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 Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.
For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday night.
Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 4)”
LAST WEEK: 41-8, .837
OVERALL: 130-27, .828
On a Friday where any one of four or five games is arguably a candidate for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, our final decision — Brady at Dublin — was based on sharing the love.
Jim Ned and Mason is on the board, as is Wichita Falls Rider at Brownwood, Hawley at Albany, Christoval at Cross Plains and, of course, the annual war between Brock and Breckenridge.
But with Jim Ned a likely candidate for Game of the Week when it faces Wall and Eastland later this year, and Brownwood receiving live coverage for Snyder two weeks ago and Wylie next week, the field narrowed a bit.
Hawley got our Game of the Week last Friday, and Albany will likely see the GOW when it faces Hamlin, so we’re heading to Dublin where Brady will be a part of its first-ever BCP spotlight game.
It shouldn’t disappoint.
After a successful five-year run at Magnolia High School, following a stint as an assistant and offensive coordinator at Cooper, Sterling Doty has returned home to lead the Stephenville program he helped to two state titles in the late 1990s.
This week, Doty took a few minutes to chat with Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about his team, the pressure he faces as Stephenville’s coach and some of his influences for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.
Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss some of their takeaways from the third week of the Big Country football season and take a look at the top matchups in Week 4.
Continue to check back at BigCountryPreps.com each Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when Evan and Dan discuss the current happenings in Big Country High School sports — often with an interesting sports figure from around the area.
You can also peruse our BCP Podcast archive, which features dozens of our previous shows with prominent coaches and Big Country media fixtures.
Inquiries regarding these podcasts may be directed to Evan Ren at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com.
If you have a suggested topic of conversation or a recommended guest, don’t hesitate to contact us!
SNYDER — Some people can make a difference in the lives of others by simply being themselves — serving as an inspiration without even trying.
Count 37-year-old Jonathan Barrow of Snyder among them.
Barrow, who has been restricted to a wheel chair due to cerebral palsy since childhood, developed a love for the Snyder Tiger football team while attending SHS during the early 2000s.
Over time, he has became a invaluable part of the program in ways that no coach can fully replace.
“Jonathan lives and breathes football,” his mother, Suzanne, said. “It started with (former coach Chad) Rogers including him on the coaches show every Friday morning and it has just blossomed since then.”
MUNDAY — It has become an October tradition in Munday for attendees at a Mogul football game to sing happy birthday to one of MHS’ top fans: Gene Thompson.
This year, however, the brief ceremony carries a special significance — one that Thompson has literally waited 100 years for.
Yes, Thompson, a 99-year-old veteran of World War II, will officially become a centenarian on Oct. 23. He will be honored two nights later at Munday’s home game against Quanah, where everyone in attendance will recognize the longest-tenured Mogul fan in the program’s history.
To put Thompson’s connection to Munday athletics into perspective, it began when he played football as a Mogul in 1936. That’s three years before the retirement of baseball great Lou Gehrig, before Gone with the Wind was in the box office and before the horrific war in which he took part had seen its first shot fired.
Every year, a family in Blackwell brings in a foreign exchange student, and this year it is Thailand’s Mickey Toasaksiri who has made his way to the Big Country from nearly 9,000 miles away.
Taking in the full West Texas experience at the rural high school located about 30 miles south of Sweetwater, Toasaksiri has not only joined the Hornet football team, he’s found a role on coach Clint Lowry’s squad as a placekicker.
Lowry, who has grown accustomed to having the foreign exchange students around campus, appreciates what Toasaksiri has brought to the Blackwell community and his team — even if learning to pronounce his name has been a challenge.
This has earned his kicker the affectionate nickname “Mickey T.” And Toasaksiri’s proficiency in his new role has quickly earned him the trust of his coaches and teammates.
Continue reading “BCP SIX-MAN SPOTLIGHT: Blackwell’s Toasaksiri getting his gridiron kicks”
DE LEON — The De Leon Bearcats would have enough challenges this football season just switching from the pass-oriented spread offense to the run-oriented Wing-T. But the Class 2A Bearcats also lost six starters to injuries in their first two games, which doesn’t mix well with a challenging nondistrict schedule that opens with four 3A opponents in Clyde, Tolar, Dublin and Comanche.
The Bearcats edged Clyde 7-6 in the opener, but have since lost to Tolar 23-17 and Dublin 31-7. Next up is county rival Comanche followed by Stamford, a perennially solid 2A program.
Munday 39, Roscoe JV 0 — The Moguls are at present, playing against a string of JV teams, due to low numbers.
They will again take the field with a varsity squad on Sept. 20 against Clarendon and will remain on a varsity schedule for the remainder of the football season.
The Moguls are currently 1-0 vs. varsity clubs and 2-1 overall.
Coahoma 55, Wink 22 — Zach Schneider threw for 178 yards and two scores and rushe for 65 and two more TDs to lead Coahoma in a blowout win.
Sean Streigler caught two passes for 77 yards and two scores and Braxton Chandler hauled in three catches for 71 yards and another TD as the Bulldogs improved to 3-0.
Collectively, Coahoma rushed for 166 yards and threw for 196.
Llano 49, Brady 24 — The Bulldogs hung with Class 4A Llano for three quarters Friday, but the undefeated Yellowjackets scored 28 fourth-quarter points to turn a nine-point game after three quarters into a 25-point win.
Llano outgained Brady 498-222, but the Yellowjackets had three turnovers, keeping the game close early. LHS led 14-0 at halftime, but the Bulldogs outscored the Yellowjackets 12-7 in the third to pull within 21-12 heading into the fourth quarter.
Brady, which was led in the loss by Walker Bauer (12-31-1—122 passing; 16-64, 1 TD rushing), will return to the field Friday with a nondistrict game at Dublin.
Dublin 31, De Leon 7 — Cy Wing passed for 149 yards and rushed for 80 while accounting for three scores to lift Dublin to 2-1). 
De Leon’s offensive struggles continued Friday in a lopsided loss to the Class 3A Lions. De Leon, which is switching to the wing-T this year, was held to seven points for the second time this season and has scored just 31 points through its first three games.
Brock 28, Argyle Liberty Christian 21 — The Eagles outscored the Warriors 21-7 over the middle two quarters and made a goal line stand in the waning seconds Friday to edge Liberty Christian and improve to 2-1 on the season.
Brock, which was outgained 406-386, trailed 14-7 after a quarter and 21-14 at the nine-minute mark of the second period. But coach Chad Worrell’s team scored the final 14 points of the game, getting touchdown runs Nos. 3 and 4 from Cash Jones to take a 28-21 lead that it would protect the rest of the way.
Jones had 202 rushing yards on 28 carries to lead Brock, while quarterback Logan Lightfoot hit five of seven throws for 90 yards. The Eagles will close out nondistrict play next week at Breckenridge.
Big Spring 21, Monahans 13 — Trailing 13-7 at the half, Big Spring earned its first victory of the year with a pair of second half touchdowns.
A 1-yard run by Gabriel Baeza gave the Steers the lead in the third quarter. A pick-6 by Brandon Zarraga in the final period pushed the lead to eight.
Orlando Sanchez was the top yardage producer for the Steers (1-2) with 115 yards on 28 carries.
Brownwood 28, Graham 14 — Drew Huff threw for 281 yards and two scores to keep Brownwood (3-0) unbeaten.
The Lions rallied from a 14-7 halftime deficit with 21 unanswered points in the second half.
AJ McCarty was Huff’s favorite target, hitting him five times for 152 yards and a score. Isyah Campos Hauled in three catches for an additional 118 yards another score.
San Saba 63, Junction 0 — The Armadillos followed a 28-point first quarter with a 35-point second, reaching a season-high scoring total by halftime of their third blowout win to open the season.
San Saba, which has outscored its opponents 177-3 so far, put up 509 yards in the victory — 339 rushing and 170 passing. Quarterback Sean O’Keefe led that effort, completing seven of nine passes for 96 yards and three touchdowns while adding 159 yards and two more scores rushing.
The Amardillos, who also got a 100-yard rushing effort from Eli Salinas (10-110, 2 TDs), will look to continue their dominant start to the season next week, when they travel to Georgetown for a neutral site game against Snook.
Forsan 22, Stanton 19 — Forsan overcame an early 13-7 deficit with 230 rushing yards as a team.
Major Stockton led Forsan (1-2) with 113 yards and a score on only eight carries. Sawyer Stallings threw for 105 and another score.
FHS snapped a six-game losing streak dating back to Oct. 19 of last season with the win.
Wichita Falls Hirschi 70, Sweetwater 41 — The Mustangs rallied from 20-point deficit to pull within five on two occasions in the third quarter Friday, but the Huskies simply had too much firepower, using a 30-point fourth fourth quarter to pull away late.
Leo Holsey threw five touchdown passes — three to Darian Carr and two to Kei-Arriyen Griffin — to lead a solid offensive showing for Sweetwater. But the Mustang defense struggled to contain and explosive Hirschi attack, despite recovering six fumbles. The Huskies, who led 20-6 at halftime, scored 50 second-half points.
Now 1-2 on the year, the Mustangs will try to get back on track next week when they travel to Iowa Park for their final nondistrict tune-up. They open league play the following week with a home game against district favorite Midland Greenwood.
Bangs 42, Winters 27 — Ethan Sanchez rushed for 146 yards on 19 carries and Brayton Wedeman had 100 yards on 10 touches to lead the Dragons (2-1), who are off to their best start in years.
Winters (2-1) was led by Alex Salas, who rushed for 67 yards and two scores and threw for 47 yards and two more TDs.
The Dragons will host Anson (1-2) which is coming off an impressive win over Stamford, this Friday.
Haskell 14, Peaster 13 — The Indians only managed 192 yards of total offense Friday, but a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Cutter Medford to Logan Burson were enough to lift coach Brian Hodnett’s squad to a one-point win over the Class 3A Greyhounds.
Peaster struck first in the second quarter with a 63-yard touchdown run by Shawn Glover, and the score remained 7-0 into the fourth. Scoring passes of 26 and 34 yards put the Indians up 14-7, and a failed two-point conversion on a late Greyhound touchdown allowed Haskell to escape with the narrow victory.
Medford passed for 136 yards and Burson received for 110 for the Indians (2-1), who limited Peaster to 259 yards and forced five turnovers. Haskell will host Stamford next week.
Early 19, Tolar 18 — Brent Grooms threw for 205 yards for a score and rushed for 57 yards and two more scores to help the Longhorns improve to 2-1 on
the year.
Early trailed 18-13 heading into the fourth quarter before earning a road win with a late score.
Timmy Smithson was a favorite target of Grooms, hauling in six catches for 144 yards and a touchdown.
STEPHENVILLE — When asked about his team’s dominant performance on homecoming night, Stephenville coach Sterling Doty had plenty of credit to pass around.
The Yellow Jackets routed Wylie 34-0 at Tarleton Memorial Stadium, shutting down a Bulldog offense that came in averaging more than 280 passing yards per game.
CLYDE — The Clyde defense turned in its second-best effort of the young season as the Bulldogs posted a 34-0 win over Comanche on Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
The Indians, who were coming off a momentum building 31-28 win over Breckenridge last week, couldn’t get on track in the loss as they gained just 66 yards — only nine of which came after the game’s opening drive.
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 Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.
For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday night.
Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 3)”
LAST WEEK: 46-6, .884
SEASON TOTAL: 89-19, .824
I don’t know what has me more jazzed — the interesting slate of Big Country games we’ve got on tap this week, or the fact that I hit 88 percent of my picks in Week 2 and am at 82 percent for the season.
I don’t mind saying, it’s way too early in to be picking at a rate that high. Normally the 80-percent plateau is crossed in the second half of the season, after you get dialed in on who’s who. But why should I complain? It will give me a leg up on Youngblood.
Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week — Hamlin (2-0) at Hawley (2-0) — was actually circled on the calendar well in advance of the season.
Yes, last year’s matchup resulted in a 32-6 Hamlin win.
But the venue switches to Hawley this time around and unless I’ve missed my guess, the Bearcats are more than motivated after being escorted to the woodshed by the Pipers a year ago.
After a late arrival at Coahoma, Chris Joslin led the Bulldogs to a 4-7 record in his first season as a head football coach. This year, with most of that squad back, he has his team off to a 2-0 start, through which it has outscored its first two opponents by a combined 78-9 margin.
This week, Joslin took some time to talk to Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about this year’s team and his transition to the head coaching role on the Capital Farm Credit Wednesday Night Podcast.
Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss the most interesting developments of Week 2 of the Big Country football season and take a look at the top matchups of Week 3.
Continue to check back at BigCountryPreps.com each Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when Evan and Dan discuss the current happenings in Big Country High School sports — often with an interesting sports figure from around the area.
You can also peruse our BCP Podcast archive, which features dozens of our previous shows with prominent coaches and Big Country media fixtures.
Inquiries regarding these podcasts may be directed to Evan Ren at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com.
If you have a suggested topic of conversation or a recommended guest, don’t hesitate to contact us!
WALL — When Craig Slaughter’s name is brought up in Big Country football circles, it is often associated with a memorable run of success as the former Clyde football coach enjoyed when he led the Bulldogs to a 23-12 mark and one district title from 2006 to 2008.
His stint at CHS led to jobs at larger schools at Sweetwater (2009-11) and Llano (2012-17), after which many Big Country fans simply lost track of what had happened to the man.
He is, for the record, currently the defensive coordinator at Wall under head coach Houston Guy, where he is heading up a Hawk defense that has shut down powerhouses from Mason (47-7) and Cisco (20-13) in the first two weeks.
“I’ve really enjoyed the experience,” the 46-year-old Slaughter said of taking the job offer from his long-time friend, Guy. “When you’re leading a program, you get blamed for so much stuff that you really have nothing to do with, from who’s on the seventh-grade B team to the plays the seventh grade ran on a Thursday night.
“So (assistant coaching) is a load off your shoulders from the pressure you feel and put on yourself.”
HAMLIN — Faced with unusually high expectations, a challenging schedule and a couple of heartbreaking finishes in the last five years, the third-ranked Hamlin Pied Pipers and coach Russell Lucas find themselves in uncharted waters early in the 2019 season.
They are now in the position of favorites, with powerful teams from Albany and Wellington, Wheeler, Santo and others pursuing them, rather than the other way around.
How will they handle it?
Lucas now visits with BigCountryPreps.com’s Evan Ren to talk about the current season and the unusual position in which the Pipers find themselves in a Big Country Preps Q&A.
RULE — Rule coach Kade Kittley returned to his alma mater last year to try and turn around a program that had fallen on hard times over the past several seasons.
After beating Throckmorton 56-52 in the bi-district round of the 2016 playoffs, the Bobcats lost 13 straight contested games.
Friday night, Kittley led his squad to a 60-14 win over Lubbock Christ the King, snapping a more than two-year run of futility. The win was the latest in a series of positive events as Kittley has worked to change the culture the Rule program.
Just how much the Brady football team will improve this season has yet to be determined. But one thing is certain: The Bulldogs are explosive.
Headed by our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, senior quarterback Walker Bauer, Brady handed a solid Class 2A Division II team from Haskell a 59-24 loss on Friday.
It was the biggest offensive output in coach Shay Easterwood’s tenure as BHS’ head coach.
GOLDTHWAITE — The Goldthwaite Eagles’ transition from the pass-oriented pistol offense to the run-oriented Slot-T under new coach Keith Virdell enjoyed a breakout performance during Friday’s 36-27 win at Junction.
Goldthwaite rushed for 351 yards against Junction — which incredibly was more than the 317 yards rushing the Eagles managed during the entire 2018 season, when they finished 1-9. The 2018 total included 131 negative yards for quarterback sacks and 76 negative yards credited to the team for errant shotgun snaps.
The Eagles won’t have lost yardage for bad shotgun snaps this year since senior quarterback Grayson Moore is under center. They won’t have many sacks, either, since Moore has passed only five times in two games. The win over Junction ended Goldthwaite’s nine-game losing skid.
Virdell’s Slot-T is all about running backs hitting the holes quickly — whether it’s on a trap, sweep, quick pitch or misdirection run. The philosophy is to block and run quickly so the offense goes downhill.
Stephenville 13, Everman 10 — The Yellow Jackets (1-1) broke into the win column with 243 passing yards and a score from Kade Renfro.
SHS was outgained 309-260, but had a plus-3 turnover ratio to serve as compensation.
The ‘Jackets will host Wylie (0-2) on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville.
Coahoma 40, McCamey 9 — In one of the most dominating performances we’ve seen from Coahoma in years, the Bulldogs simply ran all over McCamey, with 421 yards rushing and 457 yards in total offense.
Zach Schneider rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown and threw for 56 yards and another score. But several other Bulldogs contributed to the blowout, beginning with Isaac Murrillo, who rushed for 119 yards and two scores on only seven touches.
Brady 59, Haskell 24 — A field goal on Haskell’s first possession staked the Indians to an early 3-0 lead, but coach Shay Easterwood’s squad responded with 29 unanswered points over the remainder of the first quarter and never looked back from there.
Haskell pulled within 19 points at halftime (29-10), but Brady scored the first three touchdowns of the second half to push ahead 51-10 by the start of the fourth quarter and coasted from that point to the win.
With the victory, Brady will take a 1-1 record into its road game at Llano, while Haskell (1-1) is idle next week.
Hamlin 44, Wheeler 15 — The Pied Pipers passed their second test of the season, and did so with flying colors, routing a strong and experienced Wheeler squad in a neutral site game at Childress.
Hamlin led 28-7 at halftime and increased its lead to 44-7 by the start of the fourth quarter, dominating a Mustangs team that some had picked to win District 5-2A Division II.
Having now outscored their first two opponents by a 71-22 margin, the Pied Pipers will face their stiffest test to date next week when they travel to Hawley for a nondistrict game.
Comanche 31, Breckenridge 28 — Ricardo Sanchez booted a 31-yard field goal in overtime to lift Comanche to a difficult win over Breckenridge.
Trailing by two scores in the second half, the Buckaroos knotted the game at 28 with a pair of Jonas Arellano touchdown runs of 1 and 5 yards — the latter of which came with 4:51 to play.
Luke Wilson led Comanche with 130 yards rushing. Breckenridge’s Owen Woodward led all rushers with 193 yards on 19 carries.
Goldthwaite 36, Junction 27 — The Goldthwaite Eagles picked up their first win over the Keith Virdell era on Friday, outlasting a Junction team that had opened the season with a surprising win over Class 3A Ingram Moore.
Goldthwaite jumped out to an early 13-0 lead, but allowed 20 unanswered points to fall behind by a touchdown in the second quarter. Virdell’s Eagles answered, however, scoring to push ahead 21-20 at halftime before outscoring the home team 15-7 in the second half.
Dusty Partin and Jackson Patrick led the way for GHS, rushing for 105 and 103 yards, respectively, with two touchdowns apiece. Now 1-1, Goldthwaite will try to build on its first victory on Friday, when they head to Coleman to take on the winless Bluecats.
Sweetwater 48, Big Spring 27 — After breaking a 21-all tie late in the second quarter to take a seven-point lead into halftime, the Mustangs outscored the Steers by two touchdowns over the final two periods to secure their first victory of the 2019 season.
Quarterback Leo Holsey led the effort, completing 12 of 15 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 110 more yards and two additional scores on the ground. Cedrick Brown also had a big day running the ball for Sweetwater, finishing with 115 yards and two TDs on 23 carries.
Orlando Sanchez led Big Spring with 220 yards rushing and three scores on only 17 carries. Gabriel Baeza was 3 of 5 for 56 yards.
Hawley 36, Bangs 9 — Hawley jumped out to a 28-0 first-half lead on the road and never looked back.
Colton Marshall rushed for 145 yards and two scores and Xavier Rodela threw for 120 yards and another touchdown to help the Bearcats improve to 2-0.
Ethan Sanchez rushed for 107 yards to lead Bangs (1-1), which was limited to 136 yards in total offense.
Brock 21, Iowa Park 7 — The Eagles bounced back from their season-opening loss to Brownwood with an impressive victory over the Class 4A Hawks.
Brock, which pounded out 303 yards on the ground, opened the scoring with Cash Jones’ first of three touchdown runs in the first quarter and built on a 7-0 halftime lead with single scores in each of the final two quarters. Down 21-0 in the fourth quarter, Iowa Park finally got on the board with a long touchdown pass.
Jones finished with 181 yards on 25 carries to pace Brock (1-1), which will host Argyle Liberty Christian in Week 3.
Ballinger 48, Reagan County 7 — The Bearcats stymied Reagan County, limiting the Owls to just 35 yards in total offense to improve to 2-0.
After building a 42-7 halftime lead, Ballinger (2-0) simply coasted to the finish line with 363 total yards, including 142 yards rushing and three scores from Darin Hall.
Edgar Nunez added 115 yards passing and 42 yards rushing while accounting for four TDs.