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: 48-8, .857
SEASON TOTAL: 48-8, .857
Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week shifts eastward in Week 2, where established are playoff contender Santo (1-0) squares off with a Goldthwaite team that is exhibiting early signs of taking a major step forward despite an 0-1 record.
Goldthwaite, a traditional Big Country power that is trying to climb out of a six-year stretch of losing seasons (the longest streak in school history) gave seventh-ranked Crawford all it wanted in a 28-14 loss on the road last week. Even for those who don’t believe in moral victories, that one’s worth an eyebrow raise, considering the Eagles were 0-10 last year.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Clyde-Wylie volleyball (98 images)”
The Wylie volleyball team pulled two wins closer to .500 on Tuesday with a sweep in its dual match against Midland Christian and Clyde, defeating the Lady Mustangs 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 before knocking off the Lady Bulldogs 25-16, 25-14, 21-25, 25-17.
The victories improved WHS to 11-13 with three matches to play before its Sept. 8 district opener against Abilene High. And coach Shay Cox is hoping they will provide some positive momentum for a Lady Bulldogs squad that had lost six of its previous eight matches going into Tuesday night.
It’s an unfortunate truth in this profession that there are more sporting events going on in a given week than we could ever hope to attend.
And while we here at Big Country Preps pride ourselves on providing the most comprehensive high school sports coverage you’ll find from any Big Country source, we can never make it to all the games and matches that we would like to.
With that in mind, we’re adding a new feature this year to try to catch up on some of the things we missed or just to double back on some notes that we couldn’t quite give the attention they deserved.
Introducing the “Abilene Notebook,” our collection of such odds and ends from the past week of local athletic action.
After a summer-long effort to produce our football preview, it is good to be back in our school year routine — a big part of which is our Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
That said, we are proud to hand our first accolade for 2023-24 to Snyder senior quarterback Easton Stewart, who led the Tigers to a 42-0 season-opening win over Slaton last week.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Jim Ned football (39 images)”
COMANCHE — Strong straight-line winds or a small tornado?
Nothing is verified just yet, but one thing is for certain: Comanche High School has some work to do on both its concession stand and press box after being hit by high winds over the weekend.
The damage sustained was serious enough to force athletic director Jake Escobar to make contingency plans for home dates until further notice.
“The roof of the concession stand flew off about 100 yards,” Escobar said. “Part of the press box roof fell off and our ag building, which is a big tin building —its roof broke open and it was pretty bad.”
Brownwood 35, Wylie 21 — Ike Hall rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 81 yards and another score to lead the Lions past the Bulldogs in the season opener between the former Class 4A rivals.
Leading 14-7 at halftime, Brownwood scored two unanswered touchdowns out of halftime to go up 28-7. Wylie fought back to pull within a touchdown on Kenny Scott’s 43-yard fumble return with 4:37 remaining in the game, but Hall broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run on the second play of the following possession to put the game away.
Abilene High 49, Odessa Permian 14 — Dylan Slack passed for 215 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for a fifth score Friday to fuel the Eagles to a blowout win over their former Little Southwest Conference rival.
Behind that effort and strong games from fellow quarterback Brayden Henry (9-118, 1 TD rushing), running back Bam Rashaw (11-56, 1 TD rushing; 2-42, 1 TD receiving) and receiver Ryland Bradford (4-89, 1 TD receiving), AHS built a 35-0 lead by halftime and maintained a five-touchdown cushion the rest of the way.
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-Wylie football (88 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: Forsan-Coahoma football (60 images)”
Santo 27, Electra 14 — Hut Thornton rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown, while Memphis Prosser added 74 yards and three scores to fuel the Wildcats to a two-touchdown win over Electra in the season opener-for both teams.
Santo, which scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to increase a five-point lead to 19, outgained Electra 309-273 and took advantage of two fumble recoveries to win its third opener in a row.
Wink 54, Reagan County 48 (OT) — The Owls gave the Wildcats all they could handle, but ultimately Wink was just a little too much for Reagan County, rallying from deficits at the end of each of the first three quarters for a thrilling overtime win.
The Owls, who led 24-14 at halftime and 48-40 at the end of three quarters, finished with 397 yards of total offense, getting 243 yards and five touchdowns passing and 93 yards and an additional score on the ground from quarterback Kason Brown.
Hico 37, Bruceville Eddy 8 — Price Mullin rushed eight times for 127 yards and two scores and Carson Keller threw for 128 yards and two more TDs to left Hico.
The Tigers finished with 415 total yards to begin the 2023 season with momentum.
Texarkana Pleasant Grove 10, Brock 7 — The Eagles dropped their opener to the Hawks for the second consecutive year, managing just 272 yards and one touchdown in a heartbreaking three-point loss.
Brock, which fell 28-7 to Pleasant Grove a year ago, led 7-3 with less than a minute remaining Friday. But Ahkhari Johnson hit Jackson Gibson with a 32-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds remaining to lift the Hawks to the dramatic victory.
Seymour 40, Anson 14 — Brayden Loyd hit 17 of 23 passes for 324 yards and five touchdowns to lead Seymour to a win at Anson.
The Panthers also rushed for 62 yards and an additional score.
Anson (0-1) got most of its production on the ground, rushing for 222 yards as a team behind six different ball carriers.
Continue reading “DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 1 REPORT: Seymour wins big at Anson”
Pampa 35, Big Spring 25 — The Steers led the Harvesters 25-21 at halftime, but they couldn’t hold on for the win as Pampa scored one touchdown in each of the final two quarters while keeping Big Spring off the board to rally in the second half.
A Yanez passed for 276 yards and two touchdowns — both to Keyshaun Woodruff (6-64 receiving) — while Zeyire Franklin had seven catches for 110 yards in the loss. The Harvesters, who finished with 453 yards of total offense, were paced by quarterback Brant Hill, who passed for 274 yards with three TD passes to Bryce Lynn (4-166 receiving).
Roscoe 42, Colorado City 0 — Roscoe used a dual-threat offense and a strong defensive effort to beat C-City in the opener for both teams.
Jace Arnwine threw for 258 yards and two scores and Ivan McCann rushed for 139 yards and two more touchdowns to lift the Plowboys, who limited C-City to only 107 yards in total offense.
Continue reading “DISTRICT 6-2A DII WEEK 1 REPORT: Roscoe opens season with big win over C-City”
San Saba 40, Florence 3 — The Armadillos piled up 365 yards rushing, getting big days on the ground from running back Ethan Gonzales (18-133, 2 TDs) and quarterback Lane Miller (13-122, 2 TDs) in their blowout win over the Buffaloes.
Miller also passed for 56 yards with a scoring strike to Gonzales as San Saba built a 19-0 first-quarter lead. Up 19-3 at halftime, the ‘Dillos outscored Florence 21-0 over the final two quarters to put the game away.
Stamford 48, Hamlin 6 — Kaston Vega rushed for 120 yards and three scores and Cle Whitfield rushed for 100 yards and another score to lead Stamford to a big win in the return of coach Wayne Hutchinson.
Stamford outgained Hamlin 417-110 while forcing the Pied Pipers into a pair of turnovers.
Continue reading “DISTRICT 4-2A DIV. I WEEK 1 REPORT: Stamford the lone district winner in Week 1”
Sweetwater 42, Idalou 20 — Caiden Ortiz completed 11 of 16 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Mustangs to a blowout win over the Wildcats in their season opener.
Korda Moore added 89 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while Jadyn Forbes caught three passes for 80 yards and two scores to help Sweetwater to a 25-7 halftime lead.
Lubbock Roosevelt 42, Amarillo River Road 6 — The Falcon option game was nothing short of devastating on Friday, producing 332 yards on 55 carries and four touchdowns between 12 different ball carriers.
Nate Casarez led the way for Roosevelt (1-0), throwing for 73 yards and one score and rushing for 49 yards.
Comanche 37, Brady 8 — Sawyer Wilkerson ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns, while Layden Welch passed for 163 yards and three scores and rushed for 51 yards and an additional TD to fuel the Indians to comfortable win over the Bulldogs.
Behind those two and receiver Kyler Beaty, who hauled in five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, Comanche (1-0) built a 25-8 lead by halftime and was never threatened after the break.
Wall 35, Eastland 10 — Gunner Dillard threw for 119 yards and two scores and rushed 20 times for 95 yards and two more scores to lead Wall to a win over Eastland on Friday.
The Hawks (1-0), who led 21-10 at the break, finished with 319 yards in total offense. They will face Cisco (0-1) on the road in Week 2.
Clyde 40, Cisco 28 — Blake Carr threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 97 yards and another score to lead Clyde to a win over Cisco.
The Bulldogs closed with 483 yards in total offense with senior receiver Daijon Booker accounting for 218 yards of it on seven receptions.
Midlothian Heritage 31, Stephenville 28 — Heritage produced 367 yards in total offense against a veteran Stephenville defense to edge the Yellow Jackets on the road.
The Jaguars stretched their lead to 31-21 with a fourth-quarter score before a 50-yard Stephenville scoring drive with seven minutes to play cut the gap to three.
ODESSA — The Abilene High Eagles got off to a flying start Friday, racing out to a 35-0 halftime lead on their way to a 49-14 rout of Odessa Permian in their season opener at Ratliff Stadium.
AHS put up over 450 yards of total offense and limited the Panthers to just a pair of second half scores in what was a dominant effort in all phases from start to finish.
The Eagles led 14-0 by the end of the first quarter and tacked on three more touchdowns in the second to end the competitive phase of the game by halftime.
Fueled by a strong defensive effort and a big game from quarterback Ike Hall, the Brownwood football team rolled into Abilene and secured a 35-21 season-opening win over Wylie on Friday at Hugh Sandifer Stadium.
Leading a young offense comprised otherwise entirely of first-year starters, Hall rushed for 163 yards, passed for 81 and accounted for three total touchdowns to help the Lions avenge last year’s 30-24 loss to the Bulldogs.
Behind the quarterback’s heroics, BHS extended a 14-7 halftime lead to 28-7 by the opening minute of the fourth quarter. And when Wylie scored two touchdowns in a 69-second span to narrow that three-score deficit to a seven points with 4:37 remaining in the game, it was the dual-threat signal caller who put the game on ice, racing 66 yards on a second-and-6 play to stop the Bulldogs’ rally in its tracks.
TUSCOLA — Jim Ned may not have appeared diversified in its season-opening rout of Hawley on Friday. But the Indians didn’t really have to be — opting instead to spend much of the night running between the tackles in a punishing 34-12 win over the defending 2A DI state champions in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Brayden Shipman rushed for 169 yards and two scores to top a 300-yard Jim Ned ground attack and Gray Beasley added 216 combined yards of rushing and passing to lead the Indians (1-0), who took control of the game midway through the second quarter at Indian Stadium.
BIG SPRING — The 10th annual Howard County Bowl had everything you could ask for as a football fan.
Game ball delivered by a U.S. Army Golden Knight skydiver who lost both of his legs in a training accident in 1994? Sgt. First Class Dana Bowman delivered with that.
Big plays. Trick plays. A pooch kick recovery. Blocked kicks. 84 total points. 11 total touchdowns. A two-point conversion. Three field goals. 1,001 yards of combined offense. 44 total first downs. Hard hits. You can check those boxes as well.
If that’s not enough, how does a 99-yard touchdown pass sound? That also happened as Coahoma opened the season with a 50-34 win over Forsan on Friday at Memorial Stadium in the highest scoring game in the rivalry’s short history.
7 p.m. Friday at Hugh Sandifer Stadium, Abilene
KELLER — After a competitive first quarter, the Keller football team pulled away from Cooper over the next three to secure a 37-14 win in the season opener for both teams Thursday at Keller ISD Athletic Complex.
Quarterback Beckham Robinson passed for 151 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Cameron Rayford rushed for 69 yards and two scores to lead the Indians, who scored 30 consecutive points after Cooper answered KHS’ game-opening TD drive with a scoring drive of its own to the tie the game at 7-all in the first quarter.
Keller outgained the Cougars 312-248 for the game, scoring on four of its first five drives to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.
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.
After a week of highlighting area playmakers, we wrap up our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s best signal callers.
To complete our look at the area’s top players, we’ve ranked our top 10 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2023.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.
LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000
SEASON TOTAL: 0-0, .000
A year ago, a Jim Ned club that had been ravaged by injuries during its two scrimmages, met eventual 2A DI state champion Hawley in our first Game of the Week of the season.
By night’s end, the Bearcats had posted a 30-7 win — their first of 16 consecutive wins on the road to the championship.
This year, Jim Ned is healthy, deeper and more experienced than a year ago and has the benefit of the home field advantage. We therefore, will stick with this matchup for a second straight season as our Game of the Week.
As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.
After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends on Tuesday, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2023. Don’t forget to check in Thursday when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.
We hope you enjoy tonight’s list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
We’re approaching the final stretch of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, and it’s time to look at the Big Country’s top receivers.
After starting the offensive portion of our series Monday with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 10 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2023.
We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s top offensive players. And we’ll start with the foundation of any productive offense: the offensive line.
For the fifth installment of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we turn our attention to the trenches, ranking the Big Country’s top 10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2023.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen”
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 five 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 2023 season.