With Week 5 in the books, we’re at the midpoint of the regular season, and the area six-man picture continues to get clearer with each data point.
A fun slate of games yielded some thrilling results, and it’s time now talk about those.
We hope you enjoy our look back at last week’s games and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for standings, schedules and results.
Overwhelming. If there were a one-word description for last week’s performance by six-foot Graham senior Lillian Noble, that would be it.
Noble, a four-year varsity player who has already committed to Oklahoma Baptist, was far and away the most dominant player in both a 3-1 win over Wichita Falls Memorial and a 3-1 loss to Glen Rose last week.
Her combined totals: 54 kills, 23 digs and 12 blocks — making her the most effective two-way player the area saw on both sides of the net last week.
“Lillian has become a true utility player for us this season,” coach Marci Faulk said. “It’s exciting to see her embrace this new role and have so much success doing so!”
Abilene High 55, Amarillo Caprock 14 — Brayden Henry ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 53 yards and two more scores to help the Eagles to a district-opening blowout of the Longhorns.
Ethan Joyner (12-106, 2 TDs rushing) and Ryland Bradford (2-66, 1 TD rushing; 6-24, 2 TDs receiving) also had productive days offensively for Abilene High (3-2, 1-0), which collected five interceptions on defense, led by John Rangel with two.
Wylie 49, Wichita Falls Legacy 19 — Julius Laine ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries to fuel a 302-yard rushing effort for the Bulldogs in a district-opening rout of the Leopards.
Bear Meng added 182 yards and two touchdowns passing for Wylie (3-1, 1-0), which increased a 30-7 halftime lead to 49-7 before Legacy scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns against the Bulldogs backups.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we offer fans the chance to pick the winners of all games involving our local and area football teams. The results of these weekly polls, which will close at 5 p.m. each Thursday, will be included in our weekly Pick ‘Em Panel.
Here are the games for Week 6:
Continue reading “WEEK 6 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
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 (46 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: Wichita Falls Legacy-Wylie football (59 images)”
Haskell 22, Petrolia 19 — Haegen Pinkerton ran for 146 yards and a touchdown and passed for 83 yards and two scores to lead the Indians to a thrilling win over the Pirates in the district opener for both teams.
Haskell (3-2, 1-0) trailed 13-12 at halftime before taking a 20-19 lead into the final quarter. There were no offensive points scored by either team in the last 12 minutes, but the Indians got a safety to account for the final margin.
Colorado City 37, Bangs 36 — The Wolves pulled out a back-and-forth affair, outlasting the Dragons in a thriller that featured six lead changes.
Neither team led or trailed by more than seven points in the matchup, which saw C-City (2-3) rally from a 30-29 deficit to go up 37-30 in the fourth quarter. Bangs answered with a late score to make it 37-36 and went for two and couldn’t convert, but even then the excitement wasn’t over.
Goldthwaite 41, Chilton 0 — 
The Eagles (2-2, 1-0) pounded out 240 yards rushing, including 112 and two TDs from Landry Sanderson to beat Chilton (1-3, 0-1).
Luke Sanderson was another top contributor, with 90 yards rushing and two scores. Aidyn Lee threw for 62 yards and two more scores.
Chilton was limited to 97 yards in total offense.
Millsap 51, Santo 37 — The Wildcats rallied from a 23-8 second-quarter deficit to take a 30-29 lead in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs outscored SHS 22-7 the rest of the way to create some separation.
Millsap outgained Santo 478-290 and took advantage of a 2-0 edge in the turnover margin. The Bulldogs passed for 284 yards and ran for 194 in the victory.
Roscoe 26, New Home 6 — Ivan “The Terrible” McCann rushed for 154 yards and two scores and took a fumble back 23 yards to lead Roscoe (1-4) to its first win of the year.
New Home fell to 2-3 with the loss.
Florence 28, Hico 14 — The Tigers fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with a tough loss to the Buffaloes.
Hico ran for 289 yards and finished with 306 yards total, but the Tigers (4-1) found themselves down 28-0 in the final quarter before finally getting a pair of touchdown runs from Price Mullin.
Wink 51, Coahoma 40 — 
Kemyd Faciane rushed for 292 yards and one TD and Layne Lusby threw three TD passes to lead Wink over Coahoma in a shootout.
Boyd Cox led Coahoma (3-1) with 297 yards passing for four scores.
Wink improved to 4-1 with the win.
Brady 42, Ingram Moore 28 — Johnny Menefield ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns, and Ashton Taylor added 105 yards and a TD on the ground to lead the Bulldogs to a two-touchdown win over the Warriors.
Brady (4-1) rushed for 324 yards as a team, getting 41 yards and a score from quarterback Sean Jacoby, who also passed for 58 yards and a TD.
Alvarado 71, Glen Rose 50 — 
With starting quarterback Canyon Evans nursing an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, the Tigers lacked the firepower to keep up with unbeaten Alvarado.
Cardea Collier rushed for 318 yards and threw for 268 to lead Alvarado (5-0) which might be fielding the best team it’s had in more than 10 years.
Glen Rose (3-2) was led by Josiah Groeneweg with 296 yards rushing and three scores on 32 carries.
Hamilton 40, San Saba 21
The Bulldogs improved to 5-0 by blowing open a 26-21 game with two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Luke Tharp led the Armadillos (3-2) with 110 yards rushing, 56 yards passing and two scores.
Brock 49, Eastlake (Calif.) 0 — Coty Farmer ran for 101 yards on just 12 carries to lead a 251-yard rushing effort for the Eagles in a dominating performance against the Titans.
Brock, which led 21-0 by halftime and 35-0 by the start of the fourth quarter, also got a productive rushing day from Bryer McDonald (7-75, 1 TD), while Brody Woods passed for 136 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 46 yards.
Big Spring 43, Snyder 36 — Marcus Rios passed for 268 yards and four touchdowns and added 101 yards on the ground to fuel to the Steers to thrilling win over the Tigers.
After racing out to a 15-0 first-quarter lead, the Big Spring found itself down 28-22 early in the third quarter and trailing 36-29 early in the fourth. But the Steers rallied to tie the game with about two minutes to play before turning a late interception into the game-winning score with less than a minute remaining.
Big Spring 43, Snyder 36 — Marcus Rios passed for 268 yards and four touchdowns and added 101 yards on the ground to fuel to the Steers to thrilling win over the Tigers.
After racing out to a 15-0 first-quarter lead, the Big Spring (2-3) found itself down 28-22 early in the third quarter and trailing 36-29 early in the fourth. But the Steers rallied to tie the game with about two minutes to play before turning a late interception into the game-winning score with less than a minute remaining.
Stamford 55, Henrietta 14 — Christian Duran rushed for 77 yards and three scores and threw for 96 yards and another TD to keep Stamford (5-0) unbeaten at the season’s midpoint.
Other key contributors included Kaston Vega, who rushed for 194 yards and two scores and Cle Whitfield (94 yards rushing, two TDs) as SHS built a 41-7 halftime lead before putting things into cruise control.
Limited to only 197 total yards, Henrietta fell to 2-3.
Comanche 54, Early 20 
— Cayden Davis rushed for 186 yards, threw for 104 and accounted for four touchdowns to lead Comanche to a win over Early.
The Indians rushed for 403 yards through seven different ball carriers, five of whom scored.
Stephenville 38, Waco La Vega 28 — 
The Yellow Jackets gradually built a 38-14 lead by the 11-minute mark of the fourth quarter, capped by a 46-yard TD run by Sawyer Wilkerson.
SHS then had to hold off a late La Vega rally attempt which saw the Pirates add a pair of late touchdowns, including a 1-yard scoring run by Bryson Roland to get La Vega within two scores with four minutes left.
SWEETWATER — Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week could have been called a tale of two halves.
A first half that saw Sweetwater utilize a big second quarter and a huge special teams break to take a 21-12 lead into the locker room at the break. And a second half that saw Wall grab the early momentum and complete a 30-0 tally after the half to win going away, 42-21, spoiling Sweetwater’s homecoming in the Mustang Bowl.
Reid Robertson had nine receptions for 152 yards and one score and Landon York threw for 312 yards to lift Wall (4-1) which overcame a 22-6 deficit with 36 unanswered points (including the last touchdown of the first half).
Sweetwater, which lost standout running back Korda Moore to a first-half injury, dropped to 2-3.
“It was just kids stepping up and doing a super job of competing,” first-year Wall coach Craig Slaughter said. “The score right before the half picked our energy back up and our defense was great. But Korda Moore is a special player and it’s a little different defending them when he’s not there.”
The Abilene High football team bounced back from consecutive losses to former Little Southwest Conference rivals with a dominant performance in its District 2-5A Division I opener against Amarillo Caprock on Friday, cruising to a 55-14 homecoming victory at Shotwell Stadium.
The Eagles, who had struggled defensively in losses to Odessa Permian (42-37) and Midland Legacy (62-42), controlled Friday’s game from the outset, racing out to a 21-0 first-quarter lead and maintaining a multi-score advantage the rest of the way.
AHS wasn’t perfect, turning the ball over three times on offense and allowing a handful of big plays on defense, but coach Mike Fullen’s squad outgained Caprock 515-273 in improving to 3-2 overall and, more importantly, 1-0 in district play.
As the clock ticked down during the fourth quarter of Wylie’s 49-19 win over Wichita Falls Legacy in a District 2-5A Division II football game, an unusual chant started to break out on the Bulldogs sideline.
“Bry-son! Bry-son! Bry-son!”
When junior Bryson Baker lined up at wide receiver, the chant turned into a full-blown pandemonium of cheers. Continue reading “GAME STORY: Wylie hammers Wichita Falls Legacy in district opener”
WICHITA FALLS — Aaron Roan’s message to his Cooper football team after Friday night’s 24-7 loss against Wichita Falls Memorial was straightforward.
It’s still early in the 2-5A Division II race. And Roan still believes his Cougars are a good football team, better than their 1-4 record indicates.
The story of Cooper’s district opener at Memorial Stadium started and ended with missed opportunities. The Cougars drove into the red zone five times against the Mavericks, but they came away with only one touchdown.
As strong as the Big Country is and has been at the Class 1A level, it’s rarely difficult to find games worth talking about on a weekly slate. But the past couple of weeks have frankly been an embarassment of riches in that regard.
Week 4, which was chock full of high-profile matchups, more than lived up to its billing. And this week’s schedule should serve as an excellent encore with a grouping of games that could help shape the statewide rankings next week.
Without further ado, let’s jump in for our weekly “Six-Man Lookahead.” And when you’re done, you catch up on last week with our “Six-Man Rewind” column or check standings and results on our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of our weekly fan polls for each matchup.
For those interested in voting, polls go up on Sunday night each week and close Thursday morning.
Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 5)”
LAST WEEK: 55-8, .873
SEASON TOTAL: 196-67, .745
How about those apples?
After a pathetic start that saw this column stagger out of the gate with a pick percentage in the low 600s after two weeks, it rebounded with two straight solid weeks, including a 55-8 record last week (.873) to bump its season tally up to .745 four weeks into the season.
Thank the maker. I was beginning to feel a little pressure.
We now move on to Week 5, with a Big Country Preps Game of the Week featuring the Wall Hawks (3-1) at Sweetwater (2-2) in SHS’ storied Mustang Bowl.
Let’s dive in shall we?
Here’s this week’s picks:
TUSCOLA — After one game in Tuesday’s District 6-3A volleyball match between Clyde and Jim Ned, the visiting Lady Bulldogs looked poised to leave Bill Thornton Arena with their unbeaten district record intact.
Coach Courtney Freeman’s squad was almost flawless out of the gate, tallying 13 kills with just three hitting errors on its way to a breezy 25-14 win in the opening set.
But as it would turn out, Game 1 wasn’t the tone-setter that Clyde had hoped it would be. Instead, it lit a fire under the homestanding Lady Indians, who rallied to win the next three sets 25-17, 25-18 and 25-22 to take the match and pull even with the Lady Bulldogs in the 6-3A standings at 2-1.
A loaded Week 4 slate didn’t yield as many white-knuckle finishes as one might have expected, but the fourth week of the six-man schedule still offered plenty of intrigue as we continue to learn more about our area squads.
In keeping with the theme and purpose of this column, it’s time to hit all the highlights and recognize the area’s top producers.
We hope you enjoy a look back at last week’s action and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for standings, schedules and results.
Hawley’s Keagan Ables is no stranger to the Big Country Preps Player of the Week column — appearing among our top performers multiple times over the last three years.
However, his latest effort to help HHS defeat De Leon 54-21 on Friday, may rank as one of his best.
The Hawley senior connected on 16 of 32 passes for 441 yards and six touchdowns to help Hawley improve to 4-0 on the year.
Here are the district standings for all 11-man football districts involving Big Country schools after Week 4 (with results and upcoming games):
Continue reading “Big Country 11-Man Football Standings (through Week 4)”
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: Stephenville-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: Brady-Ballinger football (20 images)”
Midland Legacy 62, Abilene High 42 — Sophomore J.P. Reyes set a single-game school record for passing yards, throwing for 422 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Rebels past the Eagles.
Legacy, which big receiving days from Aiden Serrano (9-197, 4 TDs) and Kayden Iglesias (4-116, 1 TD) put up 49 points in the first half, taking a three-touchdown lead into halftime that it would increase to 62-21 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Abilene Cooper 53, Lubbock Coronado 7 — JQ Scroggins and Peyton Ewing both eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark, and the CHS defense was dominant as the Cougars broke into the win column with a blowout victory over the Mustangs.
Scroggins ran for 137 yards and a touchdown, while Ewing rushed for 102 yards and a score of his own to help lead a 359-yard rushing effort for Cooper (1-3), which also got 119 yards and two touchdowns passing from Austin Cummins and 56 yards and one TD receiving from Zavian Alexander.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we offer fans the chance to pick the winners of all games involving our local and area football teams. The results of these weekly polls, which will close at 5 p.m. each Thursday, will be included in our weekly Pick ‘Em Panel.
Here are the games for Week 5:
Continue reading “WEEK 5 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
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 vs. Midland Legacy football (91 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: Mineral Wells vs. Quinlan Ford football (68 images)”
Santo 24, Rio Vista 21 — Zach McPherson rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown to lead the Wildcats to a come-from-behind win over the Eagles.
Santo (3-1) led 14-0 after a strong first quarter but wen to halftime down 21-14 after Rio Vista scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter. After tying the game on a third-quarter interception return, the Wildcats won it on a fourth-quarter field goal.
Hamlin 39, Munday 0 — The Pied Pipers pulled away from the previously unbeaten Moguls early in a battle of two of the area’s most improved teams.
Hamlin led 27-0 by halftime, and Munday never threatened after in falling to 3-1 on the year.