Roscoe 28, Cross Plains 6 — Jax Watts threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 33 yards and another score to lead the Plowboys to a win over previously unbeaten Cross Plains.
Outgained 317-167, Cross Plains fell to 6-1 and 0-1. Noah Moses led the Buffaloes with 40 yards rushing and one TD to go with 14 solo tackles and a fumble recovery.
Midland Greenwood 35, Snyder 13 — The Rangers outgained the Tigers 455-276 in a comfortable win over the Tigers, outscoring SHS 13-0 in the second to put the game away.
Greenwood got a big game from quarterback Dylan Dominguez, who passed for 120 yards and one touchdown on just 3-of-4 passing, while rushing for 65 yards and three more scores. Running back Aaron Fikes (21-177, 1 TD rushing) and receiver Rance Purser (2-111, 1 TD receiving) also had strong performances as the Rangers (4-3 overall) improved to 1-0 in league play.
Brownwood 41, Big Spring 10 — The Lions piled up 442 yards of total offense and took advantage of five Steers turnovers in a blowout win to open district play.
Brownwood (5-2, 1-0), which got a solid performance from backup quarterback Chance Jones (10-16-2—213, 3 TDs passing), led 21-3 by halftime and used a 13-0 run through the third quarter to put the game away.
Cisco 34, Olney 15 — Hunter Long accounted for 355 of Cisco’s 399 yards in total offense, rushing for 338 yards and throwing for 17 in an important win over Olney.
Long found the end zone five times, scoring on runs of 11, 83, 64, 2 and 7 yards to help the Loboes improve to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in District 4-2A DI.
Olney was led by Gatlin Guy who rushed for 122 yards and one TD and Jovani Rockmore, who rushed for 116 and another TD.
Coahoma 35, Littlefield 28 — Boyd Cox threw for 261 yards and three scores and Tristan Guerrero hauled in four catches for 113 yards and one TD to lead Coahoma (5-1, 1-0) to an important district win.
The Bulldogs have now won five straight games since falling to archrival Forsan in their season opener.
Early 36, Ballinger 0 — The Longhorns rushed for 200 yards and four scores and Jaxyn Price threw for 161 yards and another TD in a win at Ballinger.
Griffin Cheslock rushed for 130 yards and one touchdown and Caleb Ozuna rushed for 50 yards and two more scores as Early improved to 3-3 and 1-0.
Limited to just minus-35 yards in total offense, Ballinger dropped to 0-6 and 0-1.
Jim Ned 48, Bowie 18 — Brayden Shipman rushed for 124 yards and two scores and Troy Doran threw for 114 yards and two more TDs and Jim Ned won its district opener.
Leading 27-12 heading into the final quarter, the Indians put the game away with three touchdowns over the final 12 minutes.
It was Jim Ned’s third straight win following an injury-plagued 0-3 start.
China Spring 59, Alvarado 17 — Cash McCollum threw for 201 yards and three scores as China Spring (6-1, 1-0) grabbed an early piece of the district lead.
Leading 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Cougars blew the game open with a 42-0 run through the second.
Kyle Barton led all rushers with 120 yards and three scores.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Plainview-Wylie football (68 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.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Amarillo Caprock-Abilene High football (66 images)”
WICHITA FALLS — The Cooper football team couldn’t keep up with Wichita Falls Rider on Friday at Memorial Stadium, falling 51-21 to the Raiders in the District 2-5A Division II opener for both teams.
After scoring their first touchdown to even the score at 7-7 with just over the five minutes remaining in the opening period, the Cougars allowed six unanswered touchdowns to fall behind 48-7 early in the third quarter.
Rider outgained Cooper 526-288, passing for 363 of those yards and five of its eight touchdowns.
COLEMAN — It didn’t clinch anything. It was too early in the district schedule to do that. But Tolar’s 16-6 win over Coleman in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week was important enough to put the Rattlers in the District 5-2A DI driver’s seat.
A lot of defense and a lot of bruising sophomore running back Peyton Brown carried Tolar (6-0, 2-0), which gradually built a modest 16-0 lead before hanging on for the win at Hufford Field.
Brown (6-2, 208) rushed for 143 yards and two scores on 27 carries and the Rattler defense limited Coleman (5-2, 2-1) to 197 total yards in a game that lived up to its billing as a physical trench war.
Jadin Jackson led the Bluecats with 112 yards passing, 36 yards rushing and Coleman’s only TD.
Behind its most complete performance of the season, the Abilene High football team dominated Amarillo Caprock from start to finish Friday, routing the Longhorns 45-0 at Shotwell Stadium to improve to 2-1 in District 2-5A Division I play.
The Eagles limited Caprock to just 144 yards of total offense — all but 59 of which came in the second half after they had already built a commanding 31-0 lead.
The AHS offense, meanwhile, gained 307 yards on just 52 snaps, doing enough in the early going to put the game away by the halftime break.
With three straight wins over Plainview and a matchup next week with state-ranked Wichita Falls Rider on the horizon, the Wylie football team could have been caught looking ahead in a classic trap game on Friday night.
Instead, quarterback KJ Long directed the high-powered Wylie offense to a 38-14 win over Plainview in the District 2-5A Division II opener for both teams at Hugh Sandifer Stadium while the Wylie defense had one of its best showings of the year.
Getting district play started with such a dominant effort over a team that it had shut out the previous two years was something that Wylie coach Clay Martin was happy to see with several big games ahead.
With just 56 yards rushing through his team’s first five games, Cooper quarterback Chris Warren hasn’t been the running threat he was a year ago, when he amassed 541 yards and five touchdowns on the ground in 10 games of action.
But the senior signal caller feels that he’s a much more complete player this year than he was last season as a junior, and in a strange way, that stat is proof.
As a first-year starter in 2021, Warren felt he leaned too heavily on his legs, using his scrambling ability as a crutch at times when bigger plays were available downfield. So his reduced reliance on his feet for production is actually an indicator of the progress he’s made as a quarterback — a theory to which his coaches would also subscribe.
Jim Ned is still Jim Ned.
That’s the message coach Matt Fanning is confident his Indians will convey as District 3-3A Division I kicks off this week.
After an injury-riddled start to their season that included three consecutive losses, Jim Ned (2-3) closed out non-district with a pair of victories. The Indians look to keep that momentum going into Friday night’s 3-3A debut at Bowie.
“Our kids understood at the time – they’re savvy football players,” Fanning said. “We’re still Jim Ned. We weathered the storm and got some younger guys lots of reps.”
BROCK — Second-year Brock coach Billy Mathis used one word to describe the experience of trying to piece together a new football schedule on realignment day: “awful.”
Put simply, very few teams were willing to take the field with the 3A DI state runner-up Eagles, who finished last season at 15-1 while outscoring the opposition by an average score of 49-14.
As a result, Brock was saddled with a vicious non-district schedule that featured No. 3 4A Division II Texarkana Pleasant Grove, No. 8 4A DII Wichita Falls Hirschi and No. 7 4A DII Wimberly all in succession. This, followed by top-ranked 3A DII Gunter created a non-district slate that no 3A team would volunteer for. Their current combined record: 17-2.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-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.
Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
LAST WEEK: 29-10, .743
SEASON TOTAL: 250-76, .766
As any football season progresses, there is always a sprinkling of “calendar” games that are circled weeks or even months in advance. They are generally high profile, with either first place or an outright district title at stake between two clubs that have dominated nearly everything in their path.
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week has all the criteria, with unbeaten Tolar (5-0, 1-0 District 5-2A DI) traveling to Coleman (5-1, 2-0) for a game that will put the winner in the district driver’s seat.
Other top matchups include: Cross Plains at Roscoe, Olney at Cisco, San Saba at De Leon, Vernon at Clyde and Littlefield at Coahoma.
Let’s dive in.
Here’s this week’s forecast:
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene High-Wylie volleyball (118 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.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: De Leon-Clyde volleyball (30 images)”
Hosting Abilene High with sole possession of second place in the District 4-5A standings on the line, the Wylie volleyball team held off a scrappy Lady Eagle effort for a 25-22, 26-28, 25-14, 25-20 victory Tuesday night at Bulldog Gym.
The Lady Bulldogs played most of the night with a lead, holding a double-digit advantage in three of the four games in the contest — a rematch of a Wylie’s 25-14, 25-22, 25-13 win Sept. 9 at Abilene High. But The Lady Eagles made WHS work much harder for Tuesday night’s victory, nearly rallying to force a fifth set.
As it was, the Lady Bulldogs improved to 20-16 on the year and 5-2 in district play, while Abilene High fell to 13-18 overall and 4-3 in league action with five more matches remaining in the regular season.
CLYDE — The Clyde volleyball team picked up a midweek nondistrict match with De Leon to avoid an open date in the middle of district play, and the Lady Bulldogs responded with a resounding three-set win.
Implementing new offensive sets, coach Laura Carr’s squad knocked off the Lady Bearcats 25-20, 25-8, 25-9 on Tuesday nightat Bulldog Gym.
In addition to finding their rhythm in system, the Lady Bulldogs had 17 aces in the three sets, with Chloe Ukle’s five leading the way.
Photo courtesy of Jacob Brenem, Brenem Productions
Gracie Dearing feels like the rewards for playing volleyball at Trent are constant.
The senior captain hadn’t ever competed in the sport before it was brought back last year after a hiatus dating back to the 1950s.
But Dearing became interested when she saw a video of a men’s volleyball match. Getting an opportunity to represent her school and help start a program from scratch was too good of a chance to pass up.
“It’s been very rewarding, not only as an individual but as a team,” Dearing said. “This team has worked really hard to keep this program going. It’s been hard with how little players we have.”
You probably should make a point to remember the seven girls noted in the ensuing paragraph, because what they are accomplishing at Merkel High School this year is virtually unprecedented.
Sydnee Barnes, Jada O’Kelly, Kloe Pursley, Autumn Hammond, Avery Hollaway, Micah Hollaway and Avery Chacon are seniors on the Lady Badgers volleyball team, meaning the 2022 season represents their final time to play the sport in high school.
It is also their first.
After an 0-1 start in district play with a loss at Wall, the Clyde Lady Bulldogs were facing some pressure last week in tough league matchups against Jim Ned and San Angelo TLCA.
Clyde responded with a pair of wins and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, junior setter Abby Carr was at the forefront of that effort.
Charting 38 assists, 19 kills and four aces, Carr was not only setting up the offense, but when rotating to the front line, she also did a pretty fair job of finishing it.
Amarillo Tascosa 36, Abilene High 14 — Tayden Barnes rushed for 215 yards and four touchdowns to fuel the Rebels to a comfortable win over the Eagles.
Tascosa (5-1, 2-0) outgained Abilene High 440-145, rushing for all but 42 of those yards. Behind Barnes, who scored all of his touchdowns in the first half, led 29-7 by halftime and was never threatened after that.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Muenster-Santo football (50 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.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brownwood-Stephenville football (110 images)”
Brock 49, Peaster 14 — The Eagles cruised to their second consecutive victory to open district play, outgaining the Greyhounds 421-217 in a blowout win.
Brock (2-4, 2-0) led 28-0 at halftime and tacked on two more touchdowns in the third quarter to put Peaster away.
Celeste 34, Lindsay 21 — The Blue Devils limited the Knights to just 188 yards of total offense and led from the 3:31 mark of the second quarter on in a two-score victory over LHS.
Celeste (5-1, 2-0) finished with 290 total yards, passing for 156 and rushing for 134. Anthony Powell (15-91, 2 TDs rushing) and Qua Stephens (6-39, 3 TDs) did all the scoring for the Blue Devils, who led 20-7 by halftime.
De Leon 44, Goldthwaite 19 — The Bearcats controlled the game from start to finish, racing out to a 20-7 halftime and cruising from there to a comfortable win over the Eagles.
De Leon (4-2, 1-0) piled 437 yards, 343 of those on those on the ground, to grab the momentum early and maintain it throughout the remainder of the game.
Lubbock Estacado 24, Sweetwater 7 — The Matadors stymied the Mustang offense, limiting SHS to a single touchdown in a three-score victory.
Sweetwater (1-5) opened the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run by Uriah Martinez, but Estacado responded with a seven-yard touchdown drive and a defensive score to take a 14-7 lead at half. The Matadors then outscored the Mustangs 10-0 in the second half, getting a touchdown run and a field goal to put the finishing touches on the win.
Seminole 63, Big Spring 28 — The Steers put up 462 yards of total offense, but it wasn’t nearly enough in a lopsided loss to the Indians.
Seminole countered with 574 total yards, including 432 passing, to build a 35-14 halftime lead and hold off a second-half Big Spring rally that saw the Steers pull within a touchdown (35-28) midway through the third quarter.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Mason-Wall football (57 images)”
Reagan County 23, Kermit 20 (OT) — The Owls outlasted the Yellow Jackets, overcoming two-score deficits at 14-3 and 20-10 to defeat KHS in overtime.
A week after Kermit upset fellow District 3-2A Division I team Forsan, Reagan County outscored the Yellow Jackets 10-0 in the second half and 3-0 in the extra period to improve to 3-2 on the year.
Haskell 42, Petrolia 20 — Trevor Henry rushed for 156 yards and four touchdowns to lift Haskell as former Petrolia coach Mitch McLemore defeated his former club.
Grady Vasquez supplemented the Haskell attack with 105 yards through the air and an additional touchdown.
Cooper (2-3) — The Cougars were idle on Friday night. They’ll return to action next week with a road game against Wichita Falls Rider in the district opener for both teams.