Month: December 2023

by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Albany advances to second straight state championship game with 34-14 win over Sunray

LUBBOCK — A year ago, Albany coach Denney Faith won the first state championship of his lengthy, distinguished career with a win over Mart in Arlington. Thursday night in Lubbock, the dean of Big Country football coaches pulled to within one win of taking his second title with a 34-14 win over Sunray in a Class 2A DII state semifinal at Lubbock’s Lowrey Field. 

Adam Hill rushed for 164 yards and three scores to lead Albany (15-0), which will face either Mart (14-0) or Chilton (13-1) in the state championship game on Thurs., Dec. 14 at 11 a.m. at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. 

“I’m excited for our guys to go after this new opportunity,” said Faith, who has been the head coach at Albany since 1987. “It will be even more exciting if we can go and do what we need to do. 

“Just getting there isn’t enough. We need to go and compete.” 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP: Coleman fends off late Bearcat charge in Ballinger

BALLINGER — With 4:14 to play in the final game of the opening day of the Ballinger Bearcat Invitational, the Coleman boys basketball team had its hands full against the hosts at Joe Forester Gymnasium.

The Bluecats had seen Ballinger close a deficit of double digits in the fourth quarter to 54-51 before pulling away over the final three minutes for a 65-53 win on Thursday night.

Coleman was paced offensively by Hunter Lackey’s game-high 24 points as the senior knocked down 11 shots from the field in the win.

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by Evan Ren

WEEK 16 BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYOFF FORECAST: Albany, Brock to play for trips to Arlington

LAST WEEK: 8-3, .727
SEASON TOTAL: 554-113, .831

As we enter Week 16 only two teams in the Big Country Preps coverage area — Brock and Albany — have reached the state semifinals in the 11-man ranks.  And both will take the field Thursday night with a trip to AT&T Stadium in Arlington in the balance. 

Brock will take on Malakoff at The Star in Frisco, while Albany will tangle with Sunray at Lowrey Field in Lubbock.  The winners will advance to next week’s state championship games at “Jerry World,” where they will join three Big Country six-man teams (Westbrook, Gordon and Benjamin) who have already qualified for their respective state title games and are enjoying a bye week.

That said, it’s time to take a look at the matchups involving  

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel vs. Twitter Polls (Week 16)

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.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Class 5A Lady Eagles use size, depth to rally for win at 3A Merkel

MERKEL — What had the early look of a rout, became a case study in the advantages large schools can have over smaller ones in Tuesday’s 56-45 win for the Abilene girls at Merkel. 

Samia Cooper scored 20 points and Taryn Moore added 10 to lead Abilene (9-6), which rallied from an early 13-point deficit with a combination of size and depth to hand the Lady Badgers (10-4) a loss on their home floor. 

Merkel, which led 11-0 by the 5:14 mark of the first quarter and 18-5 with 0:59 left in the period, was led by Brooklynn Fulfer with 18 points and Jaedyn Lee with 12. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Albany’s Hill takes this week’s award with big performance in regional title game

Big-time players come up with big-time performances in big games.  And our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Albany’s Adam Hill, is a big-time player. 

Helping the Lions capture the Region II-2A DII title, Hill was a punisher out of the Lions’ backfield last Thursday in Iowa Park, rushing for 223 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries in a 52-14 rout of a very good Collinsville team. 

The Texas Tech-bound senior also caught a pair of passes for 31 yards and an additional touchdown as Albany improved to 14-0 on the year.  

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by Brandon McAuliffe

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: AHS earns third-place finish at Cane’s Key City Classic; North Crowley claims title

Both Abilene High and Wylie left the Raising Cane’s Key City Classic with some hardware Saturday, as the Eagles defeated Canutillo 48-40 in the championship bracket third-place game and Wylie routed El Paso Coronado 65-33 for the consolation title.

That completed 3-1 runs through the tournament for both teams, while Cooper saw its tournament end at 1-3 with a 53-46 loss to Aledo in the consolation third-place game.

North Crowley took the championship, defeating Midland Christian 64-36 to complete a perfect run through the Classic.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Abilene High can’t overcome slow start in region finals loss to Aledo

STEPHENVILLE — Abilene High’s most successful football season in more than a decade came to an end Friday with a 56-21 loss to top-ranked Aledo in the Region I-5A Division I final.

A disastrous start saw the Eagles fall behind 28-0 after a quarter. And following a successful second period, during which coach Mike Fullen’s squad was able to narrow the deficit to 28-14 by halftime, Abilene High ran out of gas against a Bearcats squad in search of second consecutive state title and 12th in program history.

The loss forced Abilene High, which was outgained 527-210 and limited to just a single yard on the ground, to end its season at 11-3. But the run to the fourth round of the playoffs marked the Eagles’ deepest since 2011 and the 11 wins tied the program’s most since 2012.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Five turnovers sink Stephenville in 41-21 region final loss to Anna

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS — Ziondre Williams threw three touchdown passes and a stingy Anna defense forced five turnovers to lead the Coyotes to a 41-21 win over Stephenville in the Region II 4A Division I championship game Friday night.

The Coyotes’ sophomore quarterback also ran for 43 yards in guiding Anna, winner of District 8-4A Division I, to the state semifinals via its 13th victory in 14 games. The Yellow Jackets, winners of District 5-4A Division I, finished their season 11-3.

As well as Williams played, the five key Stephenville turnovers, including one early and two very late, played an equally important role in this battle of perennial Class 4A titans. And they left Stephenville coach Sterling Doty and his troops shaking their heads and wondering “what if” once the final whistle blew.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Hawley’s dream of reaching a third straight state title game ends with 46-6 loss to Stratford

LUBBOCK — It took an undefeated perennial power to finally stop Hawley in its quest for back-to-back state championships, with Stratford handing the Bearcats a stunning 46-6 loss in the Region I-2A DI title game at Lowrey Field. 

Bryce Braden rushed for 164 yards and three scores to lead Stratford (14-0), which advances to face Tolar (13-1) in the state semifinals next week.  The Elks limited Hawley (11-3) to minus-24 yards rushing and 222 yards in total offense — 99 of which came on a TD pass from Keagan Ables to Diontay Ramon in the second quarter.  

“You can’t have hiccups and penalties and not play well against a real good football team,” Hawley coach Mitch Ables said. “I fully expect those guys to be at AT&T (Stadium in Arlington).” 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Brock controls the clock, delivers knockout punch to Paradise

MINERAL WELLS — Having dropped the past two state championship games, the Brock football team has been hungry to earn a third consecutive trip to AT&T Stadium in 2023.

The Eagles march to the home of the Dallas Cowboys continued on Friday night when they knocked off district rival Paradise 21-7 at Ram Stadium in the Region I-3A Division I final, earning a semifinal berth against Malakoff.

Friday marked the second time in six weeks that Brock had beaten the Panthers, following a 26-14 win in October.

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Blue-collar Abilene High program comfortable, content in underdog role

When Abilene High takes the field for its Region I-5A Division I final against Aledo on Friday at Tarleton Memorial Stadium, the Eagles will do so as the clear underdog.

Unbeaten at 13-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state in their classification, the Bearcats are the favorite to return to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, where they won their most recent of 11 state championships last fall.

But if you think the Eagles will be uncomfortable in a challenger role or intimidated playing a state power, you don’t know enough about the AHS program. During a 25-year run that has seen Abilene High reach the playoffs 21 times, achieve double digit wins on 11 occasions and claim a state title of its own in 2009, the Eagles have built a well-earned reputation as a giant killer.

And they’re all too happy to put their own tradition on the line this week in Stephenville.

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by Daniel Youngblood

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Abilene High rolls on opening day of Key City Classic; Cooper, Wylie fall

Abilene High was the lone local team to survive the first day of the Raising Cane’s Key City Classic unscathed Thursday, opening the annual tournament with a dominant 76-17 victory over El Paso Austin.

Around the Eagles’ win, which earned coach Justin Reese’s squad a 1:30 p.m. Friday matchup against Richardson Pearce, Wylie fell 72-48 to Lewisville The Colony and Cooper saw a furious second-half rally come up just short in a 51-48 loss to Canutillo.

Play in the 16-team tournament will continue through Saturday, culminating with the championship game at 1:30 p.m. at Abilene High and the consolation final at 1:30 p.m. at Cooper. See full first-day results and the complete tournament schedule here.

Continue reading “TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Abilene High rolls on opening day of Key City Classic; Cooper, Wylie fall” →

by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

GAME STORY: Albany dominant from start to finish in region final rout of Collinsville

IOWA PARK — Albany didn’t need any last-minute heroics Thursday night at Hawk Stadium.  

A week after dodging Muenster, the top-ranked Lions manhandled No. 4 Collinsville from the beginning, scoring the first 31 points in a 52-14 victory.  

Adam Hill led the charge with 223 rushing yards and four touchdowns, but the Lions defense also made a statement by picking off quarterback Logan Jenkins three times and holding the Pirates 38 points below their season average.  

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