericks in 2022 is that a sturdy group of young players is moving its way through the program.
The bad news is, experience will be in short supply — at least, in the early going.
A total of only 12 returning lettermen are back from last year’s 6-6 team. Among them: six offensive and six defensive starters, including a veteran offensive line that may be good enough to buy the young Mavericks some time.
DUBLIN — By all accounts, Dublin High School’s Eduardo Hernandez was a ray of sunshine — well-liked and upbeat. He had many friends and was expected to be an impact player along the offensive line for the Lions in 2022.
But on April 14, the Dublin community was rocked by the tragic news that one of its favorite young people had died in an auto accident between Stephenville and Dublin. Hernandez, who was only days shy of his 16th birthday, had passed away before his sophomore year in high school had concluded.
In its wake, the accident left Hernandez’s family, friends, coaches and teammates reeling — the latter of whom will be dedicating the entire 2022 season to his memory.
DUBLIN — After a 9-4 season that saw his first-ever Dublin team push three rounds deep in the Class 3A Division II playoffs, Coach Greg Hardcastle will have plenty of faces to replace in 2022.
Graduation hit the Lions hard during the spring, leaving Dublin with only three offensive and three defensive starters returning among 12 lettermen. The good news for Dublin, is that the Cupboard isn’t completely bare, though experience will be scarce at first.
“We’ve got some good young skill kids who are going to be inexperienced,” Hardcastle said. “We had a good 7-on-7 season with some of those kids and they were able to create some timing stuff with Chris (Teten).
“So we’re looking forward to seeing what those guys can do.”
COMANCHE — A funny thing happened while somebody did a series of jobs nobody else wanted to do. A community noticed it, its townspeople appreciated it and a group of its kids learned the value of doing a good deed.
That community is Comanche. The jobs have been a wide assortment of cleanup projects, weeding, mowing and heavy lifting. The group of kids is the Comanche football team, whose second-year coach, Jake Escobar recognized public service as a means of bringing his team and community closer together.
He brought the idea with him upon his arrival in 2021, when he returned to his hometown to take the head coaching position. And thus far, the results are paying off.
COMANCHE — The Comanche Indians may be coming off a 1-9 record in 2021, but there are several reasons to believe their 2022 product will be considerably better.
To begin with, Comanche’s numbers are up, with 19 returning lettermen, including six starters on both sides of the ball. Secondly, Comanche will get help from a 5-5 JV team, which won often enough last year to know that victory is achievable.
Overall, there are now 60 players in the program at Comanche, including some returning talent. This includes receiver/defensive back Kyler Beatty (36-703 yards, 10 TDs receiving; 64 tackles, two INTs), linebacker Dom Rios (77 tackles, 3 sacks) and utility/linebacker Layden Welch (55 tackles, 3 sacks).
As just a junior, Billy Bailey has already established himself as one of Coahoma’s most explosive playmakers and reliable leaders.
Perhaps not surprisingly, he’s also one of the Bulldogs’ tone setters where unselfishness is concerned.
After filling in capably at quarterback — a position he had never played in his career — for CHS in 2021, Bailey will cede much of his time behind center to freshman Boyd Cox this fall.
The speedy junior can help the team more, coach Chris Joslin feels, in a hybrid role that will see him split out wide when Cox is quarterbacking. And that’s all the explanation Bailey needed to accept and embrace his new position.
The Coahoma Bulldogs understand the challenge ahead of them in 2022. Housed in District 4-3A Division II with No. 12 Abernathy, No. 13 Idalou, No. 19 Lubbock Roosevelt and 2021 area finalist Stanton, they know they play in one of the toughest leagues in the state in Class 3A DII.
But despite being beaten out by those same teams for playoff spots last year during a difficult 3-7 campaign, coach Chris Joslin’s team is excited — not intimidated — by the opportunity to compete with them again this fall.
And with 15 of 26 lettermen back from last year’s team, including six starters on both sides of the football, the Bulldogs have every intention of being one of their district’s four playoff teams when the dust settles in November.
During his 15 years at Wall, Houston Guy has had some excellent defenses.
Since 2010, the Hawks have allowed as many 20 points per game just twice, while holding their opponents’ scoring average under 15 points in seven of those 12 campaigns.
At 24.4 points allowed per game, last year’s defense was Wall’s least efficient since Guy’s second year in 2008. But with 10 players back who started for that unit, the longtime WHS coach is expecting a more vintage defense this fall.
In 2021, a young Wall squad took its lumps in a tough Class 3A Division I district, finishing 5-5 in its first non-winning season since 2008.
With most of its talent returning from that team a year older and more mature, the Hawks are expecting much bigger things in 2022.
In addition to returning 23 of 34 lettermen, including eight offensive and 10 defensive starters, Wall will have reinforcements from a 7-3 junior varsity squad. And after dropping down from Class 3A Division I to 3A DII at the most recent realignment, the Hawks’ playoff path will no longer include Brock, which has ended five of WHS’ last eight campaigns, including last season in the bi-district round.
As a third-year starting quarterback, there’s not much Early senior Jaxyn Price hasn’t seen. The son of EHS coach Daniel Price, Jaxyn is almost like another coach on the field for the Longhorns at this point.
With loads of experience and results to match, the Early quarterback is a calming presence for his coaches and teammates.
And after leading the Longhorns to a 9-3 record in 2021 — marking their first winning season since going 10-4 in 2007 — the seasoned signal caller is hoping to have his best campaign yet as a senior.
In 2021, the Early football program enjoyed its best season in well over a decade, outscoring its opponents 449-233 on its way to a 9-3 campaign.
Included in that season were the Longhorns’ first winning record and first playoff victory since 2008, when EHS capped a dominant three-year stretch with a 10-4 record under former coach Robbie Tindol.
Now, with many of the principal figures back from last year’s team, the Longhorns are hoping to build a new such run of success. And coach Daniel Price is confident he has the pieces in place to back up a strong 2021 season with another in 2022.
In 2021, no running back tandem in the Big Country Preps coverage area was more productive than Brady’s JD Ibarra and Zeke Jones.
Providing the Bulldogs with a big, strong power back and a dynamic, game-breaking speed back, respectively, those two both topped the 1,000-yard mark in helping BHS to its best season since 2009.
With both backs back for another run this fall — Ibarra as a senior and Jones as a junior — Brady is hoping to build on the success it enjoyed last season. And coach Shay Easterwood is confident his dynamic running back duo will continue to lead the charge for his offense.
In 2021, the Brady football team broke through with its first winning season of the Shay Easterwood era.
Coming off that 8-4 campaign, which featured a run to the third round of the Class 3A Division II playoffs, the Bulldogs are out now to prove they have some staying power.
Sharing District 2-3A DII with former 3A DI playoff teams Wall and Early, Brady will have its hands full trying to match the district co-championship it earned last fall. But the Bulldogs are excited to tackle that challenge and eager to show that last year’s success wasn’t an isolated occurrence.
BALLINGER — Having graduated from Graham High School in 1999, new Ballinger coach Ty Lang feels as though he is returning home now that he’s back in the Big Country.
Lang, who served as an assistant coach at Decatur (including a year as interim coach last season) has a coaching stop in Brownwood on his résumé and is more than familiar with the area.
“West Texas football is still some of the best football there is,” the 41-year-old Lang said. “I love being part of a small community and there’s no doubt they love their football.
“They’ve got flags flying and they support their student athletes here.”