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.
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.
Tessa Goodwin’s individual statistics aren’t as impressive as last season when the Brownwood forward made all-state, but the Class 4A Lady Lions are enjoying a better season and are in line to return to the playoffs.
And that’s just fine with Goodwin.
“I realized this year that other teams were going to have two or three players doubling up on me inside,” the 5-foot-10 senior said. “We’ve got some veteran 3-point shooters this year like Mady Pyle and Kassidy Wooten and Naysa Leach. If their doubling up on me, our 3-point shooters are open. That’s less of a hassle for me, and it helps the team.”
Evan and Dan go over the 2021 All-Big Country Preps Football Team, plus Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive MVPs, Coach of the Year and more!
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, takes pride in being coachable but seldom needs direction.
He always sets the right example for younger players. He doesn’t gripe and, above all else, he’s tough enough to make all the aforementioned traits 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, who exemplify the character traits football mentors want throughout their roster.
Not all of them are great players. In fact, many of them will never play a down of college football. But every single one of them is making the most of their high school football experience and has helped those around them do the same.
We are absolutely honored to present these young men to you — the toughest, hardest-working football players the Big Country had to offer in 2021.
While scoring a lot of points is always an attention-getter, the Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week column puts a great deal of value in players who can contribute in a variety of ways. And today’s winner is a prime of example of that.
Stamford junior guard Laylonna Applin takes our accolade after helping the Lady Bulldogs to a 5-0 record on the week, with wins over Burkburnett, Christoval, Class 4A No. 13 Sanger, the San Angelo Central JV and Veribest. The last for victories came in the Ballinger tournament, at which Applin was named MVP.
Yes, she did plenty of scoring, dropping in an eye-popping 134 points through five games. But Applin did a lot more than just put the ball in the hoop.
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.
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 2021-22 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.
Stephenville 63, Brownwood 7 — The No. 2 Yellow Jackets completed a perfect run through district play and an undefeated regular season with a blowout win over the Lions.
After allowing a touchdown to Brownwood on its opening possession, Stephenville (10-0, 5-0) responded with nine consecutive touchdown drives to put the game out of reach quickly.
The Yellow Jackets finished the game with 633 yards, piling up 493 by halftime. Quarterback Ryder Lambert was at the heart of that, hitting 13 of 17 passes for 376 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 53 yards and two more scores. Coy Eakin had four receptions for 148 yards and two TDs and added a third score rushing.
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 2021-22.
We hope you enjoy our list.
Stephenville 38, Midlothian Heritage — The Jaguars bottled up the explosive Yellow Jackets’ offense, holding SHS to just 253 total yards. But coach Sterling Doty’s squad scored a pair of defensive touchdowns to survive a challenge from Heritage.
The Jaguars (6-3, 2-2) led 14-0 after the first quarter, but No. 2 Stephenville (9-0, 4-0) scored 31 unanswered points to take control of the game by the final period.
Quarterback Ryder Lambert passed for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the win, hitting Reece Elston (7-65 receiving) and Coy Eakin (4-18) with scoring passes. Tate Maruska led the Yellow Jacket rushing attack, going for 64 yards and a score on 10 carries.
It’s never a surprise to see Sweetwater senior quarterback Leo Holsey among the top performers in our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week column.
Since his freshman year, the four-year starter has topped our weekly list multiple times, including this week after helping Sweetwater to a 61-37 win over Pecos on Friday.
Holsey only threw 15 passes, but he connected on 12 of them for 364 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 75 yards and two more scores, giving him a direct hand in 439 yards and seven TDs.
Brownwood 56, Alvarado 35 — The Lions picked up a huge victory for their playoff hopes, outscoring the Indians 14-7 in each of the final three quarters to turn a 14-all tie after one period into a three-touchdown win.
Running back Konlyn Anderson fueled the effort for Brownwood (3-5, 1-2), rushing for 230 yards and five touchdowns, while quarterback Chance Jones went 8-of-10 passing for 113 yards and two scores.
The Lions were outgained 492-423, but they forced three turnovers and turned each into touchdowns to snap a three-three game losing streak and pull into a fourth-place tie with Alvarado (2-6, 1-2) in the district standings.
LAST WEEK: 35-11, .760
SEASON TOTAL: 322-74, .813
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will send me south to historic Hufford Field in Coleman, where the Bluecats (6-0) will play host to perennial power Cisco (6-1) in what is essentially the District 4-2A Division I championship.
Opened way back in 1934, Hufford is one of the Big Country’s oldest and most unique venues and if you are looking for a game to go to on Friday, this one will not only offer some good football, but some nostalgia as well.
The immense rock wall surrounding the field was built in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration or WPA as the nation battled its way out of The Great Depression.
Hope to see you there.
Here are this week’s picks:
It’s one thing to rush for more than 300 yards and three scores against a struggling program. We see that all the time from the area’s top running backs.
But it’s an entirely different thing when those yards come against a solid team with a sturdy defense. That’s earning it the hard way.
Jim Ned’s Xavier Wishert, our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week, took that route on Friday night when he charted 313 yards rushing and three scores on just 20 carries in a 37-20 road win over the Wall Hawks.
Stephenville 56, Alvarado 0 — The second-ranked Yellow Jackets had no trouble with the Indians, piling up 542 yards of offense and taking advantage of three Alvarado turnovers in a shutout victory.
Stephenville (2-0 in district) led 35-0 by halftime and cruised from there to its seventh straight win to open the season. Alvarado, meanwhile, dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Ryder Lambert passed for 277 yards and four touchdowns in the victory, while Tate Maruska rushed for 143 yards and two TDs on just seven carries and Coy Eakin had 135 yards and three scores receiving on four catches.
LAST WEEK: 40-7, .851
SEASON TOTAL: 287-63, .820
Week 8? Are you kidding?
I ask the same question, or some variant of it virtually every year. We just finished with two-a-days. How can we possibly be this deep in the season so quickly?
Yet hear we are. A cold weather snap approaching. Thanksgiving right around the corner —as are the playoffs.
This week’s Game of the Week will see me traveling north to Ralls where the surprising Roscoe Plowboys, off to their best start in years, will be in a showdown for the district lead.
The column hit at 85 percent accuracy last week and is now up to 82 percent on the year. So we’ll see if we can keep the momentum going through the home stretch.
Let’s have a look at this week’s picks:
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.
For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday morning.
Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
We will continually update the database throughout the regular season.
Stephenville 35, Waco La Vega 7 — The No. 2 Yellow Jackets dominated the sixth-ranked Pirates from start to finish, building a 28-0 halftime lead and cruising from there to a huge district-opening victory.
Stephenville (6-0, 1-0), which limited La Vega (3-3, 0-1) to one third-quarter touchdown, got another big night offensively from quarterback Ryder Lambert, who finished with 294 total yards and had a hand in four touchdowns (three passes and a run).
Coy Eakin, the area’s leading receiver, was the on the receiving end of Lambert’s first TD pass and added a rushing score to put the Jackets up 14-0 in the first quarter. Kyle Ward’s first of two TD receptions was followed by a seven-yard touchdown run by Lambert in the second quarter to give SHS .
LAST WEEK: 39-4, .906
SEASON TOTAL: 247-56, .815
Gramps Ren is back in the groove, hitting over 90 percent of his picks a week ago, to push this column’s season percentage to .815 as we head into district play across the area.
Whether or not I can keep the momentum remains to be seen, entering what might be the toughest week of area picks I’ve seen this year, with multiple games that I would rate as near-tossups.
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will see us heading to Tuscola where Jim Ned will begin its District 3-3A DI title defense against a red-hot, unbeaten team from Early.
Let’s have a look at this week’s picks …