Clyde 46, Snyder 13 — Devan Wright passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the Bulldogs to a comfortable win over the Tigers.
Behind its talented quarterback, Clyde extended a 26-0 halftime lead to 33-0 before Snyder (1-3) finally got on the scoreboard with its first of two second-half touchdowns.
Big Spring 40, El Paso Bel Air 21 — The Steers raced out to a 27-0 lead and took care of business from there to break into the win column with a three-touchdown victory over the Highlanders.
AJ Yanez passed for 189 yards and a touchdown, while Jeremy Minter ran for a pair of scores and Kaine Valenzuela had 90 yards and a touchdown receiving to lead Big Spring (1-3)
Wall 27, Monahans 20 — Landon H York threw for 138 yards and three scores to lead Wall over visiting Monahans.
The Hawks (3-1) used a balanced attack with 148 yards rushing, including 91 yards from Thomas Leanos to get the win.
San Saba 60, Waco Reicher 0 — Twelve different Armadillos got touches in this lopsided San Saba win.
Luke Tharp topped the list with 126 yards rushing on only six carries.
Alex Estrada was the leading scorer with 78 yards rushing and three TDs.
The ‘Dillos improved to 3-1 with the win.
Colorado City 34, San Angelo Grape Creek 28 — Jeremaih Green ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wolves to a thrilling win over the Eagles.
Colorado City (1-3), which led 21-16 at halftime and held off Grape Creek in the second half, finished with 269 yards rushing, while Ryland Senter added 84 yards through the air.
Albany 62, Merkel 21 — The Lions amassed 321 yards rushing, including 87 yards and five scores from Branson Beal to level their record 2-2.
Merkel (0-4) was led by Bronson Lloyd, who threw for 172 yards and two scores.
Goldthwaite (1-2), Idle — The Eagles enjoyed the night off on Friday but will return to action next Friday when they open district play at home against Chilton.
Bremond (2-1), idle — The Tigers enjoyed the night off on Friday but will return to action next Friday when they open district play at Mart.
Hico 46, Itasca 28 — Three Tigers players topped the 100-yard rushing mark as HHS piled up 472 yards on the ground as a team in a thorough win over the Wampus Cats.
Buck Powell led all rushers with 176 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries, while Price Mullin added 109 yards and a score on 14 attempts and Kalder Halbrook had 101 yards and a TD on seven totes to go with five catches for 58 yards and a score.
Anson 51, Haskell 13 — The Tigers used a dominating defensive effort to hand Haskell a loss.
Limited to only 238 yards in total offense, indians were down 31-7 by the break and never made a game of it.
Corey Layne topped the stat sheets for Anson with 228 yards passing and 160 yards rushing while accounting for five TDs.
Graham 34, Decatur 14 — Ty Thompson passed for 205 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 57 yards and another score to lead the Steers to a three-touchdown win over the Eagles.
Rylan Monsey added 82 yards rushing in the victory, while Brayden Riggins (3-61, 1 TD) and Harison Brockway (4-54) led Graham in receiving.
Lead art provided by Mark Rogers, HubCityPreps.com
Sweetwater 39, Lubbock Estacado 25 — Korda Moore rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns and Caiden Ortiz threw for 135 yards to lead Sweetwater, which evened its record to 2-2 with the win.
The Mustangs finished with 388 yards in total offense while dropping Estacado to 1-3.
Waco Robinson 49, Glen Rose 42 — Evan Moreno rushed for 294 yards and five TDs as Robinson handed Glen Rose its first loss of the year.
Canyon Evans led Glen Rose with 269 yards passing and four scores. Keltyn Raymond led the Tigers (3-1) on the ground with 102 yards rushing on only five carries.
Robinson improved to 3-1 with the win.
Eastland 14, Breckenridge 0 — The Mavericks piled up 286 yards rushing while limiting the Buckaroos to 200 total yards in a shutout win.
Cayden Alford rushed for a game-high 87 yards, and Chris Ojeda added 70 to lead Eastland (3-1), which got its touchdowns on a second-quarter run by Isaac Castro and a third-quarter pass from Kye Herrington to Eddie Medina.
Waco La Vega 43, Brownwood 0
Bryson Roland rushed for 142 yards and three scores as La Vega took down Brownwood in Gordon Wood Stadium.
The Pirates outgained the Lions 436-139 to improve to 2-2 on the year.
Photos by Mark Rogers, HubCityPreps.com
LUBBOCK — The Cooper football team broke into the win column in dominant fashion Friday, outgaining Lubbock Coronado 492-148 in a 53-7 win at Lowrey Field.
After dropping their first three games by a combined 20 points, the Cougars took control of this one quickly, following a scoreless first quarter with 21 unanswered points in the second before increasing their lead to 40-0 by the end of the third.
With the victory, Cooper closed the nondistrict portion of its schedule at 1-3, giving the Coogs some positive momentum heading into next week’s District 2-5A Division II opener at Wichita Falls Memorial.
The Stephenville offense was sharp as a tack and the defense came up with four big stops on its own end of the field Friday to spur the Yellow Jackets to a 49-27 win over Wylie in a battle of unbeatens at Hugh Sandifer Stadium.
SHS piled up 508 yards of offense, scoring on every full possession but one to build a 28-7 halftime lead and tamp down a Wylie rally after the break, spoiling the Bulldogs’ homecoming with its fourth consecutive win to open the season.
Wylie, which finished with 481 total yards, passed for 377. But four fruitless trips into Stephenville territory proved too much to overcome in a game that was never closer than 14 points after halftime.
BALLINGER — With Ballinger off to a 3-0 start and hoping to have turned a corner, the Brady Bulldogs came to town on Friday to hand the Bearcats a 20-0 loss.
Johnny Menefield rushed for 71 yards and one score and caught a 14-yard TD pass to lead Brady (3-1), which used a dominating defensive effort to get the win over its area rival.
The Abilene High defense learned the hard way on Friday night that records are made to be broken in a 62-42 loss to longtime rival Midland Legacy at Shotwell Stadium.
Sophomore J.P. Reyes set the Rebels’ single-game passing record by throwing for 422 yards and six scores in his first career start, while senior wide receiver Aiden Serrano’s nine catches gave him sole possession of the school’s career record for receptions.
All of that came from a Class 6A squad that entered the night 0-3 on the year after not shying away from playing high quality opponents Allen, Euless Trinity and Austin Lake Travis.
TOLAR — It wasn’t always pretty — any game with eight turnovers will likely earn that assessment — but when the Big Country Preps Game of the Week between Tolar and Comanche was finally over Friday night, Rattlers coach Blake Mouser was happy to get out of the nondistrict battle with a 14-7 victory.
“We weren’t sharp against a good team. We’ve got to grow up,” Mouser said, while noting the relative youth of the Rattlers will likely have them playing a lot of games that can go either way until they learn to close the deal.
“You saw a lot of missed assignments and penalties. But at the same time, it’s always good to win. Comanche’s a really good team. I don’t want to belittle them at all. But we had some mistakes that we’re going to have to address, and we will.”
ARLINGTON — A dominant start to the season for the Mineral Wells football team saw its first true challenge on Thursday night at Choctaw Stadium, where the Rams needed a penalty on an onside kick with under a minute to play to seal a 34-28 win over Quinlan Ford.
The Panthers, who scored with 43 seconds to play to close to within six points, recovered the ensuing onside kick but were flagged for illegal touching, allowing Mineral Wells to kneel out the clock with just a single snap.
Thursday’s win moved the Rams to 4-0 on the season, their best start since going 5-0 to start the 2018 campaign.
While every week in the Big Country promises its share of intriguing matchups involving area six-man teams, few can match the Week 4 slate in that regard.
With no fewer than four or five games worthy of “Game of the Week” designation, this week could deliver some of the most thrilling nondistrict matchups this season has to offer.
As we do each week in this column, it’s time to take a look at this week’s top games in our “Six-Man Lookahead.” We hope you enjoy our preview of the Week 4 schedule and encourage you to catch up on last week’s results in our “Six-Man Rewind” column.
You can also find 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 4)”
LAST WEEK: 47-11, .810
SEASON TOTAL: 141-59, .705
After nosediving in Week 2 with one of the worst pick records I’ve ever had, the column rebounded in Week 3 with an .810 percentage to push my overall tally over .700 again.
As for this week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, Mr. Yale Youngblood will be on hand in Tolar to cover Comanche’s road game with the Rattlers in what should be a fun one.
I’ll be heading to Ballinger, where the Bearcats (3-0) will play host to Brady (2-1) in a battle of upstarts.
Let’s dive into this week’s picks:
Week 3 of the Big Country six-man season was another exciting one as we learned more about the area’s top teams.
There weren’t many surprises or as many close games as we had in Week 2, but the slate was not without its thrilling finishes and general intrigue.
Here’s a look back at the week that was. We hope you enjoy reading through it and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for district standings and additional information.
Versatility is a definite advantage for nominees in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column. And for Anson senior quarterback Corey Layne it was enough to put him in this week’s top spot.
Leading the Tigers (3-0) to a 49-28 over Dublin, Layne connected on 18 of 27 throws for 284 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed eight times for 65 more yards and two additional scores.
Layne was equally effective from his linebacker spot, collecting 10 tackles and one interception.
Odessa Permian 42, Abilene High 37 — The Eagles rallied from down 19 points at halftime to give themselves a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but a late turnover on downs in the red zone ended their hopes of a dramatic comeback win.
AHS (2-1), which trailed 35-16 at the break, ran for 375 of its 479 yards, getting big games from quarterback Brayden Henry (18-224, 3 TDs) and Ethan Joyner (21-127, 1 TD). But the Eagles’ struggles to slow the Panthers offense proved too much to overcome.
Wylie 41, Lubbock Coronado 12 — After a slow start, the Bulldogs pulled away from the Mustangs, scoring 34 unanswered points to turn a 12-7 second-quarter deficit into a blowout win.
Bear Meng passed for 169 yards and two touchdowns, while Jaegan Smith (10-111, 1 TD) and Julius Laine (5-74, 2 TDs) led a 295-yard rushing attack in the win, which improved Wylie to 2-0 on the year.
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 4:
Continue reading “WEEK 4 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Sweetwater-Seminole football (85 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: San Angelo Central-Cooper football (46 images)”
San Saba, 20, Goldthwaite 12 — One of the Big Country’s most intense rivalries was settled by a late San Saba touchdown with four minutes to play.
The Armadillos (2-1) will travel to Waco Reicher next Friday; Goldthwaite (1-2) will enjoy an open date before beginning district play at home against Chilton on Sept. 27.
Haskell 52, Abilene TLCA 0 — The Indians had no trouble with the Eagles, scoring early and often in a blowout win.
Haskell, which moved to 2-1 with the victory, built a 40-0 lead by halftime and was able to preserve the shutout from there.
San Saba, 20, Goldthwaite 12 — One of the Big Country’s most intense rivalries was settled by a late San Saba touchdown with four minutes to play.
The Armadillos (2-1) will travel to Waco Reicher next Friday; Goldthwaite (1-2) will enjoy an open date before beginning district play at home against Chilton on Sept. 27.
Santo 28, Bruceville-Eddy 6 — The Wildcats pounded out 274 yards on the ground while limiting the Eagles to 171 yards of total offense in a three-touchdown win.
Santo (2-1) took control with a big second quarter, getting scoring runs from Zach McPherson, Justin Hollingsworth and Hunter Branham to go to halftime up 21-0. The Wildcats increased their advantage to 28-0 in the fourth quarter, when Cayden Self found the end zone.
Miles 46, Johnson City 6 — 
The Bulldogs piled up 504 yards in total offense and seven TDs in an impressive win over Johnson City.
Tevin Meade rushed for 168 yards and three TDs on only 13 carries and Cooper Ellison caught five passes for 198 yards and three scores to lead Miles (3-0), which has only allowed 40 combined points through three games.
De Leon 52, Valley Mills 27 — Lane Couch rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns, while Heston Jobe had a big game on the ground and through the air to lift the Bearcats to a comfortable win over the Eagles.
Jobe passed for 159 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 130 yards and two more scores to help De Leon (2-1) build a 40-14 lead by halftime. The junior quarterback had touchdown passes to Jake Cooper (5-51), Bryce Burkeen (1-40) and Max Jones (1-40) in the win.
Stanton 37, Forsan 36 — FHS suffered its third consecutive one-score loss to open the season, dropping a heartbreaker to its Buffalo counterparts.
Forsan led 24-22 at halftime thanks to a 24-point second quarter. But SHS outscored FHS 15-6 in the third quarter to go up 37-30, and Forsan was unable to complete the conversion after its fourth-quarter touchdown, leaving it with a gut-wrenching one-point loss.
Cisco 30, Breckenridge 20 — Julius Proffitt was 11 of 16 for 189 yards and three scores and rushed for 31 yards and another TD to lead Cisco over the Buckaroos (3-0).
Laike Kennedy was another key contributor for the Loboes (2-1), hauling in six catches for 112 yards and three scores.
Brady 47, Ozona 45 — Johnny Menefield and Ashton Taylor both eclipsed the century mark on the ground as the Bulldogs ran for 313 yards as a team in a thrilling win over the Lions.
Menefield ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns and Ramsey had 135 yards and one score for Brady, which also got an efficient passing game from Sean Jacoby (9-10-0—126, 3 TDs) and a productive receiving game from Ashton Ramsey (4-80, 2 TDs).
Graham 58, Whitesboro 0 — Ty Thompson passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 34 yards and another score to fuel the Steers to a blowout win over the Bearcats.
Graham, which led 44-0 at halftime, piled up 495 yards of total offense, getting nice games on the ground from Isaiah Flores (6-93, 1 TD) and Jace Gill (8-62, 1 TD) and a big receiving day from Harison Brockway (3-135, 2 TDs).
Wall 25, Jim Ned 24 — Landon York threw for 222 yards and two scores and Thomas Leanos rushed for 58 yards
and another score to lift Wall (2-1) in a tough win over Jim Ned (1-2).
Jim Ned rallied from a 17-0 deficit to take a 24-17 lead in the fourth quarter only to lose to a late two-point
conversion pass from York to Lane Stansberry in the game’s final minute.
Comanche 36, Eastland 14 — Cayden Davis threw for 177 yards and four scores and Ladainian Smith rushed for 140 yards and another TD as Comanche (2-1) handed Eastland its first loss of the season.
The Mavericks (2-1) managed 182 yards rushing and two scores with their newly installed wing-T offense.
Lubbock High 27, Snyder 26 — The Tigers rushed out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, but they couldn’t maintain that momentum in a tough one-point loss to the Westerners.
Lubbock High, which got 120 yards and two touchdowns passing from Hector Torrez and 259 yards and one TD rushing from Braiden Dunkerson, scored 21 second-quarter points to take a one-point lead into halftime. And after Snyder scored a third-quarter touchdown to go up 26-21, the Westerners answered with the game-winning score with about eight minutes remaining in the game.