With a new season of boys high school basketball poised to begin, it’s time to take a look at what the Big Country will produce on the court.
Below you will find our top teams in each classification in the Big Country Preps coverage area, from Big Spring in the West, to Brock in the east and from Brady in the south to Munday in the north.
Our rankings of the top teams in each class are given, along with a season outlook, cataloguing our expectations for each club.
Here’s our preview. We’ll see you on the road.
Hawley 28, Cisco 17 — The Bearcats (8-2, 6-0) clinched the district title with a difficult road win over Cisco. 
With the column hitting at more than 90 percent accuracy last week, we now close the regular season on the upswing and with something uncommon: A local Big Country Preps Game of the Week. 
Cisco 38, Anson 19 — The Loboes kept their district title hopes alive with a win over Anson on the road. 
It really didn’t take long for people to start talking about the Hawley – Stamford matchup in 2023. In fact, this one was on our calendar as a possible Game of the Week before the season even started. 
Winters 48, Colorado City 7 — The Blizzards (1-8, 1-4) rolled up 374 yards rushing to earn their first win of the year. 
As Week 9 of the 2023Texas High School football season gets underway, there are multiple high-profile games that would qualify as our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Stamford 28, Cisco 13 — The Bulldogs set themselves up for a potential district title showdown with Hawley with a tough win at Cisco. 
Big Country Preps makes a point of sharing the love and we look for opportunities to take our Game of the Week to as many different places that make sense each year. 
After opening the season with a 50-34 loss to archrival Coahoma on Aug. 25, the Forsan Buffaloes have set about improving things and gradually chipped away with consecutive wins over Post (1-5), Stanton (1-5), McCamey (2-4) and Kermit (1-6) to improve to 4-1 prior to their open date on Sept. 29. 
Cisco 40, Olney 13 — Kannon Orsagh had 216 yards passing for three TDs on only six completions and rushed for 48 yards on only 10 carries to lead Cisco to a lopsided road win. 
Contrast in styles games make for excellent entertainment and are usually high on our list of potential Big Country Preps Games of the Week. 
Stamford 58, Olney 16 — Christian Duran was a perfect 10 of 10 through the air for 197 yards and three scores and added a rushing TD to lead the Bulldogs (5-0) to a rout of Olney. 
Cisco 36, Colorado City 7 — With a brutal non-district schedule featuring likely 3A playoff teams now behind them, the Cisco Loboes settled in to face their first 2A DI opponent in their district opener. 
Anson 21, Haskell 20 — It all boiled down to turnovers in this tough Anson road win, with the Tiger defense charting five takeaways to key the victory. 
Stamford 27, Ballinger 0 — Christian Duran threw for 205 yards and two TDs and rushed for 71 yards and another score as Stamford improved to 3-0.
Stamford 47, Haskell 13 — The Bulldogs (2-0) remained unbeaten with a balanced offensive effort that produced 160 yards through the air and 189 yards rushing.
Coming off a bi-district sweep of Plainview in which Reese Farrar and Rylee Moore both pitched five-inning one-hitters, it was going to be difficult for Wylie’s co-aces to repeat that performance against El Paso Parkland in the area round.
A no-hitter alone is often enough to secure the Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. But when it’s backed by a solid offensive performance, it’s very difficult to get knocked off of the perch. 
ANSON — With combined totals of six errors, nine walks and five hit batsmen, it didn’t require Casey Stengal to assess that neither Hawley or Anson brought their “A” game to Tuesday’s District 6-2A matchup at AHS. 
ANSON — Two of the Big Country’s oldest rivals clashed on Friday when Haskell paid a visit to Anson, resulting in a split of a District 10-2A girls-boys varsity doubleheader. 
