Graham 58, Sweetwater 14 — Ty Thompson passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 51 yards while Rylan Monsey ran for 241 yards and four scores to lead the Steers to a lopsided win over the Mustangs.
Behind those two and solid games from Isaiah Flores (8-79, 2 TDs rushing) and Peyton Kinman (5-89, 2 TDs receiving), Graham (8-1, 2-1) raced out to a 31-14 halftime lead before putting the game away in the final two quarters.
ABILENE – The Wichita Falls Coyotes ran the football on the Brownwood Lions like no other team this season during Friday night’s rain-soaked Class 4A Division I regional semifinal game. As a result, the heavily favored Lions’ season ended with a 41-19 loss to the upstart Coyotes at Wildcat Stadium.
Cameron Gould, a two-way ironman at linebacker and running back, rushed for 158 yards and five touchdowns as the Coyotes, who were 3-3 at one point this season, improved to 9-4 and advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2013. Wichita Falls will face District 4-4A DI rival Decatur for the Region I championship at 7 p.m. next Friday, Dec. 2, at Collins Stadium in Denton.
Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
DUBLIN – It was incredibly ironic that a six-man football game that included 178 points and 1,157 total yards of offense was decided by two defensive stands.
The May Tigers outlasted the defending state champion Blum Bobcats 92-86 in overtime Saturday night in a Class 1A Division I state semifinal game. The win advanced third-ranked May (13-1) into the state championship game against No. 1 Sterling City at 2 p.m. on Dec. 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Sterling City handed May its only loss this season 44-40 on Sept. 4.
“I’m overcome with emotions. We’re going to state,” said May junior Kaden Halk, who rushed for 302 yards and scored seven touchdowns Saturday. “Since the eighth grade, our coaches have told us that defense wins championships. This wasn’t a championship game, but it got us to a championship game.”
BROWNWOOD — It’s difficult to imagine the tradition-rich Cisco Loboes having to end a curse in football. After all, Cisco won state in 2013, finished as the state runner-up four times since 2002 and has qualified for the playoffs in 17 of the last 20 seasons.
But with Friday’s dominating 54-20 win over the Hawley Bearcats in the Region I-2A Division I semifinals, the Loboes felt they broke a curse of going five consecutive years without reaching the fourth round of the playoffs.
By Seth LaRue (special to Big Country Preps)
WEATHERFORD — Few playoff teams are allowed to enjoy happy endings and the Albany volleyball team wasn’t one of the exceptions in 2020.
Facing reigning Class 2A state champion Crawford in a state semifinal matchup, the Lady Lions fell in straight sets 14-25, 11-25, and 14-25.
“It was a great season, (The Lady Lions) haven’t been this far since 2008. We were going to feel sad whatever round we lost at and we are thankful that we made it to the state semifinals.” Albany coach MJ Reneau said at the conclusion of their game at Weatherford High School.
The Lions were forced into an early hole in the first set by an aggressive Crawford team led by Junior Katie Warden. Down 6-12, the Pirates went on a 13-8 run to secure their advantage and eventually, the set.
The Bangs Lady Dragons handily defeated Dublin Lady Tuesday night in four sets: 25-5, 14-25, 25-12, 25-19. 
Skylar Hutchins, had 23 digs, with additional help from Halle Lance and Jacee Miller to lead Bangs. The Lady Dragons’ offensive front capitalized on the help, with a total of 29 kills as a team.
“My girls started out really strong and were ready to come out and beat Dublin.” Bangs coach Cheyanne Lovelady said. “They were indeed ready as some of the girls showed out in a big way tonight, most notably from the serve line.”
By Seth LaRue (special to Big Country Preps)
The De Leon Lady Cats continued to roll through their opposition this week by taking down another district opponent, the Zephyr Lady Bulldogs, in
straight sets, 25-14, 25-21, and 25-14.
“We played a little rough,” De Leon coach Kinsey Garcia said. “It wasn’t exactly how I wanted it to go, but we started focusing on serves which helped us a bunch and we maintained our energy which was good and hopefully (we’d) just push more for the next game.”
ODESSA — The Cooper football team got off to a fast start and finished strong in Friday’s season opener against Odessa Permian, but 21 points off turnovers proved too much to overcome in a 47-35 loss to the Panthers.
After falling behind 14-0 on a pair of Aidan Thompson touchdown passes, Permian used two pick-sixes and a fumble return touchdown to take a 41-21 lead into halftime, before holding off a Cougar rally in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
BROWNWOOD — The defense couldn’t save the Brownwood Lions this time.
The China Spring Cougars topped the Brownwood Lions 35-14 Friday night at Gordon Wood Stadium as running back Emmanuel Abdallah rushed for 213 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Major Bowden added 100 yards rushing, plus 82 yards and a touchdown passing as the undefeated Cougars (3-0) defended their No. 10 ranking in Class 4A Division II by texasfootball.com.
Brownwood (1-2) got 94 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Royshad Henderson. The Lions also put together a 19-play drive that expired 12:18 of the second half and was finished by Henderson’s 1-yard touchdown run. However, the 77-yard drive only pulled Brownwood within 35-14 with 7:13 left in the game.
By Seth LaRue (special to Big Country Preps)
The Dublin Lady Lions rebounded from two consecutive losses in pre-district play with a convincing defeat of the Early Lady Horns on Tuesday at the Early Longhorn Gym.
The Lady Lions controlled the match from the onset with a first set win, 25-21, and never once lost stride. They proceeded to win the next two sets 25-20 and 25-22, respectively.
Dublin Coach Kaitlyn Embry had nothing but praise for her varsity team saying, “They did such a good job. They pushed through, they never let up and it’s everything we really have been working hard for in preseason that actually showed up on the court tonight.”
MINERAL WELLS – The Valley View Eagles won a state quarterfinals football game Friday night in which they managed only six first downs and 182 total yards.
Valley View took advantage of its opportunities and upset the third-ranked San Saba Armadillos 14-12 in the Class 2A Division I state quarterfinals at Rams Stadium. The Eagles turned a fumble recovery by Christian McMurray and a 70-yard kickoff return by Clint Epperson into two short touchdown possessions, and Valley View’s determined defense made the 14 points stand up for the win.
Valley View (12-2) won for the 11th straight time and advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 1992. The Eagles will play Post, which beat Hawley on Friday, in next week’s Class 2A DI state semifinals.
MANSFIELD – Maybe it’s not so bad to have a slow start — as long as you play as well as the San Saba Armadillos did in the second quarter Friday night.
San Saba scored 30 second-quarter points despite the wet weather conditions at Vernon Newsom Stadium and rallied for a dominating 57-14 win over the Bogata Rivercrest Rebels in a Class 2A Division I regional-round playoff game.
The No. 3-ranked Armadillos (13-0) advanced to play Valley View in next week’s state quarterfinals. San Saba beat Valley View in last year’s football playoffs, when the Armadillos advanced to the state semifinals.