Borger 45, Big Spring 28 — The Steers outgained the Bulldogs 411-298, including a 276-195 advantage on the ground, but five turnovers were too much to overcome in a three-score loss.
Jeremy Minter ran for 160 yards and three touchdowns and added a 24-yard touchdown catch on a screen pass from AJ Yanez (10-18-1—133, 1 TD passing), but the Steers were done in by four lost fumbles and an interception.
Glen Rose 44, Brownwood 16
For a complete report on this game, please read Evan Ren’s game story here.
Glen Rose improved to 3-0 on the year. Brownwood slipped to 1-1.
Stephenville 45, Godley, 0
Ryan Gafford threw for 296 yards and three scores to lead Stephenville to an easy win over Godley.
Stephenville 45, Godley, 0
Ryan Gafford threw for 296 yards and three scores to lead Stephenville to an easy win over Godley.
The Yellow Jackets raced out to a 35-0 halftime lead before putting it into cruise control.
Sawyer Wilkerson led the Yellow Jackets’ (3-0) on the ground with 80 yards rushing and three scores.
Continue reading “DISTRICT 4-4A DIV. I WEEK 3 REPORT: Stephenville dominates Godley to improve 3-0”
BROWNWOOD — Wins are seldom easy for visitors at Gordon Wood Stadium, but the Glen Rose Tigers managed to make it look that way on Friday with a 44-16 win over the Lions in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Canyon Evans hit 27 of 35 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns and Keltyn Raymond added two important rushing TDS to lead the Tigers (3-0), who used a 27-0 second quarter to ruin Brownwood’s home opener.
“Canyon and our receivers are so well-synced,” Glen Rose coach Cliff Watkins said. “They do such a good job of knowing where the windows are and where they need to get to.
Heading to the fourth quarter down 24-7, the Cooper football team rallied to score 20 unanswered points and take a lead on San Angelo Central in the final four minutes Friday at Shotwell Stadium.
But the 3:41 left on the clock after the Cougars’ go-ahead touchdown proved too much time in a gut-wrenching 31-27 loss to the Bobcats.
Taking possession at its own 25, Central drove 75 yards in 10 plays, converting three third downs — including a third-and-10 from its own 37-yard line, to regain the lead for good with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Christian English to Mason Van. That score, combined with an interception on the first play of the Cougars’ ensuing possession, allowed the Bobcats (1-2) to celebrate their first win under new coach Mark Smith, while dropping Cooper to 0-3.
SWEETWATER — In a sport where games are often decided by just a few plays here or there, a young Sweetwater football team learned on Friday night that sometimes it can be just a singular play that decides a game.
A 60-yard fumble return by Hiram Gaytan kept the Mustangs from driving for a go-ahead score in the second quarter, and it all unraveled from there as Seminole, ranked No. 9 in the state in Class 4A Division II, rolled to a 44-7 win at the Mustang Bowl in Sweetwater’s home opener.
Seminole running back Caton Cramer ran for four touchdowns in the second and third quarters combined as the Mustangs had trouble keeping pace with the Indians fast-paced attack that ran 75 plays — compared to just 61 by the Mustangs.
ODESSA — The Abilene High football team rallied from down 19 points at halftime to give itself a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter Thursday against Odessa Permian, but a late turnover on downs in the red zone left the Eagles on the wrong side of a 42-37 decision at Ratliff Stadium.
After trading scores with the Panthers to start the game, AHS lost pace with Permian, which scored on every possession but one in the first half on its way to a 35-16 halftime advantage.
The Eagles tightened up on defense after halftime, limiting their former Little Southwest Conference rival to a single fourth-quarter touchdown, but that was enough for the Panthers to escape with a thrilling win thanks to a late defensive stand.
Photos by Annie Rice, HubCityPreps.com
LUBBOCK — Trailing 12-7 early in the second quarter, the Wylie football team responded with 34 unanswered points to bury Lubbock Coronado 41-12 in a nondistrict matchup Thursday at Lowrey Field.
The Bulldogs scored 20 points in the second quarter and tacked on two more touchdowns in the third to put the game away before the start of a scoreless final period.
Coach Clay Martin’s team racked up 464 yards, including 295 on the ground, while limiting the Mustangs to just 205 total yards in improving to 2-0 on the season.
After a thrilling second week of the six-man season, which you can read about here, the Week 3 slate features more games that, on paper, would appear to be headed for blowouts.
But games aren’t played on paper, and the schedule is not without its compelling matchups. As has quickly become custom in our “Six-Man Lookahead” column, it’s time to preview the most interesting matchups of the week.
We hope you enjoy this peek at the weekend’s schedule and invite you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for standings, schedules and results for your favorite team.
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 3)”
LAST WEEK: 46-28, .621
SEASON TOTAL: 94-48, .661
Abysmal.
That’s about the only adjective that comes to mind when trying to describe my Big Country football picks, which are off to the single worst start through two weeks that I’ve ever experienced in 18 years of covering area football.
A percentage of .621 after two weeks of play is beatable by throwing darts, flipping coins, or even consulting with your local horoscope page. Yet here I sit, trying to dig myself out of the hole I’ve created. But enough of that, Glen Rose at Brownwood is our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, in a week filled with interesting matchups.
Let’s have a look at them:
Facing game point in a back-and-forth first set against Mineral Wells on Tuesday, the Cooper volleyball team used a 4-1 run to rally for a 28-26 win. That shifted momentum to the Lady Cougars’ side, and it stayed there the rest of the way as coach Nora Campbell’s team won the next two games 25-14 and 25-18 to secure a nondistrict sweep at Cougar Gym.
The victory, which snapped a four-match losing streak, improved Cooper to 10-13 with four matches to play before their Sept. 27 District 4-5A opener against crosstown rival Wylie.
Mineral Wells, meanwhile, dropped to 10-10 with the loss, which saw the Lady Rams lose outside hitter Liliana Rodriguez for the final two sets to a broken pinky.
The Week 2 Big Country six-man slate featured no shortage of competitive ballgames as 21 of the 40 games involving area teams went the full four quarters. But that’s just the beginning.
Fourteen of those games were decided by 21 points or less with eight being decided by a single score.
If you’re a fan of six-man football, the 2024 season is off to a heck of a start. And if you’re looking for a recap of last week’s action, this is the place.
You can find all of last week’s results on our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page, but let’s dive into some of the most head-turning ones in this week’s “Six-Man Rewind.”
Sometimes, the biggest stage creates the biggest performances.
And in the Big Country, the stage doesn’t get any bigger than the annual Abilene – Abilene Cooper matchup — one of the biggest rivalries in the state of Texas and arguably the biggest in our area (though you may get an argument from Brownwood-Stephenville).
Friday night with much of the city of Abilene paying attention, AHS quarterback Brayden Henry had a memorable night, hitting 15 of 19 throws for 216 yards passing and two TDs.
Abilene High 42, Cooper 33 — Brayden Henry passed for 216 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 144 yards and three more scores to lead the Eagles to their third straight win against their crosstown rival Cougars.
AHS (2-0) held a two-score lead on three different occasions, but each time Cooper (0-2) rallied to pull back within striking distance. The last saw the Cougars trim the deficit to 35-33 with a chance to tie the game at the 7:08 mark of the fourth quarter, but CHS couldn’t complete the two-point conversion and the Eagles sealed the win with an Etan Joyner touchdown a minute later.
Wylie 29, Lubbock Monterey 28 — Bear Meng passed for 277 yards and two touchdowns while adding another score on the ground to fuel the Bulldogs to a season-opening win over the Plainsmen.
Wylie, which had its Week 1 game at Brownwood canceled by lightning, led 20-14 at halftime and 26-14 early in the third quarter, before Monterey (0-2) responded with back-to-back touchdowns to enter the fourth quarter with a 28-26 lead. The score stayed there until the 3:42 mark of the final period, when Noah Rehburg hit a 25-yard field goal for what proved to be the winning points.
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 3:
Continue reading “WEEK 3 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Lubbock Monterey-Wylie football (79 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: Santo-Valley View football (97 images)”
Goldthwaite 62, Center Point 6 — The Eagles (1-1) raced out to a 29-point first-quarter lead and were never threatened after that.
Four different running backs — Gary Wiedebusch, Max Storm, Aidyn Lee and Luke Sanderson combined for nearly 500 rushing yards to lift the Eagles.
Collinsville 38, Cooper 2 — The Pirates improved to 2-0 on the season using a big second half to turn a 7-2 game at halftime into a blowout win.
Collinsville took control in the third quarter, scoring three touchdowns in the period to increase its lead to 29-2 before adding 10 more points in the fourth.
Haskell 25, Quanah 19 — HHS picked up its first win of the season, scoring the only touchdown of the second half to rally from a 19-18 halftime deficit against Quanah.
Haegen Pinkerton had a big game for Haskell, passing for 118 yards and a touchdown while adding 153 yards and three more scores on the ground.
Mason 47, Brady 19 —Coming off a lopsided loss to Wall in its season opener, Mason used a dominating defensive effort to level its record off at 1-1.
In dropping Brady to 1-1, the Punchers limited Brady to only 177 total yards.
Post 32, Forsan 30 — The Buffaloes dropped a close one for the second straight week, following last week’s 34-28 loss to rival Coahoma with an even narrower defeat to the Antelopes.
Leading 10-6 after a quarter, Forsan was outscored 18-0 in the second period to go to halftime down 24-10. The teams then traded touchdowns in the third quarter, making it a 32-18 game heading into the fourth, when the Buffs scored twice but couldn’t complete the conversion on either TD.
Glen Rose 28, Gatesville 12 — Normally explosive Glen Rose is also playing some serious defense, allowing only 26 points to date and limiting Gatesville to 12 in Friday’s road win.
Lineman Keltyn Raymond led the effort on Friday with 10 tackles, including six solos. Caden Marrs wasn’t far behind, finishing with nine total stops.
Tolar 23, Teague 21 — The Rattlers rebounded from last week’s loss to Peaster with a hard-fought win over the Lions.
Tolar (1-1) was limited on offense to 291 yards, including just 93 on the ground, but the Rattlers did enough on the defensive side of the football to make that hold up.
Mineral Wells 36, Iowa Park 6 — The Rams improved to 2-0 on the year with a dominant performance against the Hawks.
Owen Gadd threw for 151 yards and a touchdown on 7-of-11 passing and ran for another score, while Preston Mendez (13-119, 1 TD) and Kayden Montalvo (16-110, 2 TDs) both topped the 100-yard rushing mark.
Snyder 40, San Angelo Lake View 34 — Aedyn Claxton threw for 209 yards and three scores as Snyder (1-1) earned the first win for new coach Anthony Gonzales.
The Tigers were stout on the ground as well, rolling up 175 yards as a team, lead by Daenin Smith with 155 yards on 31 carries and two scores.
Cross Plains 64, Abilene TLCA 8 — Cross Plains rolled up 495 total yards, including 304 yards rushing to push its record to 2-0
Kade Purvis topped the stat sheet with 191 yard passing and three scores to go with 42 yards rushing and two more TDs. Tyler Mackey was the leading rushing with 111 yards and two scores.
Brownwood 17, Wall 7 — Trey Mosley ran for 223 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries to lift the Lions to a win over the Hawks in their first game of the year.
Brownwood (1-0), which had its opener against Wylie canceled due to lightning, went to halftime tied at 7-all, and the score stayed there through the third quarter. But the Lions closed the game with 10 unanswered points in the fourth to pull away for the two-score victory.
Coahoma 48, Roscoe 14 — For the second straight week Roscoe faced a larger school projected to be in the playoffs and for the second straight week, the Plowboys fell short.
Jaidyn Vineyard rushed for 201 yards and four TDs and Boyd Cox threw for 269 yards and two more scores to lead Class 3A DII Coahoma (2-0), which led 41-0 at the end of three quarters.
Hawley 21, Albany 0 — Both clubs had 58 plays with possession times of 24 minutes. But the similarities ended there.
Keagan Ables threw for 314 yards and one TD and Allyn Barker rushed for 39 yards and another score to keep Hawley (2-0) unbeaten.
Ballinger 21, Christoval 0 — Cade Strube threw for 100 yards and two touchdowns and Aiden Pena piled up 183 yards on the ground to fuel the Bearcats to their second consecutive win to open the season.
Ballinger, which went 0-10 a year ago, scored one touchdown in each of the first three quarters and kept the Cougars off the board the entire game to continue their hot start to the 2024 campaign.
Lubbock High 31, Big Spring 20 — Braiden Dunkerson rushed for 204 yards and three scores to lift Lubbock High to a win over Big Spring (0-2).
The Westerners (1-1) broke into the win column with 303 yards in total offense.
Jim Ned 42, Lubbock Trinity Christian 12 — Gray Beasley threw for 165 yards and three scores and rushed for 35 yards and another TD to lift the Indians (1-1).
Also having big nights were running backs Aiden Ellis, who rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries and Jaron Pryor (11 carries, 59 yards, one score).
Photos courtesy of Kael Duncan
ARCHER CITY – Anson’s start was definitely rough Friday night against Archer City.
The Tigers allowed two touchdowns in less than four minutes and were about to be punting from deep inside their territory.
That’s when Anson quarterback Corey Layne made a play, scrambling out of the Wildcats’ pass rush to convert a third-and-27.
CLYDE — Only two games into their foray with the wing-T offense, the Eastland Mavericks could very well be ahead of the learning curve with their new attack.
If Friday’s dominating 35-14 win at Clyde in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week doesn’t provide enough evidence, then their 2-0 record, coupled with the 301 yards rushing they produced at Clyde should send up a red flag.
Kye Herrington threw for 119 yards and one score and rushed for an additional TD to help keep the Mavericks unbeaten while Cayden Alford (102 yards rushing and one score) and Cason Browning (90 yards rushing, two TDs) spearheaded the ground game.
Clyde, which was victimized by Eastland’s 36 minutes of possession time, finished with only two first downs and 35 plays from scrimmage.
Cooper pushed Abilene High deep into the fourth quarter Friday in the 64th annual Crosstown Showdown, but in the end, quarterback Brayden Henry and the Eagles offense was just too much for the Cougars to handle in a 42-33 victory at Shotwell Stadium.
The electric junior passed for 216 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 144 yards and three more scores to fuel coach Mike Fullen’s squad, which never trailed in earning its third consecutive victory over its archrival.
The Cougars rallied from three two-score deficits to give themselves a chance to tie the game with just over seven minutes remaining, but Abilene High made a stop on a two-point conversion attempt and countered with one final touchdown drive to seal the game midway through the final period.
With the way the second half had gone, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Gio Cardenas was going to hit a walk-off 30-yard field goal for Lubbock Monterey on Friday night at Hugh Sandifer Stadium.
Wylie, meanwhile, was sending the house to try and block the attempt to win its season opener after having last week’s game against Brownwood canceled by lightning.
In the end, Monterey sophomore holder Noah Alexander couldn’t handle the snap, allowing the Bulldogs to escape with a thrilling 29-28 win.
MINERAL WELLS — Coming off a shocking loss to Electra after a bad snap on a punt late in the game, the Santo football team knew it needed to prove a point on Thursday night at Ram Stadium.
While the offense was putting up points on nearly every possession, it was the Wildcat defense that looked to be in late-season form as three different players recorded interceptions in a 47-0 win in a game that was pushed up a day and moved to a new venue early in the week.
With Santo installing artificial turf at W.A. Lewis Field, the torrential rains that hit the Big Country over the past week meant that workers weren’t able to finish the final two days of turf installation for the game to be held as scheduled on Friday.
Week 1 is behind us and you can read all about it in Monday’s “Six-Man Rewind” column. Now, it’s time look ahead to what the Week 2 slate offers.
For the second consecutive week, we’ve got multiple matchups between top-10 teams to headline the Big Country schedule. But the list of intriguing games extends well beyond those contests.
Let’s dive in and take a look at all the week holds for local and area six-man fans.
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 2)”
LAST WEEK: 48-20, .705
SEASON TOTAL: 48-20, .705
I’m not going to deny that I have an endless fascination with old-fashioned offenses. And I’m not going to deny that I’m a bit eager to see Eastland’s jump to the Wing-T after more than a decade of slinging the ball all over the field.
But this has little to do with why Eastland (1-0) and Clyde (1-0) will be hooking up in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
The fact that both clubs are coming off quality wins — Clyde beating Cisco 43-42 in OT and Eastland stopping Coleman 21-6 — creates enough intrigue to snag the top spot. Add the fact that you have a modern spread offense going against an attack that was devised more than 70 years ago and you’re looking at a game with potential to get the spotlight.
And courtesy of a beat-up Brownwood team, this contest made the top of our list.
