VIDEO PODCAST NO. 11: Evan Ren and Dan Youngblood give the most complete look at the Big Country Playoff picture available from any media source in the Big Country.
Top games of this week discussed: Jim Ned vs. Pilot Point, Eastland vs. Gunter, Cisco vs. Post, Strawn vs. Richland Springs, May vs. Blum.
Top games of last week discussed: Jim Ned vs. Brock, Cisco vs. Hawley, Hamlin vs. Muenster, Albany vs. Windthorst, Eastland vs. Holliday, Strawn vs. Fannindel, May vs. Leakey.
We always have our eye out for a possible six-man football player to take our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week award. But he must have one of “those games” — one that even makes the six-man community sit up and take notice, by virtue of its importance, or volume of numbers.
Last week’s effort by May running back-defensive back Kaden Halk in a 72-38 win over Leakey qualifies on both fronts.
Only a junior, Halk tallied 356 yards rushing and seven touchdowns on just 16 carries and added a 42-yard TD reception to help push the Tigers (12-1) to the Class 1A DI semifinals where they will face Blum (9-3) at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Dublin.
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Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
GRAHAM — Behren Morton threw for 286 yards and ran for 112 more as the Eastland football team rallied for a 28-24 win over No. 8 Holliday in a Region II-3A Division II semifinal at Newton Field on Friday night.
Morton, a Texas Tech commit, accounted for all four touchdowns as he connected with three different receivers for scores and then used his legs for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Eastland (9-3) advances to face Gunter at 7 p.m. Thursday at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
BROWNWOOD — It’s difficult to imagine the tradition-rich Cisco Loboes having to end a curse in football. After all, Cisco won state in 2013, finished as the state runner-up four times since 2002 and has qualified for the playoffs in 17 of the last 20 seasons.
But with Friday’s dominating 54-20 win over the Hawley Bearcats in the Region I-2A Division I semifinals, the Loboes felt they broke a curse of going five consecutive years without reaching the fourth round of the playoffs.
STEPHENVILLE — The Jim Ned Indians had a checklist of items they knew they had to accomplish prior to Friday’s Region I-3A Division I semifinal with top-ranked Brock if they were to pull off an upset.
They had to contain Brock’s speed. Check. They had to win the turnover battle. Check. They needed a big special teams play. Check. They needed a good start. Check. And they needed to keep their mistakes to an absolute minimum. Check. Check. Check.
By game’s end, the Indians had pulled off a stunning 19-16 win at Memorial Stadium to advance to next week’s Region I-3A DI championship game.
GRAHAM — A furious fourth-quarter rally fell short in heartbreaking fashion as the second-ranked Hamlin football team saw its season end with a 31-28 loss to Muenster in a Region II-2A Division II semifinal Friday afternoon at Newton Field.
Martie McCoy kicked a walk-off 19-yard field goal for the Hornets after Hamlin tied the game with 58 seconds to play to send Muenster on to the regional final.
Hamlin, meanwhile, saw its season end at 11-1.
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 morning.
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 14)”
LAST WEEK: 23-2, .920
SEASON TOTAL: 422-88, .827
Turkey Day has arrived and we’ve still got 10 Big Country football teams showing a pulse.
Of those, there are at least six that I believe have a shot at getting to Arlington and of those, perhaps four that have a good shot at bringing home a state title.
So let’s dive in and take a look at this week’s matchups, shall we?
Be safe going to your games! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
VIDEO PODCAST NO. 11: Cisco coach Kevin Stennett joins the show and to talk about his experience at CHS and this week’s regional semifinal clash with Hawley. Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood examine this week’s regional semifinal pairings.
Top games of this week discussed: All playoff pairings involving Big Country teams from Class 1A-4A this week are mentioned.
Top games of last week discussed: Sweetwater vs. Celina, Hawley vs. Sundown, Albany vs. Ralls, Wall vs. Bushland, Brock vs. Denver City, Jim Ned vs. Dalhart, San Saba vs. Panhandle.
Cisco quarterback Hunter Long is only a sophomore. And he made his share of sophomore mistakes against an early-season schedule that featured 3A DI powerhouses from Wall and Jim Ned.
Maturity, however, is beginning to catch up with the CHS signal caller, who has gradually developed into one of the top Class 2A weapons in the Big Country.
His latest effort typified his development — passing for 210 yards and rushing for 101 in a 46-15 area round rout of Olton.
Along the way, Long accounted for five Cisco touchdowns, rushing for three and passing for two more to help push the Loboes into the regional semifinals.
It also earned him our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week award for the week ending Nov. 21.
“Hunter played a great game,” Cisco coach Kevin Stennett said. “He is getting better every week and his execution of our offense has been outstanding during the playoffs. He made very few mistakes, if any, against Olton and has really emerged as the leader of our offense.”
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Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
STEPHENVILLE — The Sweetwater Mustangs had seven false starts in the first quarter and fell in an early 9-0 hole to Celina in a Region I-4A Division II area round matchup at Tarleton State University’s Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
Despite getting a 93-yard touchdown pass from Leo Holsey to Darian Carr on the first play of the second quarter, the early deficit was too much to overcome in a 37-22 loss.
Sweetwater finishes its season at 8-2.
BIG SPRING — A few early bursts of speed and a few late mistakes made all the difference in a 34-20 win for Hawley over Sundown in Friday’s Region I-2A Division I area round game at Memorial Stadium.
Rodey Hooper threw for 174 yards and a score and added three rushing touchdowns to lead Hawley (10-2), which advances to face Cisco (9-3) in the regional semifinals.
“We told our kids that we felt like we’d be the fastest team on the field tonight,” Hawley coach Mitch Ables said. “We’re young, but we’re fast and we were able to take advantage of our speed tonight.”
REGION I-2A DIV. I
Cisco 46, Olton 15 — Hunter Long threw for 210 yards and two scores and rushed for 101 yards and three more TDs to lead Cisco to a rout of Olton.
Leading 6-0 early on, the Loboes blew the game open with a 27-0 second quarter.
REGION I-4A DIV. I
Springtown 56, Big Spring 0 — The Porcupines were too much for the Steers on Friday, using a 483-237 yardage gap and 6-1 advantage in the turnover margin to score a shutout victory.
Big Spring quarterback Gabriel Baeza passed for 182 yards and rushed for a team-high 46 yards, but he was hurt by four interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
Springtown, which led 35-0 by halftime, was paced by quarterback Camden Chesney, who threw four touchdown passes, and Dakota Strahan, who rushed for two scores and added a pick-six on defense.
REGION I-3A DIV. I
Jim Ned 31, Dalhart 14 — Xavier Wishert had a game-high 131 yards rushing and two scores on 25 carries to lead lead Jim Ned to its first regional semifinal in 16 years.
The Indians built a 24-0 halftime lead before holding on for the win. Tate Yardley led Jim Ned through the air with 200 yards on 13-of-16 passing.
SNYDER — Heading into Thursday’s Region II-2A Division II area round game with Ralls, the last thing Albany coach Denney Faith wanted was to play from behind against RHS’ clock-killing slot-T offense.
Getting early defensive stops, therefore, would be crucial for the Lions.
Albany did precisely that, grabbing an early lead, taking Ralls out of its normal game and winning by a lopsided 56-22 margin at Tiger Stadium.
Coy Lefevre rushed for 89 yards, while adding 60 yards receiving, two interceptions and accounting for two scores to lead Albany (10-1), which advances to face either Windthorst or Archer City in the regional semifinals next week.
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 morning.
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 13)”
LAST WEEK: 32-5, .864
SEASON TOTAL: 399-86, .823
We’ve reached that point in the season when there is no such thing as a pushover. Wins are tough to come by and so are accurate picks.
It’s also that time of year when you almost hope you’re wrong. Because if I’m correct in this week’s picks, our field of 15 remaining 11-man area football teams will be chopped to six by week’s end and only four of our eight remaining six-man teams will see the field again.
This column hit at 86 percent accuracy a week ago … so here’s to a late-season slump and plenty of Thanksgiving football.
Let’s dive in. Here are this week’s area picks.
By Seth LaRue (special to Big Country Preps)
WEATHERFORD — Few playoff teams are allowed to enjoy happy endings and the Albany volleyball team wasn’t one of the exceptions in 2020.
Facing reigning Class 2A state champion Crawford in a state semifinal matchup, the Lady Lions fell in straight sets 14-25, 11-25, and 14-25.
“It was a great season, (The Lady Lions) haven’t been this far since 2008. We were going to feel sad whatever round we lost at and we are thankful that we made it to the state semifinals.” Albany coach MJ Reneau said at the conclusion of their game at Weatherford High School.
The Lions were forced into an early hole in the first set by an aggressive Crawford team led by Junior Katie Warden. Down 6-12, the Pirates went on a 13-8 run to secure their advantage and eventually, the set.
One dominating performance deserves another.
Having already helped Albany reach the Region I-2A finals with a 17-kill performance in a win over Plains (22-25, 25-10, 25-22, 25-16) last week, Sarah Beth Cotter wasn’t finished.
With AHS facing perennial power Wink in the regional finals Saturday in Big Spring, she helped the Lady Lions reach the state semis with 16 kills, two blocks, four digs and an ace in a stunning 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 sweep of the Lady Cats.
Photos may be purchased for $7 each by clicking on the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
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