Muenster 49, Collinsville 28 — The Hornets locked up the district championship with a comfortable win over the Pirates.
Muenster, which was led by quarterback Casen Carney, built a 28-7 lead by halftime and stretched that advantage to 42-14 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Munday 23, Seymour 14 — The Moguls closed their season on a high note, rallying past the Panthers to finish 4-6 overall and 1-5 in district play.
Haiden Bowman threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to lead Munday, which trailed 14-8 going into the final period. The Moguls also got a touchdown run from Kiyryn Wilson and TD receptions from Jaidence Wren and Caisen Lee.
Ozona 46, Forsan 40 — Hayden Bowlin ran for 192 yards and four touchdowns and added 90 more yards through the air, but it wasn’t quite enough to fuel the Buffaloes to an upset win over the Lions.
That’s because Christian Villarreal ran for 411 yards and five touchdowns for Ozona, which built a 30-20 halftime lead and held off a Forsan rally in the second half to improve to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in league play. The standout’s third 400-yard game gave him 3,269 yards and 47 touchdowns rushing for the year, putting him within 776 yards of Texas’ single-season rushing record of 4,045, set by Sugar Land’s Kenneth Hall in 1953.
De Leon 60, Bangs 20 — Heston Jobe passed for 230 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 109 yards and another score to fuel the Bearcats to a convincing win over the Dragons.
Lane Couch (10-86, 1 TD) and Colt Schwertner (5-50, 2 TDs) also found the end zone on the ground for De Leon (7-2, 4-0), which was led in receiving by Bryce Burkeen (4-106, 2 TDs).
Brady 20, Tolar 14 — Ashton Taylor ran for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the Brady defense limited Tolar to 199 yards of total offense as the Bulldogs scored a hard-fought win over the Rattlers to stay unbeaten in district play.
BHS (7-2,) also got 78 yards and a TD rushing from Sean Jacoby, who passed for 72 yards as the Bulldogs built a 12-0 lead by halftime.
Brock 28, Graham 7 — Holt Frazier passed for 246 yards with touchdowns to three different receivers, and the Eagles defense put together a dominant effort in a comfortable win over the Steers.
Colt Matlock (3-85), Davis Lee (1-68) and Braeden Ray (3-39) all caught TD passes for Brock (9-0, 4-0), which also got 93 yards rushing from Bryer McDonald. Behind that group, the Eagles stretched a 21-0 halftime lead to four touchdowns before Graham finally got on the board late in the third quarter.
Midland Greenwood 10, Seminole 3 — After coming in averaging 46 and 50 points per game, respectively, the Rangers and Indians got defensive in a hard-fought matchup for the district championship.
The two teams went to halftime deadlocked after a scoreless first half, before Greenwood (9-0, 3-0) finally broke through in the third-quarter with a 22-yard field goal by Dylan Payton. The Rangers then scored the game’s only touchdown in the fourth quarter, when Nathaniel Romero (163 yards rushing) broke loose for a 48-yard touchdown run.
San Angelo Lake View 76, Big Spring 49 — Chris Alvizo passed for 293 yards and five touchdowns, and Izaiah Rios ran for 162 yards and two scores to help the Chiefs to an explosive win over the Steers.
Lake View (7-2, 2-0) also got a huge receiving day from Braylon White (6-122, 4 TDs) in piling up 526 yards of total offense (233 rushing, 293 passing) and setting a school record for points scored.
Photos by Riley Smith, HubCityPreps.com
LUBBOCK — Entering Friday’s game at Lubbock Cooper in control of its own playoff fate, the Wylie football team could all but clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Pirates on Friday.
But Lubbock Cooper went into that game with similar stakes and managed to come out of it with a hard-fought 42-35 win.
Needing a victory to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012, the Pirates overcame second-half deficits of 19-14 and 25-20 to rally past the Bulldogs and punch their ticket to the postseason. In the meantime, they put the Bulldogs in the precarious situation of needing a win over Plainview and a Wichita Falls Memorial loss to Wichita Falls Legacy to earn an 11th game.
Spending Halloween at Shotwell Stadium for Abilene High’s Senior Night matchup against Lubbock Monterey, Eagles quarterback Brayden Henry made a number of plays on Friday that will be haunting the Plainsmen’s dreams.
The senior speedster, who has been a nightmare to defend all season, made a pair of particularly fiendish plays to bookend a thrilling 42-34 win for AHS that both clinched the outright District 2-5A Division I championship for the Eagles and left Monterey needing to beat Amarillo Caprock in next week’s regular season finale to advance to the postseason as the league’s No. 4 playoff seed.
After opening the game’s scoring with a 31-yard touchdown run on a third-and-6 play that saw him evade a tackle in the backfield, beat a defender the edge and weave through the Plainsmen defense all the way to the end zone, Henry sealed the Abilene High victory with a similarly monstrous effort.
Facing a third-and-7 situation with one minute, 38 seconds remaining after the Plainsmen had narrowed the gap to eight points with Jonah Reed’s fifth touchdown pass of the night, Henry escaped the clutches of Darius Tillman in the backfield and evaded another potential tackle for loss by Sean Calderon before racing to and down the visitor’s sideline for a 14-yard gain that allowed his team to close the game in the victory formation and its night by hoisting its third district championship trophy in as many years.
With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the stakes are rising across the state for many high school football teams, and that increased urgency makes for some excellent matchups this time of year.
That’s certainly the case on the area six-man scene, where Halloween night will feature a number of intriguing contests, headlined by co-Games of the Week between Hermleigh and Ira in Division I and Aspermont and Jayton in Division II.
It’s time now to talk about those matchups — and more — in this week’s “Six-Man Lookahead” column. We hope you enjoy this preview of Week 10 action and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).
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 evening.
Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
Here are the final Big Country volleyball playoff pairings and results:
Continue reading “Big Country volleyball playoff pairings, results (Final)”
Week 9 yielded several big results as area district races continue to take shape. Chief among those were Water Valley’s win over Robert Lee and Zephyr’s victory over Blanket in our Games of the Week.
Those two outcomes headlined an exciting week of action that set the stage for more pivotal matchups in the final two weeks of the regular season.
As we do every Monday, it’s time to take a look at the best and most meaningful of games from last week in our “Big Country Rewind.” We hope you enjoy this look back at the week that was and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for up-to-date standings, results and upcoming matchups.
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 10:
Continue reading “WEEK 10 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
Photo by Carter Pirtle, PressPassSports.com
Abilene High 24, Amarillo Tascosa 6 — The Eagles made three red-zone stops in the first half to take a 10-0 lead into halftime and scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns pull away for a three-score win over the Rebels to clinch at least a share of the district title.
Ethan Joyner ran for 94 yards and received for 33, while M’Aujehl Aboso received for 160 yards and two touchdowns to fuel Abilene High (7-2, 5-0), which also got a solid game from Brayden Henry (14-67 rushing, 5-6-0—86, 1 TD passing) in the win.
Abilene Cooper 53, Wichita Falls Legacy 24 — The Cougars ran for 287 yards as a team, getting 102 yards and two touchdowns rushing and 27 yards receiving from Peyton Ewing in a thorough win over the Leopards.
Cooper (6-3, 4-1), which also got productive days from Jaden Carrillo (10-15-0—106, 1 TD passing; 4-51, 1 TD rushing) and Markquel Sims (11-87, 1 TD rushing), raced out to a 22-0 second-quarter lead and closed the third quarter with three unanswered touchdowns to increase a 29-17 lead to 50-17 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Muenster 28, Santo 0 — Casen Carney threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to lead the Hornets to a shutout win over the Wildcats in a game that was called at halftime due to weather.
Carney had passing touchdowns to Dustyn Croft and Maverick Bayer to stake Muenster to a 14-0 first-quarter lead, before running for scores of 43 and 56 yards to cap the scoring in the second quarter.
Windthorst 52, Haskell 14 — Brock Belcher ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 116 yards and three more scores to lead the Trojans to a convincing win over the Indians.
Adam Barton added 139 yards and one TD on the ground, and Jaxon Stark had 68 yards and two TDs receiving for Windthorst (6-2, 4-0), which increased a 24-8 halftime lead lead to 38-8 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Forsan 21, Christoval 7 — Hayden Bowlin ran for 183 yards and all three FHS touchdowns to lead the Buffaloes to a two-score win over the Cougars.
Forsan (3-5, 2-1), which also got 56 yards passing and eight yards receiving from Bowlin, limited Christoval to just 150 total yards in stretching a 7-0 halftime lead to two touchdowns by the start of the final period.
Brady 17, Early 15 (OT) — The Bulldogs needed four overtime periods to outlast the Longhorns, getting a two-point conversion run from Ashton Taylor to break a 15-all deadlock and secure a thrilling win.
Taylor also had a touchdown run in the second overtime period after neither team could score in the first. Brady (6-2, 3-0) led 7-0 at halftime thanks to a first-quarter TD run by Johnny Roque, but Early answered with a scoring pass from Caden Wilson to Andrew Reedy to tie the game at 7-all and eventually force overtime.
Hico 28, Coleman 27 — Cole Heutzenroeder ran for 226 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a thrilling win over the Bluecats in a key game in the 5-2A DI playoff race.
The senior running back helped Hico (5-3, 1-2) rally from 21-7 halftime deficit that remained two scores (27-14) into the fourth quarter.
Brock 66, Burkburnett 7 — Bryer McDonald ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns and Holt Frazier threw for 259 yards and four scores to lead the Eagles to a runaway win over the Bulldogs.
Colt Matlock also went over the century mark receiving, finishing with three catches for 107 yards and two TDs for Brock (8-0, 3-0), which won the turnover battle 3-0 in a dominating effort.
Seminole 81, Snyder 14 — The Indians passed for 456 yards, ran for 242 more and scored 12 total touchdowns in a lopsided win over the Tigers.
Dominick Higgins passed for 233 yards and three TDs, while Jacob Gonzales added 223 yards and three scores through the air for Seminole (6-2, 2-0), which also got a big rushing day from Caton Cramer (11-141, 5 TDs) and a standout receiving effort from Landen Guerra (6-229, 3 TDs).
Andrews 28, Big Spring 20 — JaeSean DeBouse ran for two touchdowns, while Beau Hudson and Casey Mendoza added one apiece to lift the the Mustangs to a hard-fought win over the Steers in the district opener for both teams.
Fueled by that prolific rushing attack, Andrews (3-5, 1-0) an early 7-0 lead to 21-7 in the second and held off a Big Spring rally from there to snap a two-game losing streak.
Photos by Carter Pirtle, PressPassSports.com
AMARILLO — The Abilene High football team hit the road on a mission Friday, looking to clinch at least a share of the District 2-5A Division I title and lock up a home playoff game with a win over a tough Amarillo Tascosa team that came in riding a three-game district winning streak itself.
After waiting out a lightning delay that pushed the start the game back more than an hour and a half, the Eagles accomplished all of those things, grinding out a 24-6 win at Dick Bivins Stadium to improve to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in 2-5A DI action.
Leading 10-0 at halftime after holding the Rebels to zero points on three red zone trips in the first half and 10-6 after three quarters following Tascosa’s only touchdown of the game, Abilene High put together a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives to seal the victory and set up a big regular-season finale at home against Lubbock Monterey next week.
ABILENE — While a venue change and an extended lightning delay forced the Cisco Loboes and Hawley Bearcats to make adjustments on their adjustments Friday at Wylie’s Hugh Sandifer Stadium, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week between the two squads lived up to the pregame hype surrounding the key District 4-2A Division I matchup.
After watching Hawley score 20 unanswered points to turn a 14-6 second-quarter deficit into a two-score lead heading into the fourth quarter, Cisco rallied with two touchdowns in the final period to claim a 29-26 win and take sole possession of the district lead in the process.
The victory, which improved CHS’ season record to 7-1, pushed the Loboes’ to 3-0 in league play — a game ahead of Hawley (5-3, 2-1) and Stamford (5-3, 2-1) with wins over both in their pocket.
Week 9 is here, and with it come two of the most highly anticipated matchups of the year, as Robert Lee and Water Valley are set to clash in a battle of ranked unbeatens in District 8-1A Division I and Zephyr and Blanket are scheduled to meet with District 13-1A Division II supremacy on the line.
The threat of inclement weather pushed several of the area’s other high-profile matchups to Thursday — the scores from which can be found on our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page — but there’s still plenty of upcoming action to talk about in this week’s “Six-Man Lookahead.”
Let’s stop wasting time and do that now as we dive into the best games Friday’s slate has to offer.
The Cooper football team didn’t start the week expecting to play a Thursday night game, but you wouldn’t have known that by the way the Cougars executed in a 53-24 home win over Wichita Legacy.
Playing a night earlier than scheduled due to thunderstorms forecasted for the area on Friday, the Cougars raced out to a 22-0 second-quarter lead and never let up in a thorough victory at Shotwell Stadium.
The win improved coach Aaron Roan’s squad to 6-3 on the year and 4-1 in District 2-5A Division II play, setting up a showdown with Amarillo Palo Duro (7-1, 4-0) for the league’s top playoff seed on Nov. 6, following the Cougars’ open date in Week 10.
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 evening.
Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
Being honored as the lone senior on the Wylie volleyball team, Avery LaCroix made her final home match a memorable one Tuesday evening, putting on a Senior Night show in a 25-13, 25-10, 25-13 win over crosstown rival Abilene High.
The versatile hitter put up a team-high 11 kills with a remarkable .688 hitting percentage while contributing a team high-tying three blocks (1 solo, 2 assists) to fuel a dominant effort for the Lady Bulldogs, who stayed unbeaten in District 4-5A play heading into a huge match at Wichita Falls Memorial on Friday.
The victory, which improved WHS to 31-7 overall and 7-0 in league action, was the 11th in a row for coach Shay Cox’s team, which has a chance to secure its second consecutive district title with one more win.
A common knock on six-man football is that it doesn’t yield many upsets or tight margins. Well, Week 8’s most high-profile games featured both.
Not only did we see Ira score what have been the upset of the year over Westbrook in our “Six-Man Lookahead” Game of the Week, we also got a 72-70 barn-burner between Perrin-Whitt and Bryson that saw the Pirates hold off one of the season’s most exciting comebacks.
It’s time now to relive those games — and more — in this week’s “Six-Man Rewind” column. We hope you enjoy this look back at Week 8 and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).
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 9:
Continue reading “WEEK 9 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
Abilene High 73, Lubbock High 0 — The Eagles outgained the Westerners 445-32 and got three non-offensive touchdowns, including a pair of fumble return scores for nose guard Jayden Starks in a blowout win on homecoming.
Tristan Beal passed for 169 yards and a touchdown, Brayden Henry had scores passing and rushing, and Ethan Joyner () and Josh Castillo () both went over 100 total yards in the win, which saw Abilene High (6-2, 4-0) build a 59-0 lead by halftime.
Abilene Cooper 56, Plainview 43 — Jaden Carrillo accounted for 380 total yards and five total touchdowns to fuel the Cougars to a two-touchdown road win over the Bulldogs.
The senior quarterback passed for 203 yards and two TDs and ran for 177 yards and three more scores, while Peyton Ewing (18-134, 2 TDs rushing) and Zaylon Johnson (8-127, 2 TDs receiving) also had big games for Cooper (5-3, 3-1).
Santo 54, Chico 14 — Dillan Branham ran for 126 yards and a touchdown and had two kickoff return touchdowns, while Jackson McKinnerney added 62 yards and three scores on the ground to lead the Wildcats to a lopsided win over the Dragons.
Michael Lockwood and Justin Hollingsworth also had rushing scores for Santo (6-1, 2-0), which closed the game with 41 unanswered points to rally from an early 14-13 deficit.
Haskell 44, Archer City 18 — Haegen Pinkerton ran for 262 yards and four touchdowns, and Ethan Camacho ran for 125 yards and two scores to fuel the Indians to a convincing win over the Wildcats.
Haskell (5-3, 3-1), which ran for 402 yards as a team on just 30 attempts, raced out to a 20-0 by the end of the first quarter to take control of the contest early.
Forsan 60, Colorado City 27 — Hayden Bowlin ran for 280 yards and five touchdowns and passed for 59 more yards to lift the Buffaloes to a comfortable win over the Wolves.
Ashton Ellis added 124 yards and two scores for Forsan, which ran for 425 yards as a team in improving to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in district play.