SWEETWATER — It was a start unlike anything Anson coach Cory McCombs could remember in his coaching career.
After receiving the opening kickoff, the Tigers had to burn a timeout because their starting center had lost his mouthpiece and the Fort Worth officials working the game made him go back to the sidelines to get a new one.
Despite that, the Tigers had no issues dispatching of Christoval 46-11 in a Region I-2A Division I bi-district matchup Friday night at the Mustang Bowl.
GRAHAM — Sweetwater picked a poor time not to play its best.
The Mustangs got off to a slow start and struggled offensively as Vernon ended their season with a 28-9 decision Friday night at Newton Field.
The Lions (7-4) advance to face Amarillo River Road in the Region I-3A Division I area round, while the Mustangs drop their second straight game to finish at 6-5.
After focusing on the top guards and forwards the Big Country has to offer the past two nights, it’s time to shift our attention to the paint.
For the final installment in our three-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 post players for the 2024-25 season.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these rankings, and make sure to come back next week when we’ll feature the top boys basketball players in the Big Country.
EL PASO — Going into this week’s Region I-5A Division II bi-district matchup with unbeaten El Paso Del Valle, Cooper coach Aaron Roan said the biggest key to a Cougar victory would be limiting big-play opportunities for an explosive Conquistadores offense.
Unfortunately for the Roan and his Coogs, that did not happen Thursday at Conquest Stadium.
Led by Arizona State commit Jake Fette, who passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more, Del Valle had five scoring plays of 20 or more yards — including three of 50-plus yards — to pull away from Cooper for a 63-35 win.
The Abilene High Eagles lit up the scoreboard while keeping El Paso Parkland off of it Thursday, cruising to an 84-0 win over the Matadors in their Region I-5A Division II playoff opener at Shotwell Stadium.
Just over a year after setting the statewide playoff record for points in a half with 70 in an 84-14 bi-district win over El Paso Hanks, AHS repeated the feat in Thursday’s romp, scoring five touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to a take 70-0 lead into halftime. That led to a running clock being used in the second half, as the Eagles put the finishing touches on a near perfect outing.
Abilene High outgained Parkland 524-116, holding the Matadors under the century mark for total yards until a 31-yard run on the game’s final play. And the Eagles defense picked off five passes, returning two of those for touchdowns to contribute to the record-tying first-half scoring frenzy.
BROCK — Lane Foster ran for touchdowns of 66 and 46 yards and threw a 77-yard bomb for a third score to lead Lindsay to a thrilling 34-27 win over Miles in a Region II-2A Division II bi-district battle Thursday night at Eagle Stadium.
The Knights’ junior quarterback finished the evening with 132 yards rushing and added another 122 yards through the air — on just four completions.
Foster showed early on that he was primed to be a formidable force in this game when, on the second snap of the night, he faked a handoff right then reversed field and went the distance virtually untouched.
That noted, he capped the night with an even bigger play, given the circumstances.
GRAHAM — As Comanche coach Jake Escobar walked out to midfield after regulation, he thought his squad was in the perfect position against Peaster in a Region I-3A Division I bi-district matchup Thursday night at Newton Field .
The Indians had won a 13-10 overtime game against Jim Ned just over a month earlier and were getting set for an extra period of play to open the postseason.
As the visiting team, Peaster coach Trevor Owens had the opportunity to call the coin toss, winning it and choosing to go on defense first. It was a decision that ultimately made the biggest impact as the Greyhounds claimed a 33-30 win — the first playoff victory in school history.
The high school football playoffs are here. And unlike the 11-man version, which features a large number of mismatches in the opening round, the six-man brackets are loaded with thrilling matchups right off the bat.
With just two teams making the playoffs from each UIL district, you won’t find much filler in the Class 1A pairings, so teams hoping to contend had better be ready to play from the jump.
Needless to say, it should be blast to watch the cream rise to the top over the next several weeks as the best of the best shoot for a trip to Arlington on Dec. 18. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ve got plenty to look forward to this week alone.
We hope you enjoy this look at some of the top matchups on the Big Country slate, and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for 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 12)”
LAST WEEK: 46-9, .836
SEASON TOTAL: 510-131, .796
I’ll be the first to admit that there’s some merit to having four teams per district making the playoffs each year. First, gives allows teams riddled with injuries a chance to come back late in the year. And secondly, it gives strong teams stuck in very tough districts a chance to show what they can do regionally.
There is, however, an annual downside to our generosity and it manifests itself each year in the first round — blowouts. And when I say blowouts, I mean blowouts on the order of 50 or 60 points and sometimes worse when a very weak No. 4 seed faces a very strong No. 1.
It just goes with the turf and this year will be no different, so brace yourselves for it.
In the meantime, it’s my task to pick the winners among all of the playoff games involving teams in our coverage area, highlighting the top games of interest. There is no Game of the Week beyond this point. From now on, there all the Game of the Week.
With that, let’s dive in to our Week 12 Playoff Forecast.
I’ll see you on the road.
After kicking off our girls basketball position rankings series with the guards on Wednesday, we now turn our attention to the forwards.
For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top 10 players at that position with some others to watch for in 2024-25.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the girls basketball season underway, it’s time to take a look at the local and area players who will be making the biggest impact for their teams over the next few months.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions, we’ll be focusing on the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch for -*+the 2024-25 season.
We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.
The fall national signing period opened Wednesday, and a number of athletes throughout the Big Country Preps coverage area either made their college decisions official at signing day ceremonies or have announced plans to do so in the near future.
Here’s a list of those area seniors and where they’ll be competing next season:
The regular season is officially over, and it’s time to turn the page to the playoffs.
But before we do, let’s take a look back at Week 11 and the top developments — and performances — on the Big Country six-man scene.
We hope you enjoy this “rewind” and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for standings, schedules and results.
When someone hits 27 of 34 passes for 441 yards and five scores, it’s generally the type of performance that appears on our Player of the Week radar screen.
When it’s done in only two and a half quarters, however, it makes everyone sit up and do a doubletake.
That was the case for Glen Rose quarterback Canyon Evans, who shredded Fort Worth Dunbar in a 61-7 win on Friday that saw him removed before the onset of the fourth quarter.
Amarillo Tascosa 34, Amarillo High 29 — Coltyn Fulton ran for ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns while adding 186 yards and two more scores through the air to lead the Rebels past the Sandies in a battle for the league’s No. 3 playoff seed.
TJ Tillman also had a big game for Tascosa, hauling in four passes for 129 yards and two TDs as Tascosa improved to 5-5 overall and 4-2 in district play.
Abilene Cooper 44, Amarillo Palo Duro 27 — Austin Cummins passed for 104 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 55 yards and another score to help the Cougars beat the Dons in a winner-take-all matchup for the district’s final playoff spot.
Cooper (4-6, 3-3) ran for 245 yards as a team, led by Major De Los Santos with 75 yards an a touchdown on 11 carries and JQ Scroggins with 70 yards on just four attempts. Zavian Alexander (4-28, 2 TDs) and Zaylon Johnson (3-45, 1 TD), meanwhile, were the team’s leading pass-catchers.
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 12:
Continue reading “WEEK 12 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Amarillo Palo Duro-Cooper 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: Hamilton-De Leon football (84 images)”
Collinsville 48, Santo 7 — Jaxon Jenkins passed for four touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Pirates to a lopsided win over the Wildcats.
Chase Sheppard added a touchdown both rushing and receiving for Collinsville (9-1, 4-1), which built a 35-0 lead by halftime.
Electra 33, Haskell 26 — The Tigers took advantage of two kickoff return touchdowns and a fumble return for a score to end the Indians’ playoff hopes with a hard-fought win.
With the help of those non-offensive touchdowns and a 3-2 advantage in the turnover margin, Electra (8-2, 4-2) took a 33-20 lead into halftime and held Haskell off in the second half.
Reagan County 40, Forsan 6 — Jarrett Brown passed for 359 yards and four touchdowns, and three different players reached the century mark for receiving yards as the Owls cruised past the Buffaloes to wrap up a perfect run through district play.
Omrie Johnson (3-143, 2 TDs), Nicholas Franklin (6-100, 2 TDs) and Kason Brown (11-100) all eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark as Reagan County (9-1, 5-0) amassed 428 total yards as a team.
Mason 35, San Saba 0 — Mason locked up the district title with this win, finishing 9-1 and 5-0 for the regular season.
San Saba, which had a shot at the district title coming in, finished at 6-4 and 3-2 — tied for second place with Thorndale and Holland.
Ballinger 27, Hico 26 — Cade Strube passed for 153 yards and two touchdowns, and Hunter Kresta received for 114 yards and two scores to help the Bearcats clinch a playoff spot with a thrilling win over the Tigers.
Strube also rushed for a team-high 94 yards and two TDs, allowing Ballinger (5-5, 2-3) to fend off a furious Hico rally after the Bearcats increased a 12-0 halftime lead to 20 points in the second half.
Glen Rose 61, Fort Worth Dunbar 7 — Canyon Evans threw for 441 yards and five scores, hitting 27 of 34 throws along the way to lead the Tigers to an easy win.
Glen Rose produced a dominating defensive effort as well, limiting Dunbar to only 141 yards in total offense (50 on the ground).
Dublin 36, Early 22 — Kaden Gaiten passed for 172 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 133 yards and three more scores to help the Lions clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Longhorns.
Behind the senior quarterback receivers Alex Teten (5-83, 1 TD) and Fernando Esparza (5-69, 1 TD), Dublin (2-8, 2-3) rallied from a 22-2 halftime deficit to for the win.
Coahoma 42, Merkel 14 — Jaidyn Vineyard rushed for 354 yards and five scores to help push Coahoma through to a district win over Merkel.
The Bulldogs (6-3, 2-2) finished with 449 yards in total offense. Merkel finished its season at 0-10 and 0-4.
Miles 29, Roscoe 13 — 
Liam Yancy threw for 275 yards and three scores as Miles defeated Roscoe on Friday. Cooper Ellison was on the receiving end of two of those TD strikes and finished with seven catches for 73 yards.
The Bulldogs improved to 8-2 and 4-1 with the win.
Roscoe fell to 4-5 and 3-2.
Graham 49, Saginaw Eagle Mountain 3 — Rylan Monsey rushed for 144 yards and four touchdowns, and the Steers ran for 214 yards as a team in a blowout win over the Knights.
Ty Thompson added 185 yards passing and a rushing TD for Graham (9-1, 5-0), which was led in receiving by Brayden Riggins (5-92) and Jace Gill (3-61).
Jim Ned 45, Sweetwater 28 — Aiden Ellis rushed for 262 yards and three scores on 43 carries in a bulldozer-like effort for Jim Ned, which rushed for 400 yards as a team.
With the score tied at 21 at the break, the Indians took command with a 24-7 second half.
Cisco 48, Olney 6 — The Loboes (6-4, 2-3) locked up the No. 4 seed with a lopsided win over Olney.
Dillon Silva rushed for 183 yards and three scores and Parker Williams rushed for 121 yards and three more TDs to lead the Loboes, who carried a 21-0 lead into the break.
Midland Greenwood 62, Snyder 14 — Lincoln Madrid passed for 211 yards and five touchdowns, hitting Dylan Payton for 177 of those yards and four of the scores, to lead the Rangers to a blowout win over the Tigers and perfect run through league play.
Nathaniel Romero added 85 and yards and two touchdowns on the ground for Greenwood (9-1, 4-0), which built a 49-7 lead by halftime.
Big Spring 28, Pecos 21 — AJ Yanez passed for 174 yards and two touchdowns and added another TD on the ground to lead the Steers to a hard-fought victory over the Eagles in a winner-take-all matchup for the district’s No. 2 playoff spot.
Isiac Martinez also had a big day for Big Spring (5-5, 2-1), rushing for 101 yards on just 13 carries, while Jacobi Lozano (7-80, 2 TDs) and Eithan Threats (7-54, 1 TD) both had productive days catching the ball in a game that was tied at 7, 14 and 21 before Yanez scored the winning points with a 2-yard scoring run.
Brownwood 42, Marble Falls 14 — Levi Pearson rushed for 108 yards and two scores and Matt Rodriguez rushed for 132 yards and another TD to lead Brownwood over Marble Falls.
After a 14-14 first quarter, the Lions scored 28 answered points to take control of the game.
Goldthwaite 46, Mart 0 — Many people thought it was a misprint. Others thought the score had been accidentally reversed.
But once the truth began to leak out late last night, Big Country football fans were stunned to learn that Goldthwaite had not only defeated top-ranked Mart, but they had essentially taken the Panthers to the woodshed, handing the Panthers an eye-popping 46-0 loss.
PLAINVIEW — The Wylie football team went into Friday’s matchup with Plainview having already locked up the No. 1 playoff seed in District 2-5A Division II with consecutive wins over Wichita Falls Memorial (45-42) and Lubbock Cooper (22-6).
But the lack of obvious stakes in Friday’s game didn’t keep the visiting Bulldogs from beating the home ones 28-17 to close out a perfect run through league play and take a six-game win streak into next week’s playoff opener.
Wylie outgained Plainview 338-196, limiting PHS to just 51 yards rushing on 25 attempts to lead from start to finish despite a 3-2 deficit in the turnover margin.
STAMFORD — The District 4-2A DI title was decided on Friday, in soggy, slippery conditions at Bill Anderson Stadium. That didn’t prevent Stamford and Hawley from producing a physical, entertaining matchup in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week, with the Bulldogs walking away with a 38-22 win.
Kaston Vega rushed for 177 yards and two scores and Christian Duran rushed for 86 yards, threw for 123 and accounted for three more TDs to lead Stamford (10-0 overall, 5-0 district), which held onto the lead after a 20-0 start.
Hawley fell to 9-1 and 4-1, led by Keagan Ables, who threw for 346 yards and two scores.
Hosting Amarillo Palo Duro with a 17-year playoff streak on the line, the Cooper Cougars put together one of their most complete performances of the year Friday at Shotwell Stadium.
Coach Aaron Roan’s Coogs never punted — or trailed — in a 44-27 victory over the Dons, closing the regular season with their third consecutive win to reach the postseason for the 18th straight season.
Cooper (4-6 overall, 3-3 in District 2-5A Division II) outrushed Palo Duro 245-41, riding an advantage on both lines of scrimmage to a 28-13 halftime lead that would never fall below eight points in the second half.
DE LEON — Entering Friday night’s game at Bearcat Field, two things were certain: A district champion would be crowned and it would be won by a Marwitz brother.
Carson Roberts intercepted Heston Jobe’s Hail Mary at the buzzer, after the ball bounced off the helmet of Hamilton’s Garrett Guinn, and the Bulldogs escaped with a 35-28 win to claim the district championship.
It was the second year in a row that Ryan Marwitz got a win over his younger brother, Jacob.
