De Leon 44, Goldthwaite 19 — The Bearcats controlled the game from start to finish, racing out to a 20-7 halftime and cruising from there to a comfortable win over the Eagles.
De Leon (4-2, 1-0) piled 437 yards, 343 of those on those on the ground, to grab the momentum early and maintain it throughout the remainder of the game.
Bangs 49, De Leon 21 — Guy Powell rushed for 323 yards and five touchdowns on just 14 carries and added a kickoff return TD for good measure to lead the Dragons to an impressive district-opening win over the Bearcats.
Bangs, which rushed for 505 of its 583 total yards, led just 28-21 at halftime, but the Dragons took control in the second half to improve to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in league play.
In addition to Powell’s big game, BHS got 78 yards passing and 56 yards and a touchdown rushing from quarterback Kenny Cole. De Leon (3-2, 0-1), which finished with 543 total yards (286 rushing, 257 passing) was led quarterback Heston Jobe (18-27-1—257 passing; 14-107 rushing) and running back Kallen McIlvain (25-165, 3 TDs rushing; 1-27 receiving).
De Leon 52, Hico 7 — The Bearcats ran away from the Tigers for their second consecutive win, racing out to a 38-0 halftime lead to end the competitive phase of the game early.
De Leon (3-1) got strong performances from quarterback Heston Jobe (9-11-0—220, 3 TDs passing; 8-108, 2 TDs rushing) and running back Kallen Mcilvain (16-186, 2 TDs rushing), while Jake Cooper (3-79, 1 TD) and Andrew Coan (2-86, 2 TDs) had big days receiving the ball.
Hico, which was limited to 249 yards (all rushing), was led by Carson Keller, who rushed for 115 yards and the Tigers’ only touchdown on 12 carries.
LAST WEEK: 51-10, .836
SEASON TOTAL: 131-42, .757
Football picks are something I take pride in and it irritates me to no end when I stink it up. So let’s just say, I burned some midnight oil to get that situation corrected last week.
As a result, the column recovered with a solid .836 percentage in Week 3, salvaging my bruised ego after a disastrous Week 2 tally. In all, 51 of 61 area picks hit the mark last week, elevating my season’s record above 75 percent.
That’s more like it.
Week 4 in the meantime, presents a lineup of some of the most difficult area picks we’ve had this season — including an explosive Glen Rose team facing Brownwood in our BCP Game of the Week. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Here’s this week’s forecast:
Bangs 53, San Angelo Grape Creek 6 — The Dragons busted into the win column with a dominant showing against the Eagles, rushing for 246 yards in a blowout win.
Bangs (1-2) finished with 387 yards as a team, led by running back Guy Powell who rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries. Quarterback Kenny Cole, meanwhile, completed six of eight passes for 141 yards with TDs to Nate Stoffer (2-57), Guy Funk (1-44) and Hunter Newton (2-37).
The Dragons, who held Grape Creek to just 233 yards of total offense, controlled the game from the outset, building a 33-6 halftime lead on their way to the 47-point victory.
Coleman 48, Ballinger 0 — The Bluecats dominated the Bearcats, outgaining BHS 413-30 in a shutout victory.
Coleman, which led 30-0 by halftime, got a strong all-around game from quarterback Jadin Jackson (6-10-0—133, 2 TDs passing; 10-47, 1 TD rushing), while Ryland Gentry (13-102, 2 TDs) topped 100 yards rushing.
Brent Bouldin (9-66 rushing) and Dayden Hunter (7-62) both added rushing touchdowns, while Braxton Smith (2-77 receiving) and Hagen Cavanaugh (2-50) each caught touchdown passes as the Bluecats improved to 2-0.
Coleman 7, Mason 6 — Leading by a point with just over a minute left, the Bluecats thwarted the Punchers’ two-point conversion attempt to escape this slugfest with a win Friday.
Coleman scored quickly to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter — an advantage it held until Mason answered with its only score with 1:03 remaining in the game. That set up the dramatic finish, which saw the Bluecats improve to 1-0.
CHS got its touchdown on a deep ball from quarterback Jadin Jackson to Braxton Smith, while Mason scored on a late bomb from Ivan Wofford to Hunter Goodwin.
After a week of highlighting area playmakers, we wrap up our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s best signal callers.
To complete our look at the area’s top players, we’ve ranked our top 10 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2022.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.
As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.
After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends earlier today, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2022. Don’t forget to check in Thursday when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.
We hope you enjoy tonight’s list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
We’re approaching the final stretch of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, and it’s time to look at the Big Country’s top receivers.
After starting the offensive portion of our series Tuesday with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 10 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2022.
We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s top offensive players. And we’ll start with the foundation of any productive offense: the offensive line.
For the fifth installment of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we turn our attention to the trenches, ranking the Big Country’s top 10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2022.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
After recognizing the top defensive players throughout the Big Country over the past three days, it’s time to honor the specialists.
We continue our eight-part preseason position rankings series by naming our top eight kickers and top eight punters to watch this fall.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff the 2022 season.
After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.
For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top-10 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2022.
We hope you enjoy our list.
After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen on Saturday, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2022.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 10 linebackers to watch this fall, as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2022.
For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.
Without further ado, it is time for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
This is the culmination of several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor, so we’re more than ready to post it.
BANGS — While playing for a young 1-8 team in the midst of a rebuilding cycle, Bangs running back Guy Powell wasn’t exactly a household name among Big Country football fans last season.
That, however, may be changing in the very near future.
Powell, you see, was among the most productive skill people in the area last season, despite playing for a club that was breaking in a large number of inexperienced people. He also overcame the added handicap of being the primary focus of opposing defenses.
But this year, with a more mature supporting cast and a larger offensive line in front of him, Powell may very well have a banner season as a senior.
BANGS — While the Bangs football team may not be a popular choice this year among preseason prognosticators, there are reasons to believe the Dragons are being undervalued.
The common viewpoint: Bangs is little more than a contender for a low playoff seed in 2022 — with half of its starters missing from last year’s 1-8 squad and holes being filled by promotees from a 3-7 JV team.
The Dragons, however, have a couple of reasons for optimism, beginning with a rapidly growing offensive line with people like Isaiah Serrato (5-9, 240, Sr.), David Herrera (5-9, 240, Sr.), Noah Pin (5-10, 300, Jr.), Donovan Ruiz (6-0, 280, Sr.,) and Brody Newton (6-2, 250, Jr.) all vying for spots.
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. 17. 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 Aug. 1, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2022 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
We stay in Class 2A Division I with the Bangs Dragons. On Thursday we will take a look at the Coleman Bluecats, followed by the De Leon Bearcats on Friday.
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EASTLAND — Two days earlier, in a Game 1 heartbreaker, the Breckenridge Lady Buckaroos saw a 1-0 lead vanish in a three-run Bangs fifth inning during a 3-1 loss.
Saturday, with the series tied a game apiece and Breckenridge leading 3-0, the fifth inning proved nightmarish again for the Lady Bucks, with Bangs striking for three runs in the frame to knot the game at 3-3.
This time, however, Breckenridge responded with three late runs over the final two innings to earn a 6-3 win and close out the Class 3A bi-district series at Eastland.
Chloe Whitmire fired a four-hitter with 12 strikeouts and Joni Jackson was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs to lead Breckenridge (20-8), which advances to face Merkel in the area round.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Bangs-Breckenridge softball playoff, Game 2 (58 images)”
EASTLAND — Breckenridge sophomore pitcher Chloe Whitmire had her second straight dominant effort as the Lady Buckaroos evened their Region I-3A bi-district softball series with Bangs at a game apiece with a 9-2 win on Friday night.
After getting 15 strikeouts in Bangs’ 3-1 win in the opener on Thursday, the sophomore carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning of Game 2 and added 14 more strikeouts as she pitched her team into a deciding third game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
EASTLAND — For five straight innings, Breckenridge ace Chloe Whitmire challenged the Bangs Lady Dragons with high heat. And for five straight innings, she got away with it, holding a 1-0 lead with one hard riseball after another, allowing only two hits and fanning 12.
Then it happened.
Down a run with only six outs left, the Lady Dragons broke through with three runs on two hits, a walk and an error in the sixth inning and held on for a 3-1 win at Eastland softball field.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Comanche-Bangs softball (63 images)”
BANGS — The good news for the Bangs Lady Dragons was that they outhit visiting Comanche 12-5 on Friday. Also, Bangs’ starting pitcher, Abby Wolf, carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning before finishing with a five-hitter and nine strikeouts.
The bad news for the Lady Dragons, was that they committed six errors, allowed nine unearned runs and eventually fell 11-10 at home on Friday as Comanche picked up a crucial league win.
Riley Riordan went the distance in the circle and was 1 for 2 with a double, two walks and three runs scored to lead Comanche (13-11, 4-6 District 8-3A), which stays in the playoff hunt with the win.
Here are the updated Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results through March 5:
Continue reading “Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results (March 5)”
Below are the final regular season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball in 2022.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
While icy road conditions may have changed the UIL’s method of delivering the news, the results of its biennial realignment still offered the usual mix of surprises on Thursday.
Held via live feed over the internet, area coaches learned their fate on the web.
Topping the list of stunners for area teams would be the shift of Brownwood from its centralized home in District 5-4A DI to the far west in District 2. There, the Lions will join Big Spring, Lubbock Estacado, San Angelo Lake View and Andrews — the last of which will produce a 480-mile round trip.
What appeared to be a slow year for the Big Country on the signing front quickly blossomed into something memorable in 2022.
With National Signing Day taking place on Wednesday, the Big Country Preps coverage area finished with multiple Division I signees, including several on the gridiron.
Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.