Author: Daniel Youngblood

by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 7 Stephenville netters too much for Abilene High in nondistrict sweep

Hosting the Stephenville Honeybees in its final match before Friday’s District 4-5A opener against Wylie, the Abilene High volleyball team couldn’t keep pace with Class 4A’s seventh-ranked squad Tuesday, falling 25-16, 25-23, 25-13 at Eagle Gym.

The Lady Eagles battled and had their chances to grab some momentum in Games 1 and 2, but ultimately the talented visitors were just too much to handle in a nondistrict sweep.

The victory improved Stephenville to 21-3 on the season with three more matches to play before the start of District 6-4A play on Sept. 26, while Abilene High fell to 7-17 with its sixth consecutive loss.

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by Daniel Youngblood

ABILENE NOTEBOOK: Talking Shotwell renovation, TLCA’s big football win, ACS’ matchup with Benjamin and Wylie volleyball

It’s no secret that the Abilene High-Cooper rivalry — dubbed the Crosstown Showdown — is among the best series in the state of Texas.

When the Eagles and Cougars get together, you know you’re going to excellent effort from both teams in front of close to 15,000 rowdy fans.

In that way, Friday’s matchup, which saw AHS earn a 26-7 win in the 63rd playing of the series, was a lot like many before it. But there was one factor that made the most recent Showdown just a little bit unique: It marked the first game played in Shotwell Stadium since the historic venue got one heck of a facelift.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. II WEEK 2 REPORT: Wylie, Cooper drop to 0-2; Rider, Plainview stay unbeaten

Lubbock Monterey 34, Wylie 21 — A 17-0 first quarter run was all the Plainsmen needed to score a road victory over the Bulldogs, improving to 2-0 after going winless in 2022.

Wylie outscored Monterey 21-17 over the final three quarters, but the Plainsmen’s fast start proved the difference in the game. Quarterback Luke Arrington (6-10-0—212 passing) and Kashious Lewis (4-174 receiving) led MHS, hooking up for three touchdowns in the game.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. I WEEK 2 REPORT: Abilene High, Monterey stay perfect with wins

Abilene High 26, Cooper 7 — Dylan Slack passed for 141 yards and a touchdown, Ryland Bradford received for 113 yards and a score and the Eagles defense shined as AHS took down archrival Cooper in the 63rd Crosstown Showdown.

Behind those efforts — and Bam Rashaw, who rushed for 98 yards — Abilene High raced out to a 16-0 second-quarter lead and was never seriously threatened after halftime in improving to 2-0.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 8-2A DIV. II WEEK 2 REPORT: Collinsville, Celeste survive as league’s only remaining unbeaten teams

Collinsville 51, Blue Ridge 14 — The Pirates were dominant for the second week in a row, passing for 463 yards in a blowout win over the Tigers.

Logan Jenkins was 34-of-44 passing for all of those yards with five touchdowns and one interception, while Colin Barnes (10-186, 1 TD) had a huge day catching the ball.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 3-2A DIV. I WEEK 2 REPORT: Forsan gets defensive in comfortable win over Post

Forsan 24, Post 6 — Kevin Kligora rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown while Nicholas Holloway passed for one score and ran for another to lead the Buffaloes to an impressive win over the Antelopes.

Forsan (1-1) outgained Post 312-232 and won the turnover battle 2-1. This allowed the Buffs to build a 12-0 halftime lead that was never threatened after the break.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 4-3A DIV. I WEEK 2 REPORT: Brock breaks into win column against Hirschi

Brock 28, Wichita Falls Hirschi 14 — The Eagles bounced back from a tough loss to Texarkana Pleasant Grove last week, racing out to a 14-0 halftime lead and maintaining that margin after the break to claim a two-touchdown win over the Huskies.

Brock only gained 207 yards of offense, but the Eagles limited Hirschi to 227 yards and forced three turnovers, including an interception by Cam Harris that was returned for a touchdown in the second quarter. The Huskies (1-1) ran for just 67 yards in the loss, losing a pair of fumbles.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 3-4A DIV. II WEEK 2 REPORT: Snyder, Sweetwater improve to 2-0 with impressive wins

Snyder 30, Levelland 0 — Quarterback Easton Stewart had another big game for the Tigers, following last week’s Big Country Preps Player of the Week-worthy effort with 308 yards and two touchdowns passing to lead the Tigers another lopsided win.

Stewart also rushed for 15 yards and another score as Snyder raced out to a 23-0 halftime lead over the Lobos. In addition to the quarterback’s efforts, Snyder also got 82 yards rushing and a touchdown from Daenin Smith and productive receiving performances from Jay Castillo (3-126, 1 TD), Dom Dominguez (4-78) and Jacob James (6-61, 1 TD).

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-4A DIV. I WEEK 2 REPORT: Big Spring breaks into win column; Brownwood stays hot

Big Spring 32, Lubbock High 21 — Gavin Padron passed for 411 yards and four touchdowns, hitting Zeyire Franklin five times for 187 yards and two scores, to fuel the Steers to a road win over the Westerners on Thursday.

Big Spring (1-1) piled up 476 yards of offense, getting 133 total yards from Kavien Ford (19-77 rushing; 5-56, 1 TD receiving) and solid receiving efforts from Jacob Cantu (5-59, 1 TD), Keyshaun Woodruff (2-57) and Jose Munoz (8-52).

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 5-2A DIV. I WEEK 2 REPORT: De Leon impressive again; Coleman evens record with big win

De Leon 42, Cross Plains 7 — Heston Jobe hit 15 of 21 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns while adding 66 yards and two more scores on the ground to lift the Bearcats to a comfortable win over the Buffaloes.

Jake Cooper also had a big game, rushing for 152 yards and three scores on 22 carries while adding six catches for 70 yards for De Leon (2-0), which raced out to a 35-7 lead by halftime.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 5-3A DIV. II WEEK 2 REPORT: Merkel, Comanche improve to 2-0 with dominant performances

Merkel 34, Stanton 7 — The Badgers overcame a slow start, scoring 34 unanswered points over the final three quarters to rally from a 7-0 deficit after the first.

Maddox O’Malley passed for 234 yards and a touchdown and added another TD on the ground to lead Merkel (2-0), which also got 116 total yards from Connor Willyerd (14-72 rushing; 4-44 receiving) and strong receiving days from CJ Walcott (3-105, 1 TD), Bryant Jones (2-68, 1 TD) and Kaden Blubaugh (2-66, 1 TD).

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Defense fuels Abilene High to 26-7 win over Cooper in 63rd Crosstown Showdown

It wasn’t the dominating-in-every-phases effort they enjoyed in their season opening win at Odessa Permian, but the Abilene High Eagles did more than enough Friday to take care of their crosstown rival and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Led by a defense that allowed just 195 total yards and forced two turnovers, AHS overcame an uneven offensive performance to down Cooper 26-7 at the newly renovated Shotwell Stadium and claim its second consecutive win in the Crosstown Showdown series.

The Eagles turned two big plays — an 81-yard touchdown reception by Ryland Bradford and a 49-yard punt return touchdown by Demarco Upshaw — into a 16-0 second-quarter lead, and that was all that was needed for a defense that limited the Cougars to a single scoring drive just before halftime.

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Slack, Henry give Abilene High unique 1-2 punch at quarterback position

There’s an old — and often repeated — saying in football circles that goes, “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none.”

The idea behind that, of course, is that any team playing two quarterbacks doesn’t have one that’s strong enough to seize the job.

Abilene High coach Mike Fullen and his offensive staff would seem to disagree. And currently, they’re in the process of putting together a pretty strong case against that axiom.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel vs. Twitter Polls (Week 2)

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.

For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week.

Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Wylie volleyball sweeps dual match against Midland Christian, Clyde

The Wylie volleyball team pulled two wins closer to .500 on Tuesday with a sweep in its dual match against Midland Christian and Clyde, defeating the Lady Mustangs 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 before knocking off the Lady Bulldogs 25-16, 25-14, 21-25, 25-17. 

The victories improved WHS to 11-13 with three matches to play before its Sept. 8 district opener against Abilene High. And coach Shay Cox is hoping they will provide some positive momentum for a Lady Bulldogs squad that had lost six of its previous eight matches going into Tuesday night. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

ABILENE NOTEBOOK: Catching up with local volleyball and talking a little AHS, ACS football

It’s an unfortunate truth in this profession that there are more sporting events going on in a given week than we could ever hope to attend. 

And while we here at Big Country Preps pride ourselves on providing the most comprehensive high school sports coverage you’ll find from any Big Country source, we can never make it to all the games and matches that we would like to.

With that in mind, we’re adding a new feature this year to try to catch up on some of the things we missed or just to double back on some notes that we couldn’t quite give the attention they deserved. 

Introducing the “Abilene Notebook,” our collection of such odds and ends from the past week of local athletic action. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. II WEEK 1 REPORT: Wylie, Cooper fall as league goes 3-3 to open season

Brownwood 35, Wylie 21 — Ike Hall rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 81 yards and another score to lead the Lions past the Bulldogs in the season opener between the former Class 4A rivals.

Leading 14-7 at halftime, Brownwood scored two unanswered touchdowns out of halftime to go up 28-7. Wylie fought back to pull within a touchdown on Kenny Scott’s 43-yard fumble return with 4:37 remaining in the game, but Hall broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run on the second play of the following possession to put the game away.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. I WEEK 1 REPORT: Tascosa, Cooper and Monterey match AHS with wins in opener

Abilene High 49, Odessa Permian 14 — Dylan Slack passed for 215 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for a fifth score Friday to fuel the Eagles to a blowout win over their former Little Southwest Conference rival.

Behind that effort and strong games from fellow quarterback Brayden Henry (9-118, 1 TD rushing), running back Bam Rashaw (11-56, 1 TD rushing; 2-42, 1 TD receiving) and receiver Ryland Bradford (4-89, 1 TD receiving), AHS built a 35-0 lead by halftime and maintained a five-touchdown cushion the rest of the way.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 8-2A DIV. II WEEK 1 REPORT: Thornton, Prosser fuel Santo past Electra

rioSanto 27, Electra 14 — Hut Thornton rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown, while Memphis Prosser added 74 yards and three scores to fuel the Wildcats to a two-touchdown win over Electra in the season opener-for both teams.

Santo, which scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to increase a five-point lead to 19, outgained Electra 309-273 and took advantage of two fumble recoveries to win its third opener in a row. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 3-2A DIV. I WEEK 1 REPORT: Reagan County drops overtime thriller to Wink

Wink 54, Reagan County 48 (OT) — The Owls gave the Wildcats all they could handle, but ultimately Wink was just a little too much for Reagan County, rallying from deficits at the end of each of the first three quarters for a thrilling overtime win. 

The Owls, who led 24-14 at halftime and 48-40 at the end of three quarters, finished with 397 yards of total offense, getting 243 yards and five touchdowns passing and 93 yards and an additional score on the ground from quarterback Kason Brown. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 4-3A DIV. I WEEK 1 REPORT: Late TD pass lifts Pleasant Grove over Brock

Texarkana Pleasant Grove 10, Brock 7  — The Eagles dropped their opener to the Hawks for the second consecutive year, managing just 272 yards and one touchdown in a heartbreaking three-point loss.

Brock, which fell 28-7 to Pleasant Grove a year ago, led 7-3 with less than a minute remaining Friday. But Ahkhari Johnson hit Jackson Gibson with a 32-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds remaining to lift the Hawks to the dramatic victory.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-4A DIV. I WEEK 1 REPORT: Big Spring can’t hold against Pampa

Pampa 35, Big Spring 25 — The Steers led the Harvesters 25-21 at halftime, but they couldn’t hold on for the win as Pampa scored one touchdown in each of the final two quarters while keeping Big Spring off the board to rally in the second half.

A Yanez passed for 276 yards and two touchdowns — both to Keyshaun Woodruff (6-64 receiving) — while Zeyire Franklin had seven catches for 110 yards in the loss. The Harvesters, who finished with 453 yards of total offense, were paced by quarterback Brant Hill, who passed for 274 yards with three TD passes to Bryce Lynn (4-166 receiving).

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 5-2A DIV. I WEEK 1 REPORT: San Saba, De Leon sharp in season-opening victories

San Saba 40, Florence 3 — The Armadillos piled up 365 yards rushing, getting big days on the ground from running back Ethan Gonzales (18-133, 2 TDs) and quarterback Lane Miller (13-122, 2 TDs) in their blowout win over the Buffaloes.

Miller also passed for 56 yards with a scoring strike to Gonzales as San Saba built a 19-0 first-quarter lead. Up 19-3 at halftime, the ‘Dillos outscored Florence 21-0 over the final two quarters to put the game away. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 3-4A DIV. II WEEK 1 REPORT: Sweetwater, Snyder get off to strong starts

Sweetwater 42, Idalou 20 — Caiden Ortiz completed 11 of 16 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Mustangs to a blowout win over the Wildcats in their season opener.

Korda Moore added 89 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while Jadyn Forbes caught three passes for 80 yards and two scores to help Sweetwater to a 25-7 halftime lead.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 5-3A DIV. II WEEK 1 REPORT: Comanche, Merkel impressive in season-opening victories

Comanche 37, Brady 8 — Sawyer Wilkerson ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns, while Layden Welch passed for 163 yards and three scores and rushed for 51 yards and an additional TD to fuel the Indians to comfortable win over the Bulldogs.

Behind those two and receiver Kyler Beaty, who hauled in five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, Comanche (1-0) built a 25-8 lead by halftime and was never threatened after the break.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Abilene High dominant in all phases in 49-14 win at Odessa Permian

ODESSA — The Abilene High Eagles got off to a flying start Friday, racing out to a 35-0 halftime lead on their way to a 49-14 rout of Odessa Permian in their season opener at Ratliff Stadium.

AHS put up over 450 yards of total offense and limited the Panthers to just a pair of second half scores in what was a dominant effort in all phases from start to finish.

The Eagles led 14-0 by the end of the first quarter and tacked on three more touchdowns in the second to end the competitive phase of the game by halftime.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Hall, Brownwood roar past Wylie for 35-21 season-opening win

Fueled by a strong defensive effort and a big game from quarterback Ike Hall, the Brownwood football team rolled into Abilene and secured a 35-21 season-opening win over Wylie on Friday at Hugh Sandifer Stadium.

Leading a young offense comprised otherwise entirely of first-year starters, Hall rushed for 163 yards, passed for 81 and accounted for three total touchdowns to help the Lions avenge last year’s 30-24 loss to the Bulldogs. 

Behind the quarterback’s heroics, BHS extended a 14-7 halftime lead to 28-7 by the opening minute of the fourth quarter. And when Wylie scored two touchdowns in a 69-second span to narrow that three-score deficit to a seven points with 4:37 remaining in the game, it was the dual-threat signal caller who put the game on ice, racing 66 yards on a second-and-6 play to stop the Bulldogs’ rally in its tracks.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Keller too much for young Cooper squad in season opener

KELLER — After a competitive first quarter, the Keller football team pulled away from Cooper over the next three to secure a 37-14 win in the season opener for both teams Thursday at Keller ISD Athletic Complex.

Quarterback Beckham Robinson passed for 151 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Cameron Rayford rushed for 69 yards and two scores to lead the Indians, who scored 30 consecutive points after Cooper answered KHS’ game-opening TD drive with a scoring drive of its own to the tie the game at 7-all in the first quarter.

Keller outgained the Cougars 312-248 for the game, scoring on four of its first five drives to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel vs. Twitter Polls (Week 1)

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.

For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week.

Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Quarterbacks

After a week of highlighting area playmakers, we wrap up our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s best signal callers.

To complete our look at the area’s top players, we’ve ranked our top 10 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2023.

We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Running Backs

As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.

After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends on Tuesday, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2023. Don’t forget to check in Thursday when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.

We hope you enjoy tonight’s list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

We’re approaching the final stretch of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, and it’s time to look at the Big Country’s top receivers.

After starting the offensive portion of our series Monday with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 10 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2023.

We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.   

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen

With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s top offensive players. And we’ll start with the foundation of any productive offense: the offensive line.

For the fifth installment of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we turn our attention to the trenches, ranking the Big Country’s top 10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2023.

We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.

Continue reading “Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen” →

by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Kickers/Punters

After recognizing the top defensive players throughout the Big Country over the past three days, it’s time to honor the specialists.

We continue our eight-part preseason position rankings series by naming our top eight kickers and top five punters to watch this fall.

We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff the 2023 season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Backs

After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.

For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top-10 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2023.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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