Here are the Big Country’s receiving leaders through Week 11:
Category: Ballinger Bearcats
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Roscoe’s Watts claims this week’s award
Nobody ever truly obtains perfection on the football field. And even if you believe you’ve achieved it, any competent coach can quickly scan the game film and point out when and where you could have been better along the way.
Roscoe sophomore Jax Watts, however, came about as close as one can come to that lofty goal in Friday’s 61-0 win over Hamlin.
To begin with, our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week hit 17 of 18 passes for 436 yards and six touchdowns as the Plowboys (9-1) closed the season with a nine-game winning streak and district title.
District 2-3A Div. II Week 11 Report: Sonora clinches top seed with win at Ballinger
Sonora 28, Ballinger 21 —Hunter O’Bannon rushed for 120 yards and a score and Jaime Buitron threw for 79 yards and an additional TD to help Sonora clinch the No. 1 seed.
The Bearcats led SHS 14-6 after one quarter and 21-14 at the break, but were held scoreless in the second half. Carter Arrott threw for 169 yards, rushed for 51 and accounted for three scores to lead Ballinger.
BCP Girls Basketball Position Rankings: Forwards
After kicking off our girls basketball position rankings series with the guards on Tuesday, we now turn our attention to the forwards.
For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top 10 players at that position with some others to watch for in 2021-22.
We hope you enjoy our list.
BCP Girls Basketball Position Rankings: Guards
With the girls basketball season upon us, it’s time to take a look at the local and area players who will be making the biggest impact for their teams during the 2021-22 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions, we’ll be focusing on the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this season.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.
District 2-3A Div. II Week 10 Report: Ballinger gets important road win at Bangs
Ballinger 46, Bangs 3 — Carter Arrott threw for 142 yards and two scores and Nathan Rivera-Mcduffee rushed for 117 yards and two scores to lead Ballinger to an important win on the road.
The Bearcats produced 419 yards in total offense with only 17:28 of possession time. This included 277 yards rushing.
Bangs was led by Guy Powell, who rushed for 56 yards on 13 carries.
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sweetwater QB Holsey snags this week’s accolade
It’s never a surprise to see Sweetwater senior quarterback Leo Holsey among the top performers in our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week column.
Since his freshman year, the four-year starter has topped our weekly list multiple times, including this week after helping Sweetwater to a 61-37 win over Pecos on Friday.
Holsey only threw 15 passes, but he connected on 12 of them for 364 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 75 yards and two more scores, giving him a direct hand in 439 yards and seven TDs.
District 2-3A Div. II Week 9 Report: Ballinger snaps two-game losing skid with win over Moore
Ballinger 61, Ingram Moore 0 — Briley Clinton threw for 197 yards and three scores and rushed for 79 more and another TD to help Ballinger snap a two-game losing streak.
The Bearcats (4-3, 1-2) amassed 317 yards rushing while collecting the win, but did their share of damage through the air as well. Trey Matschek was the game’s leading receiver, hauling in eight catches for 117 yards and two scores.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Cisco to battle Coleman with top seed in the balance (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)
LAST WEEK: 35-11, .760
SEASON TOTAL: 322-74, .813
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will send me south to historic Hufford Field in Coleman, where the Bluecats (6-0) will play host to perennial power Cisco (6-1) in what is essentially the District 4-2A Division I championship.
Opened way back in 1934, Hufford is one of the Big Country’s oldest and most unique venues and if you are looking for a game to go to on Friday, this one will not only offer some good football, but some nostalgia as well.
The immense rock wall surrounding the field was built in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration or WPA as the nation battled its way out of The Great Depression.
Hope to see you there.
Here are this week’s picks:
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jim Ned’s Wishert claims the top spot
It’s one thing to rush for more than 300 yards and three scores against a struggling program. We see that all the time from the area’s top running backs.
But it’s an entirely different thing when those yards come against a solid team with a sturdy defense. That’s earning it the hard way.
Jim Ned’s Xavier Wishert, our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week, took that route on Friday night when he charted 313 yards rushing and three scores on just 20 carries in a 37-20 road win over the Wall Hawks.
District 2-3A Div. II Week 8 Report: Bangs breaks into victory column with win over Ingram Moore
Bangs 43, Ingram Moore 21 — Guy Powell rushed for an eye-popping 350 yards and two touchdowns to lift Bangs to its first win of the season.
Kade Minshew threw for 54 yards and a score and rushed for 60 yards and three more TDs to lift the Dragons, who put Moore away with a 29-14 run through the fourth quarter.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Roscoe travels to Ralls for crucial district game (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)
LAST WEEK: 40-7, .851
SEASON TOTAL: 287-63, .820
Week 8? Are you kidding?
I ask the same question, or some variant of it virtually every year. We just finished with two-a-days. How can we possibly be this deep in the season so quickly?
Yet hear we are. A cold weather snap approaching. Thanksgiving right around the corner —as are the playoffs.
This week’s Game of the Week will see me traveling north to Ralls where the surprising Roscoe Plowboys, off to their best start in years, will be in a showdown for the district lead.
The column hit at 85 percent accuracy last week and is now up to 82 percent on the year. So we’ll see if we can keep the momentum going through the home stretch.
Let’s have a look at this week’s picks:
Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel vs. Twitter Polls (Week 8)
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.
Big Country Volleyball Statistical Leaders (through Oct. 12)
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
We will continually update the database throughout the regular season.
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Young takes spotlight with monstrous effort
Who says defensive players can’t be the Player of the Week?
That’s certainly not true at Big Country Preps, where our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week helped push Stephenville to a stunning 35-7 rout of perennial power Waco La Vega on Friday night.
Senior linebacker Reese Young takes our weekly accolade after charting an almost unbelievable 25 tackles to lead an SHS defensive effort that saw the Yellow Jackets hold La Vega to just 94 yards rushing on 44 carries.
District 2-3A DII Week 7 Report: Brady hands Ballinger stunning loss on the road
Brady 54, Ballinger 41 — JD Ibarra rushed for 217 yards and five scores to help the Brady Bulldogs to a district-opening stunner in Ballinger.
Brady (3-2, 1-0) pounded out 378 rushing yards as a team and never scored fewer than two touchdowns in a quarter while handing the Bearcats what many consider to be an upset loss.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF WEEK: Unbeaten Early, Jim Ned clash in huge district opener (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)
LAST WEEK: 39-4, .906
SEASON TOTAL: 247-56, .815
Gramps Ren is back in the groove, hitting over 90 percent of his picks a week ago, to push this column’s season percentage to .815 as we head into district play across the area.
Whether or not I can keep the momentum remains to be seen, entering what might be the toughest week of area picks I’ve seen this year, with multiple games that I would rate as near-tossups.
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will see us heading to Tuscola where Jim Ned will begin its District 3-3A DI title defense against a red-hot, unbeaten team from Early.
Let’s have a look at this week’s picks …
Big Country Volleyball Statistical Leaders (through Oct. 5)
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
We will continually update the database throughout the regular season.
District 2-3A Div. II Week 6 Report: Ballinger the new favorite at season’s midpoint
All of District 2-3A DII took the night off on Friday as part of their midseason bye week.
Action in this league will resume on Friday with all six teams squaring off in their district openers.
Here’s a quick look at how they stack up:
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Steers plays host to Littlefield, Gramps Ren rebounds (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)
LAST WEEK: 45-6, .882
SEASON TOTAL: 208-52, .800
After a disastrous night of picking football games on Sept. 19 that saw his season percentage dip below .800, Gramps Ren has rebounded. Thank you, thank you.
Last Friday saw this column hit with more than 88 percent accuracy on games throughout the Big Country, pulling its season percentage to an even .800 as we hit the season’s midpoint.
This week I’ll be heading west — way West — to the very edge of our coverage area to get a first-hand look at the Big Spring Steers in their matchup with Littlefield in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Let’s dive in to this week’s picks, shall we?
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Snyder’s Benitez takes the top spot
Defensive specialists seldom get the attention they deserve in volleyball. Not unlike offensive linemen in football, who do the dirty work behind the scenes that enables the glamour positions to shine.
That isn’t the case at Big Country Preps, where we take pride in giving credit to those willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.
Snyder libero Abby Benitez, perhaps the best defender in the entire Big Country, fits that mold and has captured our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the week ending Sept. 25.
DISTRICT 2-3A Div. II Week 5 Report: Ballinger wins thriller in overtime over Llano
Ballinger 35, Llano 34, OT — Carter Arrott threw for 208 yards and two scores and Beau Perkins rushed for 117 yards to lift Ballinger to a thrilling OT win at home.
The Bearcats (3-1) trailed 3-0 after one quarter, 9-7 at the break and 15-13 after three quarters, but took a 28-21 lead with 3:33 to play after Arrott scored on a 1-yard run.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Jim Ned, Snyder clash in battle of unbeatens (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)
LAST WEEK: 36-16, .692
OVERALL: 163-46, .779
After four straight weeks of picking 80 percent or better, the USS Ren ran aground last Friday, bottoming out with a season-low .692 percentage and dropping my season tally to .779.
I generally like to be above 80 percent by midseason, so last Friday served as a wakeup call. Actually, it was more of a gut punch. But I’ll get over it.
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will see me traveling to Snyder, where the unbeaten Class 4A Tigers will play host to 3A DI state champion Jim Ned in what should be an absolutely electric atmosphere.
You all set? Let’s dive in to this week’s picks.