Here are the Big Country’s receiving leaders through Week 7:
Hico 51, Abilene TLCA 6 — Tyler Rainwater rushed for 224 yards and three scores and threw for 154 yards and two more scores to lead the Tigers over TLCA.
Hico (6-0, 1-0) finished with 582 yards in total offense.
A week ago, Graham senior quarterback Cooper Corley narrowly missed taking our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
This time around, there was no stopping him.
Corley, who led the Steers to a 48-21 win over Peaster, hit 16 of 27 throws for 307 yards and two TDs.
He also rushed 12 times for 132 yards and four more scores and caught a 29-yard TD pass for seven touchdowns on the night.
“Very rarely do you see a kid total 7 TDs in a night and score in three different ways,” Graham coach Clay McChristian said. “He scored at least one touchdown passing, rushing, and receiving.
“That is right at 1000 total yards and 13 TDs in the last two weeks against two quality opponents.”
Anson 43, Breckenridge 19 — Grayson Feagan threw for 245 yards and four scores and rushed for 118 yards and another TD to lead Anson (3-2) to a win over Breckenridge.
Levii Diaz was another big contributor, rushing for 110 yards and one score on nine carries.
Anson 48, Haskell 44 — Haskell (2-2) was involved in its fourth straight shootout, this time falling a bit short.
To date, the Indians have yet to score fewer than 44 points in a game and have yet to allow fewer than 42.
Anson leveled off at 2-2 with the win.
It’s still too early to say, but 2026 could be the year of the quarterback in the Big Country. At least it has been that way through three weeks, with Clyde senior Devan Wright taking our latest Big Country Player of the Week award after another eye-popping performance from an area signal caller.
In the wake of Haskell’s Haegan Pinkerton winning our first two awards with two huge performances in Week 1 and Week 2, Wright followed those up with one of his own in a 57-21 win over Comanche on Friday.
Helping Clyde improve to 3-0, Wright connected on 12 of 18 throws for 194 yards and four scores. He also rushed nine times for 116 yards and three more TDs, giving him a direct hand in seven touchdowns.
We prefer to not have the same athlete win our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in successive weeks, given that it is our aim to share the love. But every now and then, the numbers simply make that impossible.
So here we have it: Haskell’s Haegen Pinkerton has won our accolade twice in as many weeks, and deservedly so after leading the Indians to a 62-44 win at Bangs on Friday.
Hico 31, Cross Plains 14 — Tyler Rainwater threw for 201 yards and rushed for 108 with two TDs to lead Hico (2-0) to a win over Cross Plains (1-1).
The Buffaloes were led by William Albrecht, who passed for 96 yards and rushed for 83.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cisco-Clyde football (15 images)” →
Abilene TLCA 46, Baird 20 — First-year coach Webb Murphy’s Eagles snapped a 28-game losing streak that dated back to Sept. 8 of 2023 with a win over Baird.
BHS took a step up from the six-man ranks to challenge the Eagles but fell victim to QB Tyler Johnston, who hit 10 of 12 throws for 195 yards and three scores. He also rushed 15 times for 62 yards.
Senior Dashawn Polk had a big day as well, catching three passes for 44 yards and two scores and rushing for 124 yards and two TDs.

CLYDE — It may have been mistake-filled and a bit sloppy (as many season-openers are). But Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week didn’t fail to entertain those in attendance, with Clyde overcoming Cisco 27-24 in a seesaw battle at Bulldog Stadium.
Devan Wright threw for 196 yards and rushed for 128 while accounting for three touchdowns to lead Clyde (1-0), which overcame a 24-21 deficit when Wright hit Jacob Hernandez with a 5-yard pass over the middle for a go-ahead TD with 5:20 to play. It proved to be the game-winner as the Bulldogs stopped Cisco on its final possession to secure the victory in what has become an intriguing rivalry.
“We always play close games with these guys,” Clyde coach Johnathon Haddock said. “Cisco is a really good football team and I think we have a really good football team too and I think you saw that tonight.
“We were lucky to make some plays in the fourth quarter to put us on top. But there were two very good teams on the field.”
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 15 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2026.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.
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Summer is over (at least as far as the school calendars are concerned).
That means it’s time to lace up the cleats and begin the annual dance otherwise known as the high school football season that some Texans treat with an almost religious enthusiasm.
That also means it’s time for sportswriters across the state to take their weekly stabs at picking the winners of area games — a great source of entertainment for some readers and a great source of frustration for some of us who engage in it.
Nonetheless, it’s time to dive in.
So here we go. I’ll see you on the road.
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 15 with a list of others to watch in 2026. Don’t forget to check in tomorrow when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.
We hope you enjoy this 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 with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 15 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2026.
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 15 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2026.
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 10 kickers and top three 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 2026 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 15 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2026.
We hope you enjoy our list.
After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen last night, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2026.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 15 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 2026.
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 15 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.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen” →
The time has arrived for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
Several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor have gone into this, so we’re more than ready to post it.
With that please dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today. Enjoy! We’ll see you on the road!
CISCO — When the Cisco Loboes lost talented juniors Garrett Offutt and Hudson Hernandez last year to collarbone injuries, it was actually worse than it appeared. Cisco wasn’t just losing two starters, it was actually losing four, since both players played both ways — Offutt doubling as an OL/DL and Hernandez doubling as a LB/FB.
Both injuries occurred at crucial times, with Hernandez suffering his injury against district rival Hawley on Oct. 24 and Offutt being injured four rounds deep in the playoffs in a season-ending loss to Stinnett West Texas.
The good news for Cisco is, both players are back, physically sound and eager to begin their senior seasons. And nobody is happier about it than CHS Coach Kevin Stinnett, whose team is expected to challenge for the Region II-2A DI title this year.
CISCO — In the eyes of many, the 2026 Cisco Loboes are a team with a legitimate shot at reaching the state championship game in Arlington.
They are seen by some as one of the top teams in Region II-2A DI and by many others as the favorite to win District 5-2A DI.
That assessment, however, is all based on what the Loboes are showing on paper. And on paper, as coach Kevin Stennett is quick to point out, isn’t where football games, district titles and trips to Jerry World are won.
The Loboes, as he sees it, have several things to figure out if they are to put a major dent in the postseason bracket.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2026 All-Big Country Preps baseball teams.
Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country.
For the rest of this year’s baseball selections, please click the links below.
Here are our first-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.