Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Evan and Dan go over the 2021 All-Big Country Preps Football Team, plus Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive MVPs, Coach of the Year and more!
Most high school football teams have that one player acknowledged by the coaching staff as the prime example of what a teammate should be.
He’s the guy who seldom misses any practice time and is a regular in the weight room. He’s early to arrive. He’s late to leave, takes pride in being coachable but seldom needs direction.
He always sets the right example for younger players. He doesn’t gripe and, above all else, he’s tough enough to make all the aforementioned traits possible.
Know someone like that? Here is where they are honored.
Welcome to Big Country Preps’ “True Grit” team — a collection of area players nominated by their head coaches, who exemplify the character traits football mentors want throughout their roster.
Not all of them are great players. In fact, many of them will never play a down of college football. But every single one of them is making the most of their high school football experience and has helped those around them do the same.
We are absolutely honored to present these young men to you — the toughest, hardest-working football players the Big Country had to offer in 2021.
Here are our selections for the 2021 All-Big Country Preps Football Team (Third-Team roster). For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
ANSON — Pool play concluded in the annual Anson Holiday Tournament on Monday, and nobody is in better shape than the hosts.
The Anson Tigers and Lady Tigers both swept through pool play with two straight wins — the boys beating Seymour 39-38 and Roscoe (69-29), while Anson’s girls dropped Roscoe 43-30 and Seymour 55-38. Both teams will play in their respective “Gold” brackets today with a chance to win the Tournament championship.
The Anson girls will face Farwell, the winner of Pool C at 8:30 a.m today. A victory would advance them to the tournament championship to face either Idalou or Iowa Park at 6 p.m. The Anson boys will take on Gunter at 1:30 p.m. If they win, they will face either Sweetwater or Farwell for the tournament championship at 7:30 p.m.
The Roscoe girls, despite their 0-1 start, recovered with a 63-38 win in the evening to secure a spot in the silver bracket where they will take on Lorena.
While scoring a lot of points is always an attention-getter, the Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week column puts a great deal of value in players who can contribute in a variety of ways. And today’s winner is a prime of example of that.
Stamford junior guard Laylonna Applin takes our accolade after helping the Lady Bulldogs to a 5-0 record on the week, with wins over Burkburnett, Christoval, Class 4A No. 13 Sanger, the San Angelo Central JV and Veribest. The last for victories came in the Ballinger tournament, at which Applin was named MVP.
Yes, she did plenty of scoring, dropping in an eye-popping 134 points through five games. But Applin did a lot more than just put the ball in the hoop.
Big numbers will generally get one strong consideration for our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. But when those numbers come against a team from a much larger classification, it quickly makes us take notice.
Class 2A Hico’s Grace Booth did exactly that last week in a 61-57 win over Class 4A Mineral Wells, dominating both ends of the floor to lead the Lady Tigers in their season opener.
Aside from the 40 points she poured in, Booth snagged 10 rebounds to chart a double-double. She also forced multiple turnovers (viewable on the video above), including three steals.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Anson-Coleman football (95 images)”
Hawley 56, San Saba 9 — Austin Cumpton rushed for 111 yards and five touchdowns while the Bearcat defense limited San Saba to just 98 total yards in a lopsided victory for Hawley.
The Bearcats (11-0), who also got 97 yards and one TD rushing from Lawson Bailey, led 42-0 by halftime and added another touchdown in the third quarter before the Armadillos finally got on the board.
San Saba, which closed its season at 2-9, was led by Wesley Lackey with 99 yards and one rushing touchdown on 10 carries.
Playing their first playoff game since 2017 after having the postseason trip they earned last year wiped out by COVID, the Coleman Bluecats weren’t about to let Thursday’s bi-district matchup with Anson go by without savoring the experience.
And by the time they left the field at Wylie’s Hugh Sandifer Stadium with the gold ball they had earned with Thursday’s 62-12 win, coach John Elder and company had given themselves — and the many blue-clad fans in attendance — a memorable experience to enjoy.
The ninth-ranked Bluecats rushed for 425 yards while limiting the Tigers to just 237 yards of total offense to run away from the Tigers and earn an area-round matchup next week with the winner of Farwell and Post at a time, date and location to be determined.
After highlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, we now take a look at the area’s best big men.
For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top 10 post players.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.
With boys basketball season beginning this week, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2021-22 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this winter.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
Nobody ever truly obtains perfection on the football field. And even if you believe you’ve achieved it, any competent coach can quickly scan the game film and point out when and where you could have been better along the way.
Roscoe sophomore Jax Watts, however, came about as close as one can come to that lofty goal in Friday’s 61-0 win over Hamlin.
To begin with, our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week hit 17 of 18 passes for 436 yards and six touchdowns as the Plowboys (9-1) closed the season with a nine-game winning streak and district title.
Haskell 37, Stamford 20 —Haskell overcame four turnovers to chalk up its second straight win and secure the No. 3 seed in district.
The Indians rushed for 219 yards as a team while limiting Stamford to 195 yards in total offense.
With the girls basketball season upon us, it’s time to take a look at the local and area players who will be making the biggest impact for their teams during the 2021-22 season.
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 this season.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.
Haskell 35, Anson 18 —Carter Rankin threw for 207 yards and two scores and added a rushing TD to lead Haskell (3-6, 1-3) to a crucial district win at Anson which throws the possible playoff scenarios into complete turmoil.
With the score tied at 7-7 at the break, Haskell took the game over with a 28-8 run through the second half.
It’s never a surprise to see Sweetwater senior quarterback Leo Holsey among the top performers in our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week column.
Since his freshman year, the four-year starter has topped our weekly list multiple times, including this week after helping Sweetwater to a 61-37 win over Pecos on Friday.
Holsey only threw 15 passes, but he connected on 12 of them for 364 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 75 yards and two more scores, giving him a direct hand in 439 yards and seven TDs.
Forsan 28, Haskell 0 — Forsan remained unbeaten behind 216 yards in combined rushing.
Nate Hernandez led the Buffaloes (8-0, 3-0) with 122 yards rushing and two scores on 14 carries. Sawyer Stallings was perfect through the air, going 6-for-6 for 59 yards and a score.
LAST WEEK: 35-11, .760
SEASON TOTAL: 322-74, .813
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will send me south to historic Hufford Field in Coleman, where the Bluecats (6-0) will play host to perennial power Cisco (6-1) in what is essentially the District 4-2A Division I championship.
Opened way back in 1934, Hufford is one of the Big Country’s oldest and most unique venues and if you are looking for a game to go to on Friday, this one will not only offer some good football, but some nostalgia as well.
The immense rock wall surrounding the field was built in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration or WPA as the nation battled its way out of The Great Depression.
Hope to see you there.
Here are this week’s picks:
It’s one thing to rush for more than 300 yards and three scores against a struggling program. We see that all the time from the area’s top running backs.
But it’s an entirely different thing when those yards come against a solid team with a sturdy defense. That’s earning it the hard way.
Jim Ned’s Xavier Wishert, our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week, took that route on Friday night when he charted 313 yards rushing and three scores on just 20 carries in a 37-20 road win over the Wall Hawks.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Forsan-Anson football (65 images)”
Colorado City 28, Haskell 27 — Chris Green took a kickoff back with less than a minute left in the game to give Colorado City a miraculous win at Haskell to snap a 26-game losing streak dating back to late 2018.
Trailing 27-19 with just under a to play, Chris Ortiz started the late rally by scoring a two-point safety with a sack in the Haskell end zone to pull the Wolves within six points.
ANSON — Anson had all the momentum with a 21-7 lead midway through the second quarter when Forsan’s snap rolled back to quarterback Major Stockton.
Stockton, who struggled to pick the football up off the ground, then turned things around with a 71-yard scoring run after finding the grip and rallied the Buffaloes to a 50-27 win at Tiger Stadium on Friday night in a key District 3-2A Division I game.
It marked the first time that a Jason Phillips-led team had won a game in Anson.
LAST WEEK: 40-7, .851
SEASON TOTAL: 287-63, .820
Week 8? Are you kidding?
I ask the same question, or some variant of it virtually every year. We just finished with two-a-days. How can we possibly be this deep in the season so quickly?
Yet hear we are. A cold weather snap approaching. Thanksgiving right around the corner —as are the playoffs.
This week’s Game of the Week will see me traveling north to Ralls where the surprising Roscoe Plowboys, off to their best start in years, will be in a showdown for the district lead.
The column hit at 85 percent accuracy last week and is now up to 82 percent on the year. So we’ll see if we can keep the momentum going through the home stretch.
Let’s have a look at this week’s picks: