Muenster 32, Santo 14 — Playing without senior quarterback Hut Thornton, who was lost for the year to a knee injury two weeks ago, the Wildcats struggled to find consistent offense against the Hornets, managing just 175 total yards in a three-score loss.
Kalder Halbrook passed for 111 yards and a touchdown and added a second score on the ground to lead Santo (1-4, 0-1), which also got 51 yards rushing from Justin Hollingsworth.
Reagan County 41, Kermit 40 — Kason Brown passed for 187 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 119 yards and two more scores to lift the Owls to a thrilling win over the Yellow Jackets on a night where they were the only team in their district in action.
Raymond Saldibar was on the receiving end of two of those passing scores, finishing with four catches for 106 yards, while Dominic Johnson also caught a TD pass.
Brock 61, Peaster 0 — Brody Woods passed for 128 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 127 yards and two more scores to lead the Eagles to their second blowout win as many district games.
Brock (3-3, 2-0), which has outscored its two league opponents 131-0 so far, also got two rushing touchdowns from Brett Tutter (5-84 rushing) and receiving TDs from Carson Finney (2-64) and Jaxon Hart (1-28).
China Spring 49, Cornerstone Christian 28 — The Cougars ran roughshod over Cornerstone (1-6), piling up 526 yards in total offense, of which 204 were on the ground.
China Spring forced five Cornerstone turnovers, including four interceptions to help seal the deal.
The Cougars (4-2) will face Alvarado on the road in their district opener on Oct. 6.
Lubbock Estacado 49, Sweetwater 14 — Bobby Ross rushed for 254 yards and four touchdowns and the Matadors pounded out 603 yards of total offense in a lopsided win over the Mustangs.
In addition to Ross’ big night, D.J. Johnson passed for 298 yards and three touchdowns Devoryea Boyd had 106 yards and two TDs receiving as Estacado () increased a 21-6 halftime lead to 42-6 with a three-touchdown third quarter.
Haskell 27, Petrolia 7 — Former Petrolia coach Mitch McLemore earned a win against his former team behind 141 passing yards from Haegen Pinkerton.
The Indians (1-4, 1-1) built a 20-0 first-half lead then held off Petrolia for their first win of the season.
Petrolia (2-4, 1-1) was limited to 172 yards in total offense.
Seminole 51, Big Spring 33 — The Steers put up more than 500 yards of offense but ultimately couldn’t keep pace with the unbeaten Indians, suffering a three-score loss to close out nondistrict play at 1-5.
Gavin Padron passed for 300 yards and two touchdowns, while Kavien Ford rushed for 174 yards and a TD and Zeyire Franklin received for 189 yards and three scores, but it wasn’t enough as Seminole stretched a 30-19 halftime lead to 44-25 heading into the final period.
Mart 23, Hico 0 — The Tigers fell short in their upset bid of Mart (6-0, 2-0), but burned up enough clock to keep things competitive.
The Tigers (4-2, 1-1) were limited to only 145 yards in total offense, but were sound throughout, with no turnovers.
JD Bell led Mart with 239 yards rushing and one score. Buck Powell led Hico with 29 yards rushing on six carries.
Coleman 40, San Saba 26 — Jadin Jackson rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns and received for 85 yards, while Brayden Torres had another productive passing day to fuel the Bluecats to a victory over the Armadillos.
Torres, who added 33 yards on the ground, hit 10 of 14 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns — finding Hunter Lackey three times for 91 yards and all three scores — as the Bluecats (5-1, 2-0) extended an 18-12 halftime lead to 26-12 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Stamford 58, Olney 16 — Christian Duran was a perfect 10 of 10 through the air for 197 yards and three scores and added a rushing TD to lead the Bulldogs (5-0) to a rout of Olney.
Olney finished with only 191 yards in total offense and was forced into three turnovers.
The Cubs fell to 2-2.
Mason 14, Wall 7 — An anticipated trench war materialized at the Puncher Dome with Mason holding off Wall by a score.
The Hawks (3-2) were limited to an uncharacteristic 251 yards in total offense by Mason, which improved to 6-0 on the year.
Gunner Dillard led Wall with 136 yards passing, 40 yards rushing and the team’s lone TD.
Most of District 6-2A Division II was idle on Friday, with district play opening next week. Roscoe’s tough win over Junction was the lone game played, with the rest of the league enjoying a bye.
Here’s a quick look at the approaching district matchups:
ROSCOE — Roscoe’s final nondistrict game against Junction on Friday wasn’t high on style points — or points in general, for that matter. But at the end of the night at Plowboy Field, the home squad had more of the ones that mattered in a hard-fought 20-14 win.
The Plowboys finished the game with just 205 yards of total offense and had more punts (seven) than first downs (six), but coach Jake Freeman’s team took advantage of five Eagles turnovers in a strong defensive performance overall.
Parker Gleaton caught a pair of touchdown passes and fellow senior Julian Cuellar had three of Roscoe’s four interceptions to key the victory, which improved the Plowboys to 4-1 heading into next week’s District 6-4A Division II opener at Cross Plains.
BROWNWOOD — On a Friday night where most of the football stadiums around the Big Country were silent, there was plenty of racket coming from Gordon Wood Stadium in the 83rd meeting between the Brownwood Lions and Stephenville Yellow Jackets.
Much of it came on a handful of key plays from the Yellow Jackets in a 27-17 non-district win as many of the teams around the area enjoyed a bye week ahead of district play.
Tristian Gentry had 122 yards receiving and one touchdown on only two catches to lead Stephenville (4-2), which rallied from 7-0 and 14-7 deficits on the way to handing Brownwood (5-1) its first loss of the year.
Abilene High wide receiver Ryland Bradford opened the season with an unbelievable one-handed catch at Odessa Permian as the Eagles rolled to a victory.
Friday night, the junior added two more jaw-dropping catches as the Eagles dominated Amarillo Tascosa 42-20 for a key District 2-5A Division I win at Shotwell Stadium on AHS’ homecoming.
He also had a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown just seconds after the Rebels took their only lead of the game in the first quarter.
By Zach Duncan, special to Big Country Preps
Zeyire Franklin is once again one of the Big Country’s top wideouts.
A year after setting a Big Spring school record in receiving yards, Franklin is on pace to top that mark. In five games, Franklin has recorded 34 catches for 613 yards and six touchdowns.
Franklin’s production is no surprise to the Steer faithful, but what has been a pleasant development is the emergence of fellow senior Jose Munoz, whose 48 catches easily lead the area.
Ask pretty much any football coach, and he will tell you that an obstacle course posing as a season isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just as heat hardens steel and produces diamonds, a stretch of gruel generally makes a team better over time …
… Provided, of course, that said stretch is intermittent and said time doesn’t extend from preseason practices to the very last game.
Unfortunately for coach Wes Wood and the Snyder Tigers, 2022 didn’t offer that provision. Last year’s “hill to climb” never offered a view of the summit — even from Day 1 of fall workouts.
From the first August whistle through the next three months, the Tigers lost seven starters to season-ending injuries, and at various junctures of the campaign, the team’s training and medical staff were tending to a like amount of reserves who had to sit out parts and spans of games while hurt.
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: 46-12, .793
SEASON TOTAL: 229-61, .789
More often than not, Big Country Preps makes an appearance at the annual Stephenville-Brownwood matchup. Because more often than not, it produces a game worthy of one of Texas’ top rivalries.
This year is no exception as Stephenville travels to famous Gordon Wood Stadium for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Merkel coach Will Kates joins the show
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Clyde-Jim Ned volleyball (72 images)”
TUSCOLA — When you’re coming off a bad match, sometimes all it takes to get back on track is playing a rival.
It can also help when you aren’t playing up to your capabilities for your coach to yell at you a little bit.
Both of those happened at Bill Thornton Arena on Tuesday night as Clyde used a 13-3 run to close out the first set and take a 25-23, 25-21, 25-15 win over Jim Ned in a tense District 6-3A matchup.
By Zach Duncan, special to Big Country Preps
Before this season, Albany supporters would probably agree that Adam Hill made the biggest impact on the defensive side.
After all, that’s where Hill generated the most headlines last year, earning first-team Texas Sports Writers Association honors at defensive end.
Hill is still a menace at chasing quarterbacks for the No. 1 Lions, but the senior has also seen an increased offensive workload through non-district. Hill’s 825 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns are among the Big Country leaders as Albany has turned to him as the feature back.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
While the bulky braces on each of Maddie McMillon’s knees serve a functional purpose, their significance goes well beyond utility for the Abilene High senior volleyballer.
After spending most of the last two years rehabbing torn anterior cruciate ligaments in both knees, those braces serve as both a security blanket and a visible reminder of the journey that’s brought her to this point.
McMillon, whose injury history would have ended many — if not most — athletic careers, wouldn’t allow her adverse circumstances to alter — much less close — her course. And after two arduous years of pain, heartbreak and intense therapy, the 5-foot-10 middle blocker is finally reaping the rewards sown through an unwavering positive outlook and a relentless work ethic.
Photo by Chase Seabolt, HubCityPreps.com
Entering District 2-5A Division I play off back-to-back losses, the Abilene High football team needed a fast start and a strong performance on the road against Lubbock Monterey to get back on track and kick off its league schedule the right way.
Led by senior quarterback Dylan Slack, the Eagles got both, building a 49-7 halftime lead on their way to a 59-14 win over the Plainsmen.
Slack’s fingerprints were all over the win as he hit 15 of 20 passes for 217 yards and five touchdowns while adding another score on the ground — a performance worthy of this week’s Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Odessa Permian-Cooper football (80 images)”
Wylie 37, San Angelo Central 27 — Bear Meng passed for 191 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 47 yards and another score to lead the Bulldogs to a homecoming win over the Bobcats in their final nondistrict game of the season.
Malachi Daniels added 106 yards and two touchdowns rushing while Derrick Evans received 101 yards and a TD as Wylie (3-2) built a 24-14 lead by halftime and stretched that to 30-14 by the end of the third quarter.
Photo by Chase Seabolt, HubCityPreps.com
Abilene High 59, Lubbock Monterey 14 — Dylan Slack passed for 259 yards and five touchdowns and Brayden Henry accounted for 112 all-purpose yards and two scores to lead the Eagles to a blowout win over the Plainsmen in the district opener for both teams.
Abilene High (3-2, 1-0) outgained Monterey 432-162 and forced four turnovers, building a 49-7 lead by halftime. Of the Eagles’ eight touchdown drives in the game, only one was longer than 50 yards, and three spanned fewer than 30 yards.
The biggest problem I have with our high school football scheduling practices in Texas is that by the second year of the alignment period, many of those schedules are out of date and no longer suitable for schools that have been hit hard by graduation. And if you want an example of that, I’ll give you one close to home: the Cisco Loboes.
Cisco (1-4), which notched its first win of the season last week with a victory at Colorado City, is both young and thin in the numbers department. It’s one of those years that every program below the 4A level will eventually run into. And unfortunately, since the Loboes had reeled off 12 straight winning seasons, including a state title in 2013, their nondistrict schedule was merciless.
No Class 2A team was willing to take them on, so they ended up with four straight likely playoff teams from Class 3A in Clyde, Wall, Breckenridge and Jacksboro.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-San Angelo Central football (94 images)”
Collinsville 63, Lindsay 21 — The Pirates opened district play with a thorough win over the Knights, racing out to a 49-7 halftime lead and cruising from there to the blowout.
Logan Jenkins passed for 376 yards and six touchdowns to lead Collinsville (4-1, 1-0), which got productive receiving days from Reed Patterson (4-112, 3 TDs), Colin Barnes (4-94) and Landon Carpenter (3-71, 2 TDs).
Forsan 40, Kermit 32 — The Buffaloes stayed hot with their fourth consecutive win, rushing for 236 yards in a hard-fought victory over the Yellow Jackets.
Kevin Kligora led Forsan with 71 yards on the ground, while Grant Roman (8-56, 2 TDs), Huston Stockton (7-51, 1 TD), Yandell Melendez (8-20, 1 TD) and Hayden Bowlin (2-19, 1 TD) all had rushing touchdowns.
Brock 78, Boyd 0 — Brody Woods was nearly perfect through the air, hitting 11 of 13 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns, while leading 350-yard rushing effort with 87 yards and another score on the ground to fuel the Eagles to blowout win over the Yellowjackets in the league opener for both teams.
Brett Tutter added 83 yards and three touchdowns and Vance Guthrie rushed for 82 yards and two TDs as the Eagles (2-3, 1-0) scored seven times on the ground.
Snyder 56, Big Spring 13 — Easton Stewart completed 22 of 26 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns, and Daenin Smith rushed for 128 yards and two TDs and received for 63 yards and another score to lead the Tigers to a blowout win over the Steers.
Ethan Rios added 51 yards and two touchdowns rushing and a nine-yard touchdown catch for Snyder (3-2), which also got TD receptions from Hayden Foster and Chon Vasquez.
Hico 41, Frost 6 — In an anticipated low-scoring defensive battle, Hico blew the roof off that theory by routing the Polar Bears.
Buck Powell rushed for 125 yards and one TD on nine carries and Carson Keller rushed six times for 107 yards and two TDs.
Windthorst 47, Haskell 7 — Brock Belcher threw for 230 yards and four scores to lead the Trojans to a big win over the Indians in the district opener for both clubs.
Kasen Wiles was the top target of Belcher’s, hauling in eight passes for 148 yards as Windthorst improved to 3-1.
Brownwood 31, Waco Connally 28 — Ike Hall rushed for 135 yards and four touchdowns while adding 85 yards passing to fuel the Lions to a come-from-behind win over the Cadets.
Behind the dual threat quarterback, Brownwood (5-0) built a 17-14 halftime lead and scored the first touchdown of the second half to take a 24-14 lead. But Connally roared back with back-to-back touchdown runs by Kiefer Sibley to go up 28-24 early the fourth quarter, before Hall’s final TD run served as the game-winner with 5:15 remaining.
Albany 31, Comanche 13 — Chip Chambers passed for 178 yards and three touchdowns and Adam Hill rushed for 136 yards and a score to lead the Lions to a comfortable win over the Indians.
Behind those two, Albany outscored Comanche 10-0 in the third quarter, stretching a 14-7 halftime lead to three scores by the start of the fourth.
Eastland 21, Jim Ned 19 — Isaiah Hays passed for 259 yards and a touchdown and Cayden Alford rushed for a pair of scores to lift the Mavericks to an upset win over the Indians.
Preston Rose had a huge day receiving, hauling in four passes for 127 yards and a TD for EHS (1-4), which outscored Jim Ned 14-12 in the final quarter to earn its first victory of the season.