Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through March 28.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through March 28.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
BANGS — Bangs ISD has found a new leader for the Dragon football program and athletic department as a whole.
BISD announced Monday morning that it had tabbed Gregory-Portland assistant coach Colton Buzzard to the athletic director/head football coach role, replacing Jason Cole. Cole was reassigned in February after less than a year of leading the program.
While Bangs marks Buzzard’s first head coaching job, it’s not his initial foray into Big Country football. He played for his father, Rusty, in the mid-2000s at Coleman.
Scoring and rebounding is only part of the story when it comes to basketball. Behind the scenes and beyond the view of the public, is where character is often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps Gym Rat Team that we salute the individuals who exude the most of it.
This team isn’t about who the best players are, though some of the area’s top players are on this list.
The Gym Rat team is about effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches love above all else and upon which championship foundations are built.
It is for that reason that our Gym Rat team is selected entirely by area coaches, described in their own words. And Big Country Preps is absolutely honored to present these individuals to you — the best “team players” (boys and girls) that the area had to offer during the 2023-24 season.
Players are listed in no particular order.
Enjoy.
Here is our 2024 All-Big Country Preps boys basketball Rising Stars team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here is our 2024 All-Big Country Preps girls basketball Rising Stars team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 25.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 25.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Most high school football teams have that one player acknowledged by the coaching staff as the prime example of what a teammate should be.
He’s the guy who seldom misses any practice time and is a regular in the weight room. He’s early to arrive. He’s late to leave and takes pride in being coachable, though he seldom needs direction.
He always sets the right example for younger players. He doesn’t complain and above all else, he’s tough enough to make all the aforementioned traits consistently possible.
Know someone like that? Here is where they are honored.
Welcome to Big Country Preps’ “True Grit” team — a collection of area players nominated by their head coaches and Big Country Preps staff, who exemplify the character traits football mentors want throughout their roster.
Here are our selections for the 2023 All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team — an honor reserved for the area’s top freshman and sophomore football players. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 11.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 11.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Big numbers are always great to have when we decide the winner of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. Solid numbers across multiple tasks are even better.
That was the case with this week’s spotlight player, Buck Powell, of Hico, who helped the Tigers to a 47-14 rout of Maud in the Class 2A DII bi-district round on Friday.
With a new season of boys high school basketball poised to begin, it’s time to take a look at what the Big Country will produce on the court.
Below you will find our top teams in each classification in the Big Country Preps coverage area, from Big Spring in the West, to Brock in the east and from Brady in the south to Munday in the north.
Our rankings of the top teams in each class are given, along with a season outlook, cataloguing our expectations for each club.
Here’s our preview. We’ll see you on the road.
Coleman 42, Bangs 0 — Brayden Torres passed for 183 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 91 yards and two more scores to lead the Bluecats to a blowout win over the Dragons.
Coleman (8-2, 5-1), which also got a 58-yard touchdown run and a TD reception from Hunter Lackey, scored 21 points in each of the first two periods, ending the competitive phase of the game before halftime.
LAST WEEK: 47-5, .903
SEASON TOTAL: 438-91, .827

With the column hitting at more than 90 percent accuracy last week, we now close the regular season on the upswing and with something uncommon: A local Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
While our weekly picks column generally highlights the top area game outside of the Abilene city limits, this week seems to call for us to stay at home with rivals Wylie (6-3, 3-1) and Cooper (4-5, 3-1) fighting for sole possession of the No. 2 seed in District 2-5A Division II.
NOTE: This will be our final installment of Big Country Volleyball Statistical Leaders for the 2023 season
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Coleman 35, De Leon 7 — Brayden Torres passed for 229 yards and a touchdown, while Jadin Jackson rushed for 61 yards and two scores and had a 57-yard TD pass to help the Bluecats pull away for a comfortable win over the Bearcats.
Brent Bouldin added 56 yards rushing and both Blaze Hronek (8-121, 1 TD) and Hunter Lackey (7-116) topped the 100-yard receiving mark for Coleman (7-2, 4-1), which led 20-7 by halftime.
LAST WEEK: 44-7, .862
SEASON TOTAL: 391-86, .820

It really didn’t take long for people to start talking about the Hawley – Stamford matchup in 2023. In fact, this one was on our calendar as a possible Game of the Week before the season even started.
Who will win? That depends on who you speak with. Our Twitter poll is split virtually down the middle and even the computers see this one as a near tossup.
Stamford (7-0, 4-0 District 4-2A DII) enters this game scarcely challenged, rolling over the opposition by an average tally of 45-8. Hawley (6-2, 4-0), on the other hand, comes in with some battle scars after a brutal schedule featuring Jim Ned, Lubbock Roosevelt and Albany.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
San Saba 40, Goldthwaite 35 — Ethan Gonzales ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns and Lane Millier added 85 yards and a score on the ground and 92 yards and another TD through the air to lift the Armadillos to a thrilling win over the Eagles.
Behind that duo and Skylar Romero, who had a 52-yard touchdown catch, San Saba (3-6, 2-3) rallied from a 28-14 third-quarter hole and a 35-28 fourth-quarter deficit to outlast Goldthwaite for the win.
LAST WEEK: 40-8, .833
SEASON TOTAL: 347-79, .814

As Week 9 of the 2023Texas High School football season gets underway, there are multiple high-profile games that would qualify as our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
But we’re settling for a rare Thursday night matchup at Tarleton State University where seventh-ranked 4A DI Stephenville (5-2, 1-0) will play host to fourth-ranked China Spring (6-2, 2-0) in a game will give the victor sole possession of first place in District 5.
Picking who wins it may come down to throwing darts, but I do believe China Spring has one key advantage.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Big numbers are one thing. But when they come in the clutch in a multitude of areas, that’s difficult to top for our weekly Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
This time around, it’s Sweetwater junior running back-linebacker Korda Moore taking the top spot for the week ending Oct. 14.
Moore had a big night in last week’s dramatic 45-41 win over Midland Greenwood, with 25 carries for 187 yards and four TDs. He also caught three passes for 65 yards and two more scores.
But he wasn’t finished there. He also completed a 23-yard pass and scored on two two-point conversion runs to finish with 40 total points on the night.
Bangs 41, San Saba 38 — Kenny Cole rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns to go with 56 passing yards to lead the Dragons to a key district win over the Armadillos.
Bangs (2-5, 1-2), which rushed for 366 yards as a team, also got strong games from Ethan Ethridge (20-75, 2 TDs rushing) and Skyler Minshew (4-58, 1 TD rushing; 2-34 receiving) in rallying from a 38-35 deficit in the fourth quarter.
LAST WEEK: 41-7, .854
SEASON TOTAL: 307-71, .812

Big Country Preps makes a point of sharing the love and we look for opportunities to take our Game of the Week to as many different places that make sense each year.
Yet since our inaugural season in 2018, a rebuilding Hico football team missed our spotlight game for five straight seasons.
That drought ends this week when BCP visits Hico for the first time as the Tigers (5-2, 2-1 District 10-2A DII) host Dawson (5-1, 2-0) in a crucial matchup with high seed implications.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Goldthwaite 42, Bangs 14 — Ethan Deeds passed for 136 yards and two touchdowns — both to Luke Sanderson — and rushed for 93 yards and two more scores as the Eagles pounded out 259 yards on the ground to pull away from the Dragons for a lopsided victory in a near must-win game for both teams.
Sanderson finished with 99 yards receiving on eight catches to supplement a rushing attack that also got 75 yards from Max Storm, 43 from Marcus Stevens and 41 from Erick Lozoya. Behind that nucleus, Goldthwaite (3-4, 1-2) increased a 7-0 halftime lead to 21-0 by the midway point of the third quarter and held from there for the win.
LAST WEEK: 37-3, .925
SEASON TOTAL: 266-64, .806

Contrast in styles games make for excellent entertainment and are usually high on our list of potential Big Country Preps Games of the Week.
Friday we have such a matchup when Clyde (5-0) travels to Vernon (5-0) in the District 3-3A DI opener for both clubs. Clyde and its power spread offense capable of running or throwing the ball well, against a run-based multiple attack used by Vernon that seems almost out of the 1950s.
Both clubs are good at what they do. Both are physical and both are fully aware of how important this league opener is. In fact, this may end up ranking as one of the more physical Games of the Week we’ll see in 2023.
Coleman 40, San Saba 26 — Jadin Jackson rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns and received for 85 yards, while Brayden Torres had another productive passing day to fuel the Bluecats to a victory over the Armadillos.
Torres, who added 33 yards on the ground, hit 10 of 14 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns — finding Hunter Lackey three times for 91 yards and all three scores — as the Bluecats (5-1, 2-0) extended an 18-12 halftime lead to 26-12 by the start of the fourth quarter.
LAST WEEK: 46-12, .793
SEASON TOTAL: 229-61, .789
More often than not, Big Country Preps makes an appearance at the annual Stephenville-Brownwood matchup. Because more often than not, it produces a game worthy of one of Texas’ top rivalries.
This year is no exception as Stephenville travels to famous Gordon Wood Stadium for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
San Saba 32, Hamilton 28 — Ethan Gonzales ran for 215 yards and three touchdowns while Lane Miller added a pair of rushing scores of his own to lead the Armadillos to an upset win over the Bulldogs in the district opener for both squads.
San Saba (2-3, 1-0) got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 19-6 halftime lead and increasing that to 32-14 by the end of the third quarter, before holding off a late rally in the final period.
LAST WEEK: 44-11, .800
SEASON TOTAL: 183-49, .788
Some weeks are just loaded with competitive area games and Week 5 of the 2023 season falls squarely into that category.
This week’s menu features six or seven games that under normal circumstances, would qualify for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week. This forces us to push some great matchups aside to select our spotlight game.
This week, we go with a battle of unbeatens — Class 3A Division I Clyde (4-0) at Class 4A Div. II Sweetwater (4-0) — at the famed Mustang Bowl at SHS.
There are big games and then there are those that border on insanity.
Moran running back Ellis Hise, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Sept. 16, fell squarely into the latter category on Saturday with a performance that was absolutely nuts.
Helping the Bulldogs to a thrilling 68-67 win over Mullin in one of the top six-man games the Big Country has seen this year, Hise rushed for 287 yards and six touchdowns on only 26 carries. But that’s just the beginning.
Coleman 26, Llano 20 — Brayden Torres passed for 232 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 60 yards and another score to fuel the Bluecats to an upset win over the Class 3A Division I Yellowjackets.
Playing its second consecutive game without quarterback Jadin Jackson, Coleman (3-1) raced out to 14-6 halftime lead and withstood a third-quarter Llano rally to win the game with the only touchdown of the fourth quarter.
When it comes to individual performances, there are big games and there are big games.
And then there’s what Cooper junior Daniel Bray did against San Angelo Central last week in leading the Cougars to their first win of the season.
The explosive tailback, who had been limited some in the first two weeks by a nagging ankle injury and the growing pains of a young offensive line, broke out in a historic way in that 53-45 victory over the Bobcats. By the time the game was over, he had rushed for a school-record 366 yards and seven touchdowns on just 21 carries, making a case for our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award that was too compelling to pass over — even in a week with a number of other monster performances.
Coleman 30, Brady 14 — Brent Bouldin rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bluecats to their second consecutive win.
Brayden Torres added 73 rushing yards and a TD and passed for 44 yards for Coleman (2-1), which outscored Brady 16-8 in the second half to pull away for the 16-point win.
De Leon 42, Cross Plains 7 — Heston Jobe hit 15 of 21 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns while adding 66 yards and two more scores on the ground to lift the Bearcats to a comfortable win over the Buffaloes.
Jake Cooper also had a big game, rushing for 152 yards and three scores on 22 carries while adding six catches for 70 yards for De Leon (2-0), which raced out to a 35-7 lead by halftime.
San Saba 40, Florence 3 — The Armadillos piled up 365 yards rushing, getting big days on the ground from running back Ethan Gonzales (18-133, 2 TDs) and quarterback Lane Miller (13-122, 2 TDs) in their blowout win over the Buffaloes.
Miller also passed for 56 yards with a scoring strike to Gonzales as San Saba built a 19-0 first-quarter lead. Up 19-3 at halftime, the ‘Dillos outscored Florence 21-0 over the final two quarters to put the game away.
BANGS — When Jason Cole was looking for a new place to call home in the spring of 2022, he had several qualities he was hoping to check off.
The former Thrall and Quanah head coach wanted to stay at the small-school level and find a place with good kids and good facilities. He wanted to be an offensive coordinator and work for a veteran coach.
Guy Powell can’t be replaced. Bangs coach Jason Cole is well aware of that.
While Cole knows there’s not another 2,000-yard tailback waiting in the wings, several Dragons are prepared to pick up the slack as they eye a return to the playoffs.
“They want to show that they can play and contribute,” Cole said of his team’s returning skill players. “We ran the ball 75 percent of the time with Guy because he was so good you’d be crazy not to. Now it’s the other kids’ turn, and they’re excited.”
Day 3 of Big Country Preps’ 2023 Photo Tour is now in the books, with five more days of shooting yet to come from practice fields throughout the area.
Here are but a few of the images collected Wednesday:
Continue reading “Scenes from Big Country Preps Photo Tour Day 3” →
Football is just around the corner, and we at BigCountryPreps.com are committed to bringing you the information you need to prepare for your favorite team’s season.
We’ll be releasing our Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview, the most comprehensive look at the upcoming Big Country football season anywhere, on Wednesday, Aug. 16. But you won’t have to wait until then to sate your gridiron appetite.
Leading up to the first day of fall football practice on July 31, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2023 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
We continue in Class 2A Division I with the Bangs Dragons. On Thursday we will take a look at the Coleman Bluecats, followed by the Goldthwaite Eagles on Friday.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Bangs Dragons … 26 days to two-a-days” →
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Forsan-Bangs softball region semifinal playoff (81 images)” →
ABILENE — Less than 24 hours after posting a combined 29 runs and more than 30 hits, the Forsan and Bangs softball teams produced a near polar opposite of the 16-13 FHS win in Game 1.
Friday at Abilene Christian University, the same two teams, with the same two pitchers in the same venue locked horns in a 1-0 Forsan win in Game 2 which ended the series and pushed the Lady Buffaloes into the Region I-2A championship. There, they will meet either Stamford or Colorado City at a sit and time to be determined.
The difference, according to Forsan pitcher Maddie Roach, may not be what you would expect to hear. Coming off a rough outing in Game 1 that saw her allow 13 runs on 16 hits, Roach spent much of Game 2 smiling, laughing and even dancing a bit to tunes being played over the PA while she was on the field.
“I think it’s because I kept a good attitude today,” said Roach, who delivered seven straight empty frames on Friday. “And there was better music on.”
ABILENE — If Game 1 of a Region I-2A softball semifinal between Forsan and Bangs is any indication of what’s ahead, one shouldn’t take anything for granted.
Leading 9-0 heading into the bottom of the second, Forsan blew the lead and eventually fell behind 13-10 only to rally for a 16-13 win in a thriller at Abilene Christian University.
K’Dynce Speck was 3 for 5 with a double, homer and four RBIs and Emma Buske was 2 for 5 with a double and three runs scored to lead Forsan (27-8), which can end the series with a win in Game 2, set for 5 p.m. Friday at ACU. Game 3, if needed, will follow 30 minutes after that.
“That was a really good game,” said Forsan coach Shanna Taylor, who will retire after 18 years at FHS at the conclusion of this season. “Bangs is really scrappy, but our team has a lot of fight in them and a lot of grit, so I was glad to see them come back and fight for that win.”
AUSTIN — After a slow start in the field events on Friday saw the Big Country net just four medals, things heated up in the evening session when the track events got rolling.
Big Country athletes picked up 10 medals under the lights at Mike A. Meyers Stadium at the University of Texas, giving the area 14 for the day.
On top of that, the Stamford girls team finished in a three-way tie with Refugio and Panhandle with 32 points to claim a share of the state championship. Goldthwaite’s girls finished three points back in fourth.
Coming off a bi-district sweep of Plainview in which Reese Farrar and Rylee Moore both pitched five-inning one-hitters, it was going to be difficult for Wylie’s co-aces to repeat that performance against El Paso Parkland in the area round.
And yet, they did.
Farrar pitched her second one-hitter of the playoffs while Moore tossed a five-inning no-hitter to fuel the Lady Bulldogs past the Lady Matadors 20-1 and 10-0 and into the Region I-4A quarterfinals, where WHS (30-6) will face off with 36-1 El Paso Hanks this week.
In the process, coach Heather Collier’s dynamic pitching duo claimed our penultimate Big Country Preps Player of the Year award of the 2022-23 school year.