Era 28, Santo 16 — The Hornets limited the Wildcats to just 222 yards of total offense and took advantage of a 3-0 edge in the turnover margin to pick up a huge district victory.
Santo (3-3, 0-1) outrushed Era 201-130, but the Wildcats were hurt by a pair of lost fumbles and an interception. The Hornets, meanwhile, outpaced SHS 135-21 to improve to 4-2 on the year and 1-0 in league play.
San Saba 38, Johnson City 15 — Luke Tharp rushed for 241 yards and four touchdowns to lead San Saba to a big win at Johnson City.
Tharp also posted eight tackles, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry and an interception.
San Saba improved to 4-2 and 1-0; Johnson City fell to 2-4 and 0-1.
Goldthwaite 69, Frost 28 — The Eagles rolled up 671 yards in total offense, topped by 300 rushing yards and three TDs from Landry Sanderson.
Luke Sanderson came up big as well, charting 185 rushing yards and three TDs.
Goldthwaite improved to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in league play. Frost dropped to 2-4 and 1-2.
Munday 20, Haskell 13 — The Moguls pushed out to a 20-7 halftime lead and held on from there for a hard-fought victory over the Indians.
Down 7-0 early, Munday (4-3, 1-2) used a pick-six to even the score in the second quarter before adding a passing TD and a rushing score to take its two-touchdown lead into the break.
Glen Rose 45, Godley 35 — Canyon Evans threw for 309 yards and four scores and Josiah Groeneweg rushed for 94 yards and another score to lift Glen Rose (4-2, 1-0) to a win in its district opener.
Godley (3-3, 0-1) was led by Wyatt Burke, with 287 yards passing for three scores.
Sonora 52, Forsan 0 — Aaron Segura passed for 433 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Broncos to a blowout win over the Buffaloes.
Kam Aguero (5-155, 3 TDs) and Jorge Leija (8-120, 1 TD) both had big nights catching the ball for Sonora (4-2, 1-0), which led 20-0 at halftime, before tacking on 16 points in each of the final two quarters.
Wall 48, Merkel 7 — Landon York threw for 309 yards and three scores on 20 of 22 passing to lead Wall over Merkel.
The Hawks rushed for 170 yards via committee with six different players carrying the football.
Wall improved to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in district play; Merkel fell to 0-7 and 0-1.
Stamford 41, Cisco 14 — Kaston Vega rushed for 83 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Stamford to a win over Cisco in the district opener for both clubs.
Defensively, the Bulldogs limited Cisco to 215 yards in total offense. Julius Proffitt led Cisco with 140 yards passing and two scores.
Stamford improved to 6-0 and 1-0; Cisco fell to 4-2 and 0-1.
Monahans 63, Snyder 0 — The Loboes got nine touchdowns from eight different players and scored in all three phases of the game in a lopsided win over the Tigers.
Majestic Williams, who scored a rushing touchdown to send Monahans (4-3, 1-0) to halftime up 21-0 and returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown, was the only Loboes player to find the end zone twice. Monahans also got a defensive score from Champ Saenz, who returned a fumble 28 yards to put MHS up 35-0 in the third quarter.
Albany 47, Miles 15 — Branson Beal rushed for 115 yards and three scores and Chip Chambers threw for 127 yards and two more TDs to lift Albany to a win the district opener for both teams.
Facing a 27-8 deficit at the break, Miles (4-2, 0-1) could never muster enough offense to make a serious threat.
De Leon 56, Hico 0 — Heston Jobe passed for 251 yards and five touchdowns and added 110 yards on the ground to fuel the Bearcats to a lopsided win over the Tigers in the district opener for both teams.
Lane Couch also had a big game for De Leon (3-3, 1-0), rushing for 145 yards and two touchdowns and receiving for 54 yards, while Jake Cooper received for 52 yards and three scores.
Sweetwater 90, San Angelo TLCA 0 — A long night for TLCA got even worse when it was forced into seven turnovers. Six of those giveaways resulted in Sweetwater touchdowns via scoop-and-scores and pick returns.
The Mustangs were led offensively by Caiden Ortiz, who threw for 137 yards and two scores.
Sweetwater improved to 3-3 and 1-0 with the win; TLCA dropped to 0-6 and 0-1.
Brock 42, Saginaw Eagle Mountain 7 — Brody Woods passed for 233 yards and four touchdowns and Coty Farmer ran for 112 yards and a TD to help the Eagles to a blowout win over the Knights in the league opener for both teams.
Colt Matlock (7-68, 2 TDs receiving), Cannon Stephens (5-56, 1 TD) and Jesse Rusinek (2-25, 1 TD) all had receiving scores for Brock (6-0, 1-0), which outgained Eagle Mountain 439-89.
Brady 34, Dublin 31 — Johnny Menefield ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns and Ashton Taylor added 124 yards and two rushing scores of his own to lead the Bulldogs past the Lions in the league opener for both teams.
Mason Airheart added a 62-yard touchdown reception for Brady, which ran for 332 of its 392 yards in improving to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in District 5-3A DII play.
Lampasas 30, Brownwood 20 — Trailing 20-17 at the end of the third quarter, Lampasas closed the game with a 28-yard TD from Haegan Oncken at the 11:00 mark.
Two possessions later, Corbin Dotson scored with a 28-yard TD with three minutes left.
Brownwood was led by Judson Coalson with 116 yards passing and 54 yards and two TDs rushing. Trey Mosley added 58 yards and a score on the ground.
LUBBOCK — Michael Dever returned the opening kickoff for a score and added two touchdown catches and a TD run after that to stake Lubbock Cooper to a 42-3 halftime lead, and the Pirates cruised from there to a 49-17 win over Abilene Cooper at Pirate Stadium.
Dever, a Texas Tech commit, finished with 137 total yards (80 receiving, 57 rushing) in addition to his 98-yard kickoff return, helping Lubbock Cooper (6-1 overall) improve to 3-0 in District 2-5A Division II play on a night when the Pirates defense limited the Cougars to just 199 total yards.
Abilene Cooper, which passed for all but 25 of those yards, got a pair of touchdowns from quarterback Austin Cummins in the second half, but the Coogs never pulled closer than the final 32-point margin in falling to 1-6 on the year and 0-3 in league action.
OMANCHE — A week after Coahoma and Littlefield put on an offensive show in a 71-70 CHS win in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, Comanche and Jim Ned produced a polar opposite.
Jumping into the trenches and hitting each other in the mouth four three hours, this Indians vs. Indians matchup resulted in a physical defensive struggle — eventually won by Comanche, 13-10 in overtime.
Alex Terrell booted a game-tying 30-yard field goal as time expired in regulation and came back to hit a game-winning 31-yarder in overtime to help Comanche (4-2, 1-0) to a nail-biting win in the District 3-3A DI opener for both clubs.
The Wylie offense scored almost every time it had the football and the Bulldogs defense made sure it had the ball a lot, picking off Amarillo Palo Duro quarterback Julian Reese II six times in a 70-28 win Friday at Hugh Sandifer Stadium.
The Bulldogs, who scored on each of their first nine offensive possessions and added a defensive touchdown for good measure, amassed 452 yards of total offense in stretching a 35-12 halftime lead to 70-12 by the opening minute of the final period.
The victory, Wylie’s largest of the year by scoring margin, improved the Bulldogs (5-1 overall) to 3-0 in District 2-5A Division II play and provided a fitting backdrop for a halftime ceremony honoring the 20th anniversary of the program’s 2004 state championship team.
On a night when Lubbock Coronado’s offense had one of its best games of the season, the Abilene High defense that made enough big plays to help the Eagles to a 59-40 win in a District 2-5A Division I matchup Friday night at Shotwell Stadium.
Trae Shaw’s strip sack was followed by a M’Aujehl Aboso interception, leading to 10 points for the Eagles in the third quarter, giving AHS the breathing room it needed to put away a pesky Mustang offense that averaged 12.4 yards per play on Friday.
Despite the down-to-down struggles, Abilene High coach Mike Fullen was proud of how the defense came up big when it mattered most.
After six exciting weeks, we’ve finally reached the start of district play for most Big Country six-man leagues. And as you might expect, there are some key matchups right off the bat.
The Week 7 slate isn’t as star-studded as some of those down the road will be, but it’s not without its intrigue.
With that in mind, it’s time to take a look at some of the most important matchups this week has to offer. We hope you enjoy our Week 7 preview and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for standings and results.
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 7)”
LAST WEEK: 32-12, .809
SEASON TOTAL: 279-91, .757
Now it’s time to get down to business.
With most of the Big Country taking an open date last Friday as a prelude to district play, we now dive headfirst into the games that count the most.
District play opens tomorrow for most leagues in the area, the intensity of which is already tangible.
Can you feel it?
We’ll see you on the road.
Here’s this week’s area picks:
The Wylie volleyball team improved to 3-0 in District 4-5A play Tuesday, smothering any upset hopes crosstown rival Abilene High had early in a 25-11, 25-12, 25-20 sweep at Bulldog Gym.
The Lady Bulldogs (16-14 overall) overwhelmed the Lady Eagles at the net, taking the visitors out of their rhythm with a towering block and an efficient attack.
That combination allowed coach Shay Cox’s squad to cruise to comfortable wins in each of the first two sets, before fending off a stiffer challenge in the third.
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.
On paper, the Week 6 slate didn’t jump off the page as an overly intriguing one. But as I said in last week’s “Lookahead” column, you never really know what to expect when it comes to Big Country six-man football.
As it turned out, last week had more than its share of thrilling games and surprising outcomes.
With that said, let’s take a look back and the week that was. And make sure to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for standings, schedules and results.
With the bulk of the area’s football teams taking the night off in a bye week prior to district, the question last Friday was if we could find an ample supply of top games and top performances to cover.
We actually found several — topped by a show-stopping effort by Coahoma’s Jaidyn Vineyard in an unforgettable 71-70 win over Littlefield in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Here are the district standings for all 11-man football districts involving Big Country schools after Week 6 (with results and upcoming games):
Continue reading “Big Country 11-Man Football Standings (through Week 6)”
Photo by Carter Pirtle, PressPassSports.com
Abilene High 63, Amarillo High 42 — Brayden Henry ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more, and Ryland Bradford caught two touchdown passes around a scoring run to fuel the Eagles to a wild win over the Sandies.
Abilene High (4-2, 2-0), which also got 104 yards rushing from Ethan Joyner, finished with 619 yards of total offense, using a three unanswered touchdowns from the 1:13 mark of the second quarter to the 10:57 mark of the fourth to create some separation in a game it led just 28-27 late in the first half.
Wylie 29, Abilene Cooper 7 — The Bulldogs overcame an early pick-six to put up 29 unanswered points in a comfortable win over the Couagars in the Southtown Showdown.
Led by running back Julius Laine, who rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, Wylie (4-1, 2-0) outgained 323-103, using seven sacks to limit Cooper to just seven yards on the ground.
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 7:
Continue reading “WEEK 7 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
Photos courtesy Jimmy Avery
By all accounts, Jimmy Avery was living every retirees dream — working at a golf course, playing golf and spending time with his grandchildren daily.
The extremely successful basketball coach, who spent a decade at Jim Ned, was even driving a trash truck.
All of that changed roughly one month ago when Baird athletic director Dale Means was in a crunch and picked up the phone to call his longtime pal.
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: Wylie-Cooper football (75 images)”
Crosbyton 22, Olney 8 — The Cubs’ struggles continued on Friday with their fourth loss in five starts.
They may have a chance to gain some momentum on Friday when they open district play with Abilene TLCA (0-5) at home.
Crosbyton improved to 2-3.
Goldthwaite 61, Hubbard 0 — Aidyn Lee and Hayes Greenway threw for a combined 139 yards and two scores and Goldthwaite (3-2, 2-0) rushed for 212 yards via committee in a blowout win over Hubbard.
The Eagles quickly put the game away, building a 55-0 lead by halftime.
Hubbard dropped to 1-4 and 0-2.
Wall 33, Idalou 10 — Landon York hit 14 of 21 throws for 208 yards and two scores and Thomas Leanos rushed for 131 yards and one score to left Wall over Idalou.
The Hawks (5-1) piled up 456 yards in total offense, including 248 on the ground.
Idalou dropped to 4-2.
San Saba, idle — The Armadillos entered their bye week with a 3-2 overall record. They will open district play at Johnson City (2-3) on Oct. 11.
Albany, idle — The Lions entered their bye week with a 3-2 overall record. They will open district play against Miles (4-1) at home on Oct. 11.
San Angelo Grape Creek 74, San Angelo TLCA 0 — TLCA’s struggles continued on Friday with a loss to cross-town rival Grape Creek.