Brock 78, Boyd 0 — Brody Woods was nearly perfect through the air, hitting 11 of 13 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns, while leading 350-yard rushing effort with 87 yards and another score on the ground to fuel the Eagles to blowout win over the Yellowjackets in the league opener for both teams.
Brett Tutter added 83 yards and three touchdowns and Vance Guthrie rushed for 82 yards and two TDs as the Eagles (2-3, 1-0) scored seven times on the ground.
Gunter 35, Brock 12 — Walker overman rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 51 yards and an another score to lead the Tigers to a comfortable win over the Eagles.
Behind overman, Gunter rushed for 214 of its 304 yards, while limiting Brock to 278 total yards. The Tigers used a 28-point second quarter to go to halftime up 35-6 and were never threatened after the break.
Wimberley 35, Brock 27 — The Eagles gave the Class 4A Division II No. 5 Texans all they wanted Thursday night, but they weren’t able to come out with a win.
Brody Woods passed for 253 yards and three touchdowns to lead Brock, which trailed just 28-27 midway through the fourth quarter, before Wimberley added one final TD to close out the scoring.
Brock 28, Wichita Falls Hirschi 14 — The Eagles bounced back from a tough loss to Texarkana Pleasant Grove last week, racing out to a 14-0 halftime lead and maintaining that margin after the break to claim a two-touchdown win over the Huskies.
Brock only gained 207 yards of offense, but the Eagles limited Hirschi to 227 yards and forced three turnovers, including an interception by Cam Harris that was returned for a touchdown in the second quarter. The Huskies (1-1) ran for just 67 yards in the loss, losing a pair of fumbles.
After a summer-long effort to produce our football preview, it is good to be back in our school year routine — a big part of which is our Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
That said, we are proud to hand our first accolade for 2023-24 to Snyder senior quarterback Easton Stewart, who led the Tigers to a 42-0 season-opening win over Slaton last week.
Texarkana Pleasant Grove 10, Brock 7 — The Eagles dropped their opener to the Hawks for the second consecutive year, managing just 272 yards and one touchdown in a heartbreaking three-point loss.
Brock, which fell 28-7 to Pleasant Grove a year ago, led 7-3 with less than a minute remaining Friday. But Ahkhari Johnson hit Jackson Gibson with a 32-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds remaining to lift the Hawks to the dramatic victory.
BROCK — He doesn’t fit into the cookie cutter mold for running backs.
But there are two things Brock senior Brett Tutter does possess that will make virtually any college recruiter stand up and take notice: blinding speed and exceptional toughness.
The numbers don’t lie.
BROCK — For two consecutive years, the Brock Eagles and coach Billy Mathis have reached the doorstep of a Class 3A DI state championship, only to be turned away — falling 35-18 to Lorena in 2021 and 17-14 to Franklin last year.
The Eagles, however, might be in an even better position to take their first state championship since 2015 with seven starters returning on both sides of the ball among 24 lettermen and additional reinforcements from a 9-1 JV team.
Day 6 of Big Country Preps’ 2023 Photo Tour is now in the books, with one more day of shooting yet to come from practice fields throughout the area.
Here are but a few of the images collected Friday and Saturday:
Continue reading “Scenes from Big Country Preps Photo Tour Days 6”
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 3A Division I with the Brock Eagles. On Sunday we will take a look at the Snyder Tigers, followed by the Sweetwater Mustangs on Sunday.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Brock Eagles … nine days to two-a-days”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: 2023 State LineMAN Championships (133 photos)”
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: Wall-Brock baseball regional championship playoff (228 images)”
On Thursday night, the Wall baseball team rode a fast start and an excellent pitching performance to a 6-2 win over Brock in Game 1 of a best-of-three Region I-3A championship series.
One day later, the Hawks used those same things — in even greater measure — to earn their third state tournament berth since 2017.
WHS followed its three-run first in Thursday’s opener with six first-inning runs Friday, and sophomore ace Luke Kemp backed Kellan Oliver’s complete-game gem with a five-hit shutout as the Hawks cruised to an 11-0 win and an impressive sweep at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field.
Pitching arguably the biggest game of his life to date, Wall freshman Kellan Oliver needed one batter to calm his nerves Thursday in Game 1 of the Region I-3A championship series against Brock.
But after opening his weather-delayed start with a four-pitch walk, the talented left-hander proceeded to stymie a tremendous Eagle lineup in a 6-2 victory for the Hawks.
Oliver, who saw his scheduled 7 p.m. first pitch pushed past 9:30 due to thunderstorms in the Abilene area, limited Brock to six hits and just the one walk over seven outstanding innings to help Wall strike first blood at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field and pull the Hawks within one win of the Class 3A state tournament.
When it comes to baseball in Region I-3A, the path to the state tournament in recent seasons has gone through one of two programs — the Brock Eagles or the Wall Hawks.
Since BHS was moved into the region in the 2017-18 alignment, those are the only two teams out of I-3A to earn trips to Round Rock, with the Eagles making state appearances in 2018, 2021 and 2022 and the Hawks doing so in 2017 and 2019.
With the two set for a best-of-three region championship series Thursday through Saturday at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field, that trend is already guaranteed to continue in 2023. So, too, is a hyper-competitive rivalry that has now seen the teams meet in five of the past six postseasons — there were no playoffs in 2020 due to COVID — with two series victories on each team’s ledger coming into this year’s games.
Wednesday night, Brock baseball coach Kobe Page lamented the fact that his squad only put up two runs in the final six innings after starting fast in a 7-1 series-opening win over Shallowater.
Thursday was a polar opposite.
After rough at-bats by Tyler Moody, Ian Fuchs and Sawyer Strosnider in the first inning, the rest of the lineup picked them up. And from there, the Eagles went on to eliminate the Mustangs with an 11-1 win in Game 2 of the Region I-3A semifinal series at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brock-Shallowater baseball regional semifinal playoff (141 images)”
ABILENE — A big first inning, a major scare and six innings of smooth sailing summed up Brock’s 7-1 rout of Shallowater in Game 1 of a Region I-3A semifinal on Wednesday.
Cam Harris was 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs and Ian Fuchs tossed six innings of four-hit baseball to lead Brock, which coasted after a five-run first inning at Abilene Christian University. The Eagles did, however, have to hold their breath in the second inning after Fuchs’ foot slipped off the first base bag while trying to beat out a throw to first.
The incident saw Fuchs fall to the ground in agony, after which his heavy limp to the Brock dugout immediately spawned activity in the Eagle bullpen. Fuchs, however, wasn’t finished. He managed to limp to the bullpen where he threw well enough to return to the game. He worked through the sixth, held Shallowater to one run and collected the win with one inning of relief help from Harris.
IOWA PARK — Sawyer Strosnider admitted he didn’t get all of the ball during his first home run in Friday night’s Game 2 against Holliday.
But the Brock junior left no such doubts in his next at-bat, smashing a two-run homer that broke a tie game in the fourth inning.
Strosnider’s knocks were two of the 10 extra-base hits Brock collected in a windy 20-7 victory that advances the Eagles to the Region I-3A semifinals.
Our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the 2022-23 school year could have gone any number of directions.
We finally settled on Goldthwaite junior Lainey Jernigan, who swept both the girls 2A hurdles titles at the state meet last week.
Jernigan won the 100 hurdles in 14.62 and the 300 hurdles in 44.12. And the good news for GHS fans is, she’s coming back to defend both crowns next year.
Cover photo courtesy of Stephenville coach Kolt Kittley
AUSTIN —The UIL State Track and Field meet kicked off Thursday with Classes 3A and 4A competing at Mike Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, and the Big Country had a fairly strong showing.
The closest finish determining who would be on and off the podium came in the Class 3A girls 800 meter run where Ballinger’s Addison Martin ran the race in 2 minutes, 17.522 seconds, edging Holliday freshman Kenli Atwood by a microscopic 0.007 seconds after diving through the finish line in her final event of a storied career.
Martin’s podium finish, where she was just one-tenth of a second off what had been the top qualification mark, was one of 14 medal-worthy performances for area athletes.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Region I-3A track meet (118 images)”
The Brock boys track teams clinched its third consecutive region championship Saturday at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium, and for the second year in a row, the Eagles’ stiffest competition came from Breckenridge.
Brock took first at the Region I-3A meet, tallying 70 team points over the two-day competition, while the Buckaroos finished with 55 points, edging third-place Vernon (54) for their second runner-up finish in as many years.
Those performances headlined a successful meet for area competitors, which saw athletes or relay teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area claim 26 total medals — 14 on the boys side and 12 on the girls. That list featured 15 automatic qualifying bids to the state meet May 11-13 in Austin, including 10 total gold medals.
A no-hitter alone is often enough to secure the Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. But when it’s backed by a solid offensive performance, it’s very difficult to get knocked off of the perch.
Brock sophomore Jesse Rusinek takes this week’s accolade after holding Eastland hitless in a 15-0 mercy rule win that saw him miss a perfect game by one walk. He fanned 12 in the process.
“He was dealin’ out there,” Brock coach Kobe Page said of the stuff Rusinek had in the Eastland game. “When he’s on, he’s pretty tough … just showing up, battling and moving the ball around the strike zone. He was ‘on.'”
Clyde’s Payton Phillips is no stranger to our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. She’s no stranger to gold medals either.
And for the third time since last year, the CHS senior has captured our weekly accolade — this time with an armful of hardware.
In her latest performance, Phillips won four separate district championships and took silver in a fifth at the District 6-3A track meet.
It’s difficult to trump a no-hitter, though Snyder’s Ava Aviles came close last week.
Aviles, who threw back-to-back two-hitters for Snyder softball, is our first runner-up to her classmate, Player of the Week Ty Davis and his first career no-hitter.
Davis earned a 13-2 five-inning win over Levelland last week, holding LHS hitless in the mercy rule win, finishing with five strikeouts.
“Ty has continued to improve on the mound and has given us some excellent innings this season, none bigger than last Tuesday with his no-hit performance,” Snyder coach Shane Stewart said. ” I am proud of him and looking forward to watching him mature as a pitcher and a young man.”
Bangs southpaw Abby Wolf has thrown so many no-hitters this year, that the subject barely raises an eyebrow. But in consecutive district wins over Coleman and Christoval last week, the sophomore managed to create a stir.
Missing a perfect game by one hit batsman in a 7-0 win over Coleman, she followed that with three perfect innings in a 15-0 route of Christoval.
In other words, Wolf tossed nine complete hitless innings last week, along the way walking none and fanning 13.
“Damarrius Walker is a very talented young man,” Sweetwater coach Brian Hodnett said. “There isn’t much in track and field that he can’t do!
“We as a staff are excited to see how far he can go this year.”
So is the rest of the area as our Big Country Preps Player of the Week collects the award after scoring 44 points individually at the Hamlin Pied Piper Relays last week.
EARLY — It took nine innings and more than two hours to come to a conclusion, but Tuesday’s District 8-3A softball showdown between Early and Brock lived up to its expectations.
With the score knotted at 2-2, Early’s Teagan Lopez drove a pitch from Melanie Middleton over the fence in dead center to drive home Jordan Simmons with a game-winning two-run walk-off homer in a 4-2 victory at EHS.
With the win, Early (13-2, 3-0) takes possession of first place in the district race while Brock (8-10-1, 2-1) slips off the pace by a game.
You know you’re on a roll when you throw a no-hitter and it’s your second-best performance of the week.
That was the case for Hico junior pitcher Kiersten Fincannon, not only threw a no-hitter in a 24-0 win over Meridian, but also tossed a perfect game in a 22-0 rout of Itasca.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brock-Childress boys basketball region championship (92 images)”
WOLFFORTH — Playing their third game this week to go to down to the final minute, the Brock Eagles finally ran out of late-game magic Saturday in a 56-55 overtime loss to Childress in the Region I-3A championship game.
After defeating Vernon 40-36 on Monday in a region quarterfinal matchup that was tied with just over two minutes remaining and getting a bucket just before the horn to win an overtime thriller over Shallowater in Friday’s region semifinals, BHS couldn’t get a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to fall against Childress on Saturday, seeing its season end one basket short of a state tournament berth for the second consecutive year.
The 10th-ranked Eagles closed their campaign at 29-10, while the No. 5 Bobcats (27-7) earned a trip to San Antonio next week, joining Hooks, No. 2 Hitchcock and No. 7 Lytle in the Class 3A state field.
After four months of intense and entertaining action, the high school boys basketball season is nearing its end. But for six teams in the Big Country Preps coverage area, the most important games remain in front of them.
With Brock in the Region I-3A tournament and five area Class 1A teams — Jayton, Benjamin, Munday, Huckabay and Gordon — spread across three regions, there’s still plenty of meaningful basketball to be played.
And with two more wins, any of those six could be headed to San Antonio next week for the state tournament.
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GRAHAM — Facing off in the Region I-3A quarterfinals with an athletic Vernon squad that had cruised through its first two playoff tests, the Brock boys basketball team knew it would get all the Lions had Monday at the Graham High School gymnasium.
But as it turned out, the 10th-ranked Eagles had just a little bit more.
After stretching a 23-20 halftime lead to eight points early in the fourth quarter, BHS saw Vernon rally to tie the game at 36 with just over two minutes remaining. But rather than panic as the tension and noise level rose, the Eagles responded with a game-closing 4-0 run to take a 40-36 win and advance to the Region I-3A tournament for the seventh consecutive year and 12th time since 2010.
It’s always a good sign early in the season when you’re getting good pitching against quality competition. And in the case of the Big Spring Lady Steers, the numbers in the circle thus far are downright encouraging.
Courtesy of senior Alexcia Munoz, the Lady Steers are off to a 5-1 start, including a 4-0 mark from Munoz in last week’s Abilene Icebreaker tournament.
Zach Lewis is ready to leave everything on the court these next couple weeks.
The Brock senior point guard’s competitive basketball days are numbered as he’ll be attending business school at Texas A&M next fall.
After playing a crucial role on the Eagles’ state-qualifying team two years ago and nearly leading Brock back to San Antonio last year, Lewis is well-versed in high-stakes postseason games.
At 29-6 and ranked 14th in Class 3A heading into the playoffs, the Brock girls basketball team has a lot to like about its present.
After finishing second to No. 6 Peaster in District 8-3A, the Lady Eagles will open the postseason Monday night with a bi-district matchup against Wichita Falls City View (22-10) in hopes of making a run in a brutal Region I-3A bracket.
But as laser focused as BHS coach Alex Stephenson and his team are on accomplishing the goals they’ve set for this season, it’s hard not to peak ahead to a future that could be even brighter. With a nine-player roster that features three freshmen and three sophomores to go with their three seniors, the Lady Eagles have much to look forward to as well.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Peaster-Brock basketball doubleheader (86 images)”
BROCK — What began as an exciting evening for Brock boys and girls basketball on Saturday ended their archrival spoiling most of the potential fun.
Having two opportunities to throw the District 8-3A races into turmoil, Brock was dealt consecutive defeats in a varsity doubleheader, falling 73-30 in the girls game and 50-44 on the boys’ side.
Had the Brock girls won, the Lady Eagles would have forced a first-place tie with Peaster in District 8 with two games to go. Instead, the Lady Greyhounds locked up the district title by creating a two-game lead. They now own a tiebreaker over Brock, having won both meetings with BHS.
The Brock boys faced a similar situation: down a game to Peaster with a chance to grab a piece of first place. They are now trailing the Greyhounds by two games with four games remaining with the tiebreaker in Peaster’s favor. Therefore, Peaster would have to lose three of its final four games to open the door for the Eagles — a highly unlikely scenario for a team which will enter next week at 23-5 and 10-0 in district play.
A limited number of minutes, if the numbers compute correctly, can figure strongly in our selection of Player of the Week.
That is the case with this week’s winner, Gavin Landenberger of Cisco, who opened the week with 29 points, five boards, three assists, and five steals in a win over Haskell last Tuesday.
However, what sealed the deal for the senior guard, was a 20-point, four-rebound, five-assist and five-steal game he charted in a win over Hamlin — numbers he posted in only 18 minutes of playing time.
Due to UIL regulations, photo sales from state championship events are not permitted.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brock-Franklin football (80 images)”
For large portions of Thursday’s Class 3A Division I state championship game Thursday, it appeared the contest would serve as a microcosm of Brock’s season.
The Eagles missed some opportunities early and fell behind before halftime only to claw their way back into the game and give themselves a chance at the ultimate prize at the end.
Unfortunately for BHS, this story didn’t have a fairytale ending.
After rallying twice to tie Franklin at 7 and 14, the Eagles watched Lions kicker Cort Lowry drill a 20-yard field goal as time expired to give his team a 17-14 win. Instead of coming all the way back from an 0-4 start to close the season with 12 straight wins and a state championship, Brock had to settle for a second consecutive state runner-up finish.
ARLINGTON — A handful of costly Brock mistakes was enough to tip the balance in Franklin’s favor on Thursday night as the Lions won the 3A Division I state championship and their second straight title overall, 17-14 at AT&T Stadium.
Jayden Jackson rushed for 148 yards and one score to lead Franklin (16-0), which took advantage of a 3-1 turnover ratio to win its 32nd straight game over a two-year span. This includes the 3A DII title a year ago.
With the score knotted at 14-14 with 5:54 left to play, the Lions pushed 65 yards in 15 plays to the Brock 3 yard-line where Cort Lowry booted a 20-yard field goal as time expired to lift Franklin to the win.
