Here are our first-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

• Second-Team
• Third-Team (w/ honorable mention)
• Evan Ren’s True Grit Team (the toughest players in the area)

Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

• Superlative Award winners and First-Team
• Third-Team (w/ honorable mention)
• Evan Ren’s True Grit Team (the toughest players in the area)

Here are our third-team and honorable mention selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

• Superlative Award winners and First-Team
• Second-Team
• Evan Ren’s True Grit Team (the toughest players in the area)

ARLINGTON — Jayton senior running back Bode Ham admitted that he was cramping up in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s Class 1A Division II state championship game at AT&T Stadium.

When he found out that he was on the precipice of history, however, he fought through the cramps and made sure that he would be back on the field for the final time in a storied high school career.

The gutsy effort saw him run for 430 yards on 28 carries, throw for 118 yards and account for a UIL record 13 total touchdowns — including a record-breaking 10 rushing — as the Jaybirds took a 99-54 win over Richland Springs to cap off a perfect 15-0 year.

ARLINGTON — Richland Springs coach Harley Ethridge opened his postgame press conference by simply stating: “Jayton is good, and I think I underestimated them. I hate to admit that.”

Behind a record-breaking performance from senior Bode Ham, Jayton was able to repeat as Class 1A Division II state champions with a resounding 99-54 win over the Coyotes on Wednesday at AT&T Stadium. 

Ham set UIL records for rushing touchdowns (10) and total touchdowns (13) in a state championship game. The Jayton senior also narrowly missed setting a record for most rushing yards in the title game after finishing with 430 yards on just 28 carries.

Jayton’s star added 118 yards and three touchdowns passing while earning Offensive and Defensive MVP honors in the game. He had eight tackles, including three for a loss, and one pass breakup.

ARLINGTON — The Gordon Longhorns cemented their place in the conversation for the greatest six-man dynasty of all time with a 69-22 win over Rankin in the Class 1A Division I state championship game on Wednesday morning at AT&T Stadium.

The Longhorns held the ball for just 3:56 and scored nine touchdowns on just 16 plays in securing their third straight state championship.

After the game, Gordon coach Mike Reed didn’t shy away from that conversation.

Gordon is one victory away from history.

Winners of 43 straight games, the Longhorns can capture their third consecutive state championship when they play at 11 a.m. Wednesday against Rankin at AT&T Stadium.

Gordon coach Mike Reed remembers the last time a Big Country team was attempting a three-peat at the Class 1A Division I level. Westbrook had a chance to pull off that feat in 2023, but instead a sophomore-heavy Longhorns squad overwhelmed the Wildcats 70-20.

Gordon hasn’t been tested in the two years since, but Reed cautioned that Rankin shouldn’t be overlooked now.

We’ve reached the final week of the season, and as expected, teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area will play a significant role in deciding both six-man state championships.

In Division I, the two-time defending state champion Gordon Longhorns will try to further cement their legacy as one of the most impressive dynasties in six-man football history when they take on Rankin for a third consecutive title at 11 a.m. Wednesday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

And in Division II, it’s an all-area matchup between the defending state champion Jayton Jaybirds and perennial power Richland Springs immediately following the Division I game.

The culmination of another outstanding year of six-man action, these two contests should provide a fun celebration of the sport for both longtime fans and those newer to the six-man game. Without further ado, let’s dive in and take a look at both matchups in our final “Six-Man Lookahead” column of 2025.

Continue reading “SIX-MAN LOOKAHEAD: Three area teams ready for state championship action” →

With five teams playing in the four Class 1A state semifinal games, the Big Country Preps coverage area was guaranteed to have a presence in next week’s state championship games. 

As it turns out, our area will have a substantial one.

With Gordon advancing in Division I and Jayton and Richland Springs earning spots in the DII title game, the Big Country Preps area will have three of the four state participants when games kick off next Wednesday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

For the final time this year, it’s time to take a look at how we got here in the last “Big Country Rewind” column of the 2025 season. We hope you enjoy this look back at last week’s action.

Continue reading “SIX-MAN REWIND: Three area teams headed to Arlington after earning convincing wins in state semifinals” →

STEPHENVILLE — Cohen Ethridge had another monster game for the Richland Springs offense, and the Coyotes defense shut down Strawn’s rushing attack from start to finish Saturday to pull away for a 66-20 win over the Greyhounds in a Class 1A Division II semifinal matchup at Art Briles Stadium.

Behind Ethridge, who finished with 200 yards and five touchdowns rushing, returned a kickoff 60 yards for a score and added 69 yards and a TD passing for good measure, Richland Springs scored on eight of its nine offensive possessions. And defensively, the Coyotes limited Strawn to minus-31 rushing yards on 19 attempts to take a 56-14 lead into halftime before closing out the 45-point-rule win with 5:08 remaining in the third quarter on their second safety of the game.

The thorough victory improved Richland Springs to 12-1 on the year and, more importantly, earned the nine-time state champion Coyotes their first trip to a state title game in Arlington since 2020.

With one fewer round in the six-man playoffs than in its 11-man counterpart, the state semifinals are already upon us. And with five teams remaining from the Big Country Preps coverage area, there’s an extra layer of intrigue on what is already an outstanding slate of games.

Water Valley and Gordon remain in the Division I bracket and could clash for the state title in two weeks in Arlington, while Jayton and Klondike will battle for the right to take on the winner of Strawn and Richland Springs in Division II. 

If you like six-man football, these are the types of matchups you love, so let’s stop wasting time and dive into this week’s games. We hope you enjoy this preview of the state’s four semifinals games.

Continue reading “SIX-MAN LOOKAHEAD: Five area teams ready to play with trip to Arlington on the line” →

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-man games, in addition to the results of our weekly fan polls for each matchup.

For those interested in voting, polls go up on Sunday night each week and close Thursday evening.

Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.

With nine area teams involved in region finals last week, the Big Country Preps coverage area was guaranteed to have a strong contingent of teams in this week’s state semifinals.

And the five teams that survived — Water Valley and Gordon in Division I and Jayton, Strawn and Richland Springs in Division II — are now just one win away from earning a trip to Arlington.

Before we look ahead to the matchups that await those squads, it’s time to take a look at how they survived their third-round tests in this week’s “Six-Man Rewind” column. We hope you enjoy this look back at Week 14’s six-man action.

Continue reading “SIX-MAN REWIND: Five area teams earn way into state semifinals, four see seasons end in region finals” →