Category: Brock Eagles

by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Region I-3A powerhouses Brock, Wall set to renew baseball rivalry this week

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.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Big third inning lifts Brock past Shallowater and into regional finals

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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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Brock tops Shallowater 7-1 in Game 1 of Region I-3A semifinal

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. 

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by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

GAME STORY: Strosnider’s two home runs fuel hit parade as Brock sweeps Holliday

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jernigan takes our final award for 2022-23

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. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Area Class 3A, 4A athletes claim 14 combined medals at state meet

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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by Daniel Youngblood

REGION I-3A TRACK MEET: Brock, Breck boys go 1-2 again; Big Country girls claim six individual golds

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Brock sophomore takes this week’s accolade with mercy rule no-hitter

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.'”

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Phillips takes yet another Player of the Week award

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Snyder baseballer edges Snyder softballer for top spot

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.”

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Bangs southpaw takes this week’s accolade

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sweetwater senior captures five medals and our award

“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. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Lopez’s walk-off ninth-inning homer gives Lady ‘Horns crucial win over Brock

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Fincannon fires perfecto and no-hitter to take this week’s award

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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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Brock drops overtime heartbreaker to Childress in Region I-3A title game

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BIG COUNTRY BOYS BASKETBALL REGIONAL PREVIEW: Six Big Country Preps teams remain

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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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: 10th-ranked Brock boys hold off Vernon rally, advance to Region I-3A tournament

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Big Spring senior chalks up four victories and our weekly award

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.

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by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Brock leaning on Lewis’ experience heading into postseason play

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. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Young Brock Lady Eagles balancing promising present, bright future

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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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Peaster sweeps Brock in varsity doubleheader to lock up one district title and nearly clinch another

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco’s Landenberger captures this week’s award

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DANIEL YOUNGBLOOD: Even without fairytale ending, Brock’s 2022 season a great story

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.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Brock’s run ends with state championship loss to Franklin

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. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FORECAST: Six area teams head to Arlington

LAST WEEK: 3-0, 1.000
SEASON TOTAL: 540-120, .818

Far be it from me to point out that this column has been absolutely on fire throughout postseason play. 

Actually, I will point it out. 

Over the last three weeks alone, pick accuracy has seen marks of 11-1, 8-0 and 3-0 for an overall pick record of 22-1 (.956) during that span. And with six-man teams returning from a one-week hiatus, there are five state championship games involving six teams from our coverage area left to pick.

Albany, Hawley, Brock, Westbrook, Benjamin and Loraine have all retained a pulse into Week 17. Not too shabby. 

It’s been a great year, a lot of fun and it’s difficult to believe it all ends this week. 

Here’s the final forecast for the 2022 season: 

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by Yale Youngblood, Special to Big Country Preps

GAME STORY: Watkins’ big night fuels Brock past Malakoff, back to state title game

FRISCO — Running back Reid Watkins slashed and dashed for 136 yards and two touchdowns and made a late-game interception on defense to lead Brock to a 21-10 win over Malakoff in a Class 3A Division I state semifinal game Thursday night at the Ford Center.

En route, the game’s primary hero also led the Eagles back toward Arlington, where they will play for a state championship for the second year in a row next week, against defending state champion Franklin, which throttled Edna 41-13.

“Primary” is the key word in the preceding paragraph. Watkins’ stellar performance off the bench was one of many offensive highlights for Brock, which won for the 11th straight time after starting the season 0-4. The Eagles’ starter at running back, Brett Tutter, added 81 rushing yards, and steady quarterback Tyler Moody completed six of 11 passes for 55 yards and ran for the Eagles’ other touchdown.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYOFF FORECAST: Albany, Hawley, Brock one win away from trip to Arlington

LAST WEEK: 8-0, 1.000
SEASON TOTAL: 537-120, .817

The Big Country Preps coverage area took a few hits last week, with Wylie, Wall and Cisco all seeing their seasons end in the regional championship round. 

However, six of our teams remain active heading into this week, half of which are six-man teams (Loraine, Benjamin and Westbrook) that have already qualified for state and are taking this week off. 

The other half are 3A DI Brock, 2A DI Hawley and 2A DII Albany, all of which advanced to this week’s state semifinals. 

As for pick accuracy, the column is on fire, going 8-0 last week and 11-1 the week before for a 19-1 mark (.950) over a two-week span.

Alright, enough said, let’s dive in. 

Here’s this week’s forecast: 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Comanche standout Glasgow takes top spot

Consistency and versatility always score big in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column. 

Add a few extras to your stat sheet and play well over several games and you’ll generally end up at or near the top of our weekly list. 

That is precisely why Comanche sophomore guard Kinsey Glasgow has earned our Player of the Week award for the Week ending December 3.

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by Yale Youngblood, Special to Big Country Preps

GAME STORY: Brock rallies past Whitesboro again, advances to Class 3A DI state semifinals

DENTON — Brock was down three to its fiercest District 4-3A Division I rival, Whitesboro, with just under seven minutes left in Thursday’s Region I-3A DI championship game. Prior to that point, the Eagles had mustered all of seven rushing yards in the first half, fumbled away a second-quarter, fourth-down try and winced agonizingly as an errant snap sailed 25 yards behind the line of scrimmage to thwart a promising first-half possession.

Meanwhile, Whitesboro had just taken the lead when receiver Jace Sanders sneaked his way to the sideline uncovered on a fourth and goal play — from the 22-yard line, no less — to seize momentum and threaten to avenge a 39-35 loss to the Eagles earlier this season.

In other words, Brock had the Bearcats right where it wanted them.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYOFF FORECAST: Nine BCP teams still alive as we enter December

LAST WEEK: 11-1, .916
SEASON TOTAL: 529-120, .815

As December football arrives so will nine — count’em, nine — Big Country Preps teams retain a playoff pulse and are still hopeful of winning a state championship.

Wylie, Brock, Wall, Cisco, Hawley, Albany, Westbrook, Benjamin and Loraine will all take the field this week.

Not too shabby.

Also doing pretty well: this column, which hit with 91-percent accuracy last week despite a difficult slate of games to pick.

That said, let’s dive into this week’s games.

Here’s this week’s forecast: 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Albany’s Chapman takes the top spot

Having fought his way through a mid-season injury, Albany quarterback Cole Chapman is back in form. 

Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week was the dual threat we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on Saturday, leading the Lions (11-2) to a 35-18 whipping of formerly unbeaten Wink in the Region II-2A Division II semifinals. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME REPORT: Brock uses rally for the ages to erase huge deficit and eliminate Bushland

VERNON — With 7:39 remaining in the second quarter of Friday’s Region I-3A DI semifinal between Brock and Bushland, the outcome for the Eagles was looking bleak. 

Bushland was not only leading, it was dominating Brock 27-7, courtesy of two TD passes and a scoring run from Falcon quarterback Dawson Jaco. 

What nobody knew, however, was that Bushland had scored its final point. And Brock, like the waters of a tsunami receding prior to impact, was about to unleash something unbelievable.

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