At the end of every practice and game, Brownwood’s softball team breaks out shouting the word “family.”
First-year head coach Cherita Munguia believes that mantra has been an important one for a squad that often starts five sophomores and a freshman.
“They love each other fiercely and play like a family,” Munguia said. “They’re extremely hungry, are super coachable and have an energy that’s unmatched. It’s been a really exciting journey.”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Districts 5/6-4A area track meet (104 images)”
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: Stephenville-Brownwood softball (41 images)”
BROWNWOOD — Just three days after a 4-2 home-field loss to archrival Brownwood, the Stephenville Honey Bees came to BHS on Friday seeking a little payback in a District 6-4A rematch.
Mission accomplished.
Helped by a gritty pitching performance from Presley Gaitain and a three-run third inning, the Honey Bees (15-11, 3-3) held on for a 5-3 win, keeping them in solid contention for a No. 2 playoff seed.
Making multiple switches to her batting order, Stephenville coach Kady Crow threw caution to the wind prior to gametime and the gamble paid off.
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.”
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: Abilene Icebreaker Softball Tournament (241 images)”
ABILENE – The Wichita Falls Coyotes ran the football on the Brownwood Lions like no other team this season during Friday night’s rain-soaked Class 4A Division I regional semifinal game. As a result, the heavily favored Lions’ season ended with a 41-19 loss to the upstart Coyotes at Wildcat Stadium.
Cameron Gould, a two-way ironman at linebacker and running back, rushed for 158 yards and five touchdowns as the Coyotes, who were 3-3 at one point this season, improved to 9-4 and advanced to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2013. Wichita Falls will face District 4-4A DI rival Decatur for the Region I championship at 7 p.m. next Friday, Dec. 2, at Collins Stadium in Denton.
With the Wylie football team’s season on the line, facing a 40-30 deficit with less than six minutes remaining, the Bulldogs needed an epic comeback to rally past Colleyville Heritage on Friday at Grapevine’s Mustang-Panther Stadium.
Fortunately for coach Clay Martin’s squad, their senior quarterback has made a habit of leading those this year.
After throwing just his sixth interception on a fourth-down play midway through the final quarter, KJ Long was given new life when his defense forced and recovered a quick fumble. He made the most of it by leading a pair of quick scoring drives — the last to put the Bulldogs 43-40 with three seconds left on the clock — to fuel his team to a wild 50-40 area-round win and earn this week’s Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
Anna 33, Stephenville 32 — The Yellow Jackets saw their season come to an end with a heartbreaking loss to the Coyotes in the area round, falling in a game that saw six lead changes, including four in the second half.
After falling behind 14-3 after the first quarter, Stephenville (9-3) rallied to pull within 20-17 at halftime before taking a 24-20 in the third quarter. Anna regained the lead at 26-24 by the end of the third quarter, and the teams traded touchdowns in the fourth, with the Coyotes erasing a 36-32 deficit with the final touchdown with about six minutes remaining in the game.
MIDLAND — With sub-freezing temperatures, a strong wind and a misty rain falling, conditions for Friday’s Region I-4A area round game between Brownwood and Canyon didn’t promise much for the highlight reel.
By the end of the evening, however, Brownwood had combined a handful of big offensive plays with a smothering defensive effort to eliminate injury-plagued Canyon 31-10.
Konlyn Anderson rushed for 113 yards and two scores and Ike Hall rushed for 102 more and two more TDs to lead Brownwood (10-2), which advances to face Wichita Falls High at 7 p.m. on Friday at Abilene Christian University.
Canyon, which was forced into using multiple reserve quarterbacks in a variety of rolls due to injuries to its top two signal callers, finished the season at 10-2. The Eagles were led by Noah Sanchez, who threw for 119 yards and one score.
Big Spring 38, El Paso Riverside 35 — The Steers pulled out and absolute thriller over the District 1-4A DI champion Rangers, scoring the winning points on a wild fourth-and-10 play with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game.
Quarterback Gavin Padron, who passed for 230 yards and three touchdowns, evaded multiple sack attempts with some creative scrambling in the backfield before heaving it up running Kavien Ford in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown hookup. That ended a back-and-forth that saw three lead changes in the final 15 minutes.
After highlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, we now take a look at the area’s best big men.
For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top 10 post players.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.
After kicking off our boys basketball position rankings series on Tuesday with the guards, we now shift 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 for 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With boys basketball season beginning this week, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2022-23 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this winter.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
Andrews 40, Big Spring 20 — The Mustangs limited the Steers to just 256 yards of total offense while rushing for 260 yards of their own on their way to a lopsided win.
Behind a big day by quarterback Ashton Galvan (23-110, 1 TD rushing; 11-16-0—132, 2 TDs passing), Andrews (6-4, 2-2) scored the first 24 points and led 32-7 by halftime. Big Spring rallied to pull within 32-20 with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns, but that’s as close as it would get to the lead.
After focusing on the top guards and forwards the Big Country has to offer the past two nights, it’s time to shift our attention to the paint.
For the final installment in our three-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 post players for the 2022-23 season.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these rankings, and make sure to come back next week when we’ll feature the top boys basketball players in the Big Country.
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 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
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 2022-23 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.
Brownwood 47, Andrews 3 — The Lions wrapped up a perfect run through District 2-4A DI, routing the Mustangs to close their regular season at 8-2 overall and 4-0 in league play.
Brownwood, which claimed its first district title since 2010, raced out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter and increased its advantage to 31-3 by halftime. The Lions outgained the Mustangs 391-213, limiting AHS to 63 yards passing with three interceptions.
Brownwood 52, Lubbock Estacado 14 — The Lions stayed perfect in district play with an impressive showing against the Matadors, piling up 502 total yards in a blowout win.
Behind another big rushing game by Konlyn Anderson (29-160, 3 TDs) and quarterback Ike Hall (15-147, 2 TDs), Brownwood built a 24-7 lead by halftime, and the Lions were never threatened after in improving to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in league action.
As Texas high school football legacies go, there are few programs on a par with Brownwood. Under legendary coach Gordon Wood, the Lions made getting to and winning state titles almost commonplace. From 1960 to 1981, Wood led his team to seven championships and finished second another time.
However …
Given that the last raising of the trophy occurred more than four decades ago, it certainly could be argued that what was noted in the previous paragraph is old news.
The fact is: It isn’t.
Brownwood 60, San Angelo Lake View 13 — The Lions dominated the Chiefs from start to finish, outgaining LVHS 451-238 in a blowout win.
Behind big rushing games by running back Konlyn Anderson (17-156, 5 TDs) quarterback Ike Hall (10-126, 2 TDs), Brownwood scored the first 38 points of the game and built a 52-7 lead by halftime. The Lions (6-2, 2-0) finished with 354 rushing yards on just 29 carries.
Brownwood 41, Big Spring 10 — The Lions piled up 442 yards of total offense and took advantage of five Steers turnovers in a blowout win to open district play.
Brownwood (5-2, 1-0), which got a solid performance from backup quarterback Chance Jones (10-16-2—213, 3 TDs passing), led 21-3 by halftime and used a 13-0 run through the third quarter to put the game away.