With senior quarterback Heston Jobe leading the way, the De Leon offense is averaging 47 points a game this fall. So it’s not surprising that the Bearcats have raced to a 6-2 start overall and are 3-0 in District 5-2A Division I play and in a battle with Hamilton for the league title.
What is a slight, but very pleasant, revelation for first-year coach Brennan Whitaker and the Bearcat faithful is how well the four-year starter at QB has transformed from a gunslinger into a surgeon in very short order.
“Heston played very well his freshman, sophomore and junior years, but he was running an offense that did a lot of hurry-up and put a lot of emphasis on the vertical passing game,” Whitaker said. “There weren’t a lot of reads for him to make. He would just try to hit whatever receiver was streaking down the field. This year, we’ve installed something a little different, and he has taken great strides in really learning the quarterback position.”
Every so often, a game is so high-profile, it qualifies for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week, regardless of what people generally think will happen once the teams take the field.
What more can be said about the performance of Wall senior Landon York last week other than it was a model of efficiency?
Muenster 28, Santo 0 — Casen Carney threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to lead the Hornets to a shutout win over the Wildcats in a game that was called at halftime due to weather.
Windthorst 52, Haskell 14 — Brock Belcher ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 116 yards and three more scores to lead the Trojans to a convincing win over the Indians.
Forsan 21, Christoval 7 — Hayden Bowlin ran for 183 yards and all three FHS touchdowns to lead the Buffaloes to a two-score win over the Cougars.
Brady 17, Early 15 (OT) — The Bulldogs needed four overtime periods to outlast the Longhorns, getting a two-point conversion run from Ashton Taylor to break a 15-all deadlock and secure a thrilling win.
Hico 28, Coleman 27 — Cole Heutzenroeder ran for 226 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a thrilling win over the Bluecats in a key game in the 5-2A DI playoff race.
Brock 66, Burkburnett 7 — Bryer McDonald ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns and Holt Frazier threw for 259 yards and four scores to lead the Eagles to a runaway win over the Bulldogs.
Luke Tharp rushed for 219 yards and two scores and Jason Everett rushed for 112 yards and two more TDs to lift San Saba to an important district win over Harper. 
Goldthwaite 54, Wortham 0 — The Eagles (5-3, 3-2) are still in the thick of the playoff hunt courtesy of this rout of Wortham (1-7, 1-4). 
Seminole 81, Snyder 14 — The Indians passed for 456 yards, ran for 242 more and scored 12 total touchdowns in a lopsided win over the Tigers.
Merkel 48, Stanton 9 — Easton Malone threw for 253 yards and four scores and CJ Guadarrama rushed for 93 yards and three more TDs to lift Merkel to a rout of Stanton.
Breckenridge 26, Comanche 22 — Breckenridge used a solid defensive effort to get past Comanche in a vitally important game for both clubs. 
Andrews 28, Big Spring 20 — JaeSean DeBouse ran for two touchdowns, while Beau Hudson and Casey Mendoza added one apiece to lift the the Mustangs to a hard-fought win over the Steers in the district opener for both teams.
The Tigers snapped a two-game losing streak with a lopsided win at home over the Cubs. 
Glen Rose 70, Venus 0 — The Tigers (3-5, 3-0) won their third straight game after an 0-5 start while keeping Venus (0-8, 0-3) winless. 
Brownwood 38, Burnet 7 — Judson Coalson threw for 116 yards and two scores and Levi Pearson rushed for 63 yards and another TD to lead Brownwood to an easy win on the road.
The Plowboys (2-6, 2-1) pounded out 208 yards as a team and limited Winters to 38 yards in total offense to score a district win.
BRADY — From Day 1 of his tenure at Brady, third-year coach Jeron Roberts has made a commitment to building a consistent running game and the 2025 season is witnessing the payoff for those efforts. 
Week 9 has arrived and with it, our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, with Cisco (6-1, 2-0 District 4-2A DI) visiting Hawley (5-2, 2-0).
Forsan senior Hayden Bowlin had a career night last Friday and picked up our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in the process. 
It’s mid-October, the weather is cooling, we have a pretty good idea of what our top football teams are and as tradition would have it, now is the time when we start talking about everyone’s postseason chances. 
Santo 54, Chico 14 — Dillan Branham ran for 126 yards and a touchdown and had two kickoff return touchdowns, while Jackson McKinnerney added 62 yards and three scores on the ground to lead the Wildcats to a lopsided win over the Dragons.
Haskell 44, Archer City 18 — Haegen Pinkerton ran for 262 yards and four touchdowns, and Ethan Camacho ran for 125 yards and two scores to fuel the Indians to a convincing win over the Wildcats.
De Leon 58, Coleman 0 — Heston Jobe passed for 240 yards and four touchdowns while adding a fifth touchdown on the ground to fuel the Bearcats to a lopsided win over the Bluecats.
The Bulldogs (4-3, 1-1) earned a surprising district win on the road as a 16-point underdog. 
Early 28, Clifton 3 — Caden Wilson passed for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and the Longhorns defense limited the Cubs to just 80 yards of offense to improve to 2-0 in league play with a dominant effort against CHS.