Goldthwaite 56, Albany 0 — The Eagles (8-0, 4-0) rolled up 456 yards in total offense to remain unbeaten.
Landry Sanderson rushed for 232 yards and five scores to lead Goldthwaite, which held Albany to an eye-popping minus-16 yards rushing.
Category: Albany Lions
DISTRICT 7-2A DII WEEK 7 REPORT: Goldthwaite, Stamford on collision course
Goldthwaite 63, Hamlin 0 — The Eagles raced out to a 49-0 first-half lead before cruising home for their seventh straight win against no losses.
GHS (7-0, 3-0) finished with 436 yards in total offense; Hamlin (2-5, 0-3) totaled only 29 yards on the night.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Albany travels to Stamford (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)
LAST WEEK: 30-6, .833
SEASON TOTAL: 297-88, .771
ALBANY (4-1, 1-0) AT STAMFORD (4-2, 2-0)
Can you get two more storied programs to square off in the Big Country than Albany and Stamford?
Toss in the fact that it’s an important District 7-2A DII game while both are having successful seasons and our Big Country Preps Game of the Week is an easy choice.
Stamford’s Bill Anderson Stadium is the venue. Big Country legends Denney Faith (Albany) and Wayne Hutchinson (Stamford) are the coaches. And to the winner? A chance to challenge red-hot Goldthwaite for the district title.
DISTRICT 7-2A DII WEEK 6 REPORT: Goldthwaite, Stamford, Albany all notch district wins
Goldthwaite 61, Miles 0 — The Eagles (6-0, 2-0) continued to roll with 473 yards in balanced total offense, with 232 yards rushing and 241 passing.
Hayes Greenway threw four TD passes and Landry Sanderson rushed for 126 yards and two scores to lead Goldthwaite.
Miles slipped to 2-4 and 0-2.
DISTRICT 7-2A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Goldthwaite improves to 5-0 with win
Goldthwaite 69, Winters 0 — The Eagles remained unbeaten by holding Winters to minus-14 yards in total offense.
Owen Campbell rushed for 57 yards and two scores and Hayes Greenway threw for 47 yards, rushed for 26 and accounted for two TDs to lead Goldthwaite (5-0, 1-0).
DISTRICT 7-2A DII WEEK 4 REPORT: Stamford, Miles, Albany, Winters all score wins
Stamford 27, Cisco 7 — The Bulldogs stunned Cisco with a 21-0 second quarter and then held on to get the win on the road.
Christopher McCan rushed for 110 yards, including a 90-yard TD run in the third quarter, and miles Follis threw for 216 yards and two scores to lead the Bulldogs (2-2).
Cisco (2-2) was led by Colby McElroy, who rushed for 145 yards and threw for 117
DISTRICT 7-2A DII WEEK 3 REPORT: Goldthwaite, Hamlin both notch wins
Goldthwaite 35, San Saba 17 — The Armadillos came to play against their heavily favored archrivals and held a 10-7 lead after one quarter.
But after Goldthwaite took command with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, the Eagles maintained the upper hand for the rest of the evening.
Goldthwaite improved to 3-0; San Saba fell to 1-2.
GAME STORY: Unbeaten De Leon passes major test, beating No. 6 Albany 42-7
DE LEON — The general thinking was we’d find out how good a football team the unbeaten De Leon Bearcats were when they played the tradition-rich Albany Lions on Friday night.
This just in. The Bearcats are good. Really good.
Lane Couch rushed for 215 yards and three touchdowns, quarterback Hud Price passed for two TDs, and De Leon’s defense continued to shut down opponents as the Bearcats beat the Albany Lions 42-7 at Bearcat Field.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Pinkerton takes his second award in as many weeks
We prefer to not have the same athlete win our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in successive weeks, given that it is our aim to share the love. But every now and then, the numbers simply make that impossible.
So here we have it: Haskell’s Haegen Pinkerton has won our accolade twice in as many weeks, and deservedly so after leading the Indians to a 62-44 win at Bangs on Friday.
DISTRICT 7-2A DII WEEK 2 REPORT: Goldthwaite, Miles, Albany all notch wins
Goldthwaite 48, Granger 0 — The Eagles (2-0) remained unbeaten with a blowout win at Granger.
Hayess Greenway threw for 261 yards and three TDs and rushed for 115 to lead Goldthwaite, which will face archrival San Saba (1-1) next week.
Granger fell to 1-1.
PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Albany football (87 images)
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Albany football (87 images)”
DISTRICT 7-2A DII WEEK 1 REPORT: Goldthwaite, Cross Plains, Stamford and Hamlin earn first-week wins
Goldthwaite 59, Junction 27
Goldthwaite dominated Junction, outgaining JHS 502-220, including 283 yards rushing.
Haynes Greenway led GHS, with 219 yards passing and three scores.
Landry Sanderson was the top ground gainer for Goldthwaite with 132 yards and four TDs on 22 carries.
GAME STORY: Chapman’s big night helps Albany overcome Stofel, Hawley
ALBANY — One of the better rivalries that’s developed during the Big Country Preps era is a battle for Class 2A supremacy between Hawley and Albany.
The two teams met for the seventh time since the start of the 2018 season on Friday night at Faith Field at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium, and the 2026 matchup might go down as one of the more memorable ones in that span.
Albany used a fourth-down stop in the second quarter to overcome an early two-score deficit and shift the momentum, helping the Lions open Denney Faith’s 40th year as head coach with a 34-27 win over the Bearcats.
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 15 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2026.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.
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 earlier today, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 15 with a list of others to watch in 2026. Don’t forget to check in tomorrow when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.
We hope you enjoy this list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
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 with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 15 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2026.
We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
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 15 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2026.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
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 10 kickers and top three 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 2026 season.
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 15 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2026.
We hope you enjoy our list.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Linebackers
After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen last night, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2026.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 15 linebackers to watch this fall, as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.
We hope you enjoy our list.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen
With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2026.
For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 15 with a list of others to watch this fall.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen”
2026 DISTRICT PREDICTIONS: Evan and Daniel make their picks
The time has arrived for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
Several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor have gone into this, so we’re more than ready to post it.
With that please dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today. Enjoy! We’ll see you on the road!
ALBANY Q&A: Lions coach Denney Faith talks about how and why he continues to coach
ALBANY — The dean Big Country coaches is back at it again.
Every year since 1987, Albany’s Denney Faith has guided the Lions through two-a-days, scrimmages and eventually the season.
After 22 district titles, six trips to state title games, two state championships and a 379-116-4, the future Big Country Hall of Famer (we assume) will be wearing the headset for his 40th season.
We now converse with Faith about his experience at Albany and his future in this Big Country Preps Q&A.
2026 ALBANY FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Albany’s Denney Faith not making any assumptions heading into 2026 season
ALBANY — With only five offensive and four defensive starters back among just 13 lettermen, there will be a lot of fresh young faces in the Albany camp in 2026. And despite their being some promising young talent on hand, veteran coach Denney Faith isn’t making any assumptions heading into this season.
Promising on paper doesn’t always translate to performance on the field, so the dean of Big Country football mentors is taking a wait-and-see approach while he and his staff work to find the best combinations — particularly on the offensive line.
“Anytime you lose some valuable seniors, they’re going to be hard to replace,” said Faith, who has been the varsity coach at Albany since 1987 with an overall record of 379-116-4. “We feel like we have a good core group coming back, especially at our skill positions. We think we can be good there if we can give them some protection from the offensive line.
“That’s where (graduation) really hit us the most.”
2026 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: First-Team Roster
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
- Superlative Award Winners (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc.)
- All-Big Country Preps Second-Team Baseball Selections (w/ honorable mention)
- All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team (the best freshman and sophomores in the area!)
- Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team (to be released Monday night)
2026 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: Second-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
- Superlative Award Winners (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc.)
- All-Big Country Preps First-Team Baseball Selections
- All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team (the best freshman and sophomores in the area!)
- Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team (to be released Monday night)
2026 Big Country Preps Rising Stars Baseball Team: The top sophomores and freshmen in the area
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball teams.
Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country.
For the rest of this year’s baseball selections, please click the links below.
- Superlative Award Winners (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc.)
- All-Big Country Preps First-Team Baseball Selections
- All-Big Country Preps Second-Team Baseball Selections (w/ honorable mention)
- Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team (to be released Monday night)
2026 All-Big Country Preps Softball Team: First-team Roster
Here are our first-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
- Superlative Award Winners (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc.)
- All-Big Country Preps Second-Team Softball Selections (w/ honorable mention)
- All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team (the best freshman and sophomores in the area!)
- Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team (To be released Monday night)
2026 All-Big Country Preps Softball Team: Second-team Roster (w/ honorable mention)
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
- Superlative Award Winners (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc.)
- All-Big Country Preps First-Team Softball Selections
- All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team (the best freshman and sophomores in the area!)
- Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team (To be released Monday night)