National Signing Day is typically a busy one in the Big Country Preps’ coverage area and 2025 was no exception with several players inking and/or confirming their commitments to play at the next level.
At various signing ceremonies held throughout the area, athletes celebrated their final choices to pursue a degree while competing collegiately.
Cisco’s Law Pinnick picked the perfect night to have one of the best games he’s ever had — a crucial district showdown at Hawley, where he helped the Loboes to a 55-43 win over the Bearcats with 18 points and an eye-popping 19 rebounds.
Three days later he delivered 23 points and 10 boards to help Cisco beat Albany — lifting the Loboes to 16-6 overall and 9-0 in district.
His performance earned him our Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award for the Week ending Feb. 1.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 30.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 30.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his or her email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive.
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: Cisco-Hawley basketball doubleheader (30 images)”
HAWLEY — It was a big night for the Cisco basketball program on Tuesday, with a varsity doubleheader sweep of area rival Hawley on its home floor.
The Cisco girls opened the evening with a 62-31 win over the Lady Cats to secure the District 10-2A championship. Things were a bit tougher for the Cisco boys, who earned their first win at Hawley in three years with a 55-43 victory in the nightcap.
It was a month of milestones for Clyde senior post Maddie Underwood, who takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week with a combination of great numbers, along with team and career achievements.
To begin with she charted a combined 42 points and 29 boards in wins over Grape Creek and Merkel.
In the process, she helped the Lady Bulldogs (20-8, 8-2) lock up their first playoff berth in nine years and their first 20-win season in 10.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 23.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 23.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his or her email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive.
Back-to-back double-doubles in two dominating efforts were enough to give Gorman junior Delila Crain our Big Country Player of the Week for the week ending Saturday, Jan. 18.
Opening the week with an 83-7 rout of Bluff Dale, Crain posted 30 points and 10 boards to go with five assists, five deflections, six steals and four blocks.
She followed that with 21 points, 12 boards, five deflections, four assists and three steals in a 58-27 win over Huckabay.
We all know a football player who almost never misses any practice time and practically lives in the weight room. He’s always early to arrive and late to leave. He’s coachable, but seldom needs direction because he always pays attention.
You know who I’m talking about.
The guy who sets a good example for young players. The guy who never complains and, first and foremost, is tough mentally and physically. He may not be the best player on a team (though some of them are). But he’s definitely the guy who gets the most out of the talent he’s given.
Welcome to the 2024 “True Grit” team — the one place in the Big Country where guys who fall into this category are recognized for it.
Here are our first-team selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps Football Team (Third-Team roster). For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team — an honor reserved for the area’s top freshman and sophomore football players. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
The fact that Riley Grohman is our Player of the Week should surprise no one, considering she was named to our All-Big Country Preps team last year. But when you toss in her stats — an all-encompassing set of numbers — it makes even more sense.
The senior guard was at the top of the stat sheet last week for the third-ranked Lady Indians, who swept Merkel (70-25) and Clyde (79-29) to improve to 24-2.
Wyatt Nickson was on fire over Christmas Break.
In fact, in six games the senior guard averaged 19.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 45 percent overall and 48 percent from the 3-point line.
“Wyatt has been putting in the extra work to make himself the best scorer possible,” coach Blake Allen said. “He has been on an absolute tear and he is fun to watch play basketball”
The Indians enter this week at 12-6.
Our All-Big Country Preps Volleyball team, released today, is in place to honor those who achieved the most on-court success in 2024. It is off the court, however, where character, grit
and work ethic are often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps Max Effort Team that we wish to honor those players who were the hardest-working, best teammates in the
area this fall.
This team isn’t about who the best volleyball players were.
The Max Effort team honors hustle, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches wish every player had.
Our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week for 2024 earned it in several ways.
Forsan sophomore Coy Evans, a multi-talented guard who plays way ahead of the learning curve, takes our accolade after helping the Buffaloes to a 3-1 record and a third-place finish in the Borden County Tournament over the Weekend.
“He played very unselfish basketball,” Forsan coach Cory Richardson said. “He was getting other people involved and when we needed him to, he stepped up and scored.”
Stephenville 47, Canyon Randall 7 — Ryan Gafford threw for 198 yards and three scores and Sawyer Wilkerson rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns to help the Yellow Jackets to a rout of Randall.
Stephenville totaled 399 yards in total offense en route to the win. Tristian Gentry was the leading receiver for SHS, with eight catches for 158 yards and two scores.
ABILENE — While the debate regarding the true value of explosive plays is ongoing, there was little argument in Friday’s Region I-2A DI semifinal that saw Stamford eliminate Cisco 55-7.
The Bulldogs repeatedly hurt Cisco with big chunks of yardage, including scoring plays of 22, 65, 77, 21 and 50 yards to advance to next week’s regional title game.
Cle Whitfield rushed for 122 yards and three scores and Kaston Vega rushed for 118 yards and two more TDs to lift Stamford (13-0), which will face either Sunray or Post in the next round.
Cisco (8-5) was led by Julius Proffitt, who rushed for 77 yards and one TD and threw for 39.
“We had a great week of practice and got to play Thanksgiving football,” Stamford coach Wayne Hutchinson said. “We did a really good job of preparing their minds and their bodies to play a really well-coached Cisco team and we executed on both sides of the ball.”
LAST WEEK: 24-2, .923
SEASON TOTAL: 578-139, .806
Big Country Preps carries 16 teams from its coverage area into Week 14 and it’s my guess that at least nine of them will survive Thanksgiving weekend.
And on that subject, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from all of us at BCP.
Here are this week’s picks, we’ll see you on the road!
Sunray 49, Hawley 40 — Sunray (12-0) edged Hawley (10-2) for the right to face Post (12-0) in the regional semifinals.
Keagan Ables had a huge night in a losing effort for Hawley, hitting 23 of 40 passes for 444 yards and four TDs in his final game as a Bearcat.
His younger brother Camden was his top target, hauling in nine passes for 221 yards and one TD.
Cisco 48, Olney 6 — The Loboes (6-4, 2-3) locked up the No. 4 seed with a lopsided win over Olney.
Dillon Silva rushed for 183 yards and three scores and Parker Williams rushed for 121 yards and three more TDs to lead the Loboes, who carried a 21-0 lead into the break.
LAST WEEK: 45-8, .849
SEASON TOTAL: 464-122, .791
The regular season ends Friday night (if you can believe it) and there’s no better way to close things up than with No. 5 Class 2A DI Hawley (9-0, 4-0) at No. 1 Stamford (9-0, 4-0).
The winner will earn the District 4 championship and No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs, so much is at stake.
I’m leaning toward Stamford here for three reasons: First, the overall team speed of SHS is unmatched by anyone in the area.
Secondly, the Bulldogs have an intangible working here — specifically a last-second miracle touchdown scored by Hawley’s
Camden Ables from 45 yards out with 0:47 left in last year’s game.
Anson 59, Cisco 14 — 
Corey Layne threw for 249 yards and five scores and rushed for 86 yards and two more scores to lead Anson to a huge win over Cisco.
The Tigers (6-3, 2-2) raced out to a 38-0 lead by halftime and never looked back, outgaining Cisco 493-186 to lock up the No. 3 seed.
Anson 45, Olney 0 — 
Cory Layne Jr. threw for 284 yards and four scores to lead the Tigers to a lopsided win over the Cubs.
Six different Anson players caught passes on Friday, including three players — Mario Barrera, Malachi St. John and Branson Rister — who caught five apiece.
Anson improved to 5-3 and 1-2 with the win; Olney fell to 2-6 and 1-2.
CISCO — A dominating Hawley defensive effort, a sprinkling of Cisco mistakes and one key injury was enough to turn the Big Country Preps Game of the Week into a rout on Friday as the Bearcats handed CHS a 41-0 loss at Chesley Field.
Keagan Ables threw for 185 yards and Coeyn Lovelady rushed for 142 to lead Hawley (8-0, 3-0 District 4-2A DI), which took the lead on its opening possession and never looked back.
Cisco (5-3, 1-2), which was limited to just 215 yards in total offense, was led by Dillon Silva and Parker Williams, with 71 and 61 rushing yards respectively. Quarterback Julius Proffitt, who finished with 18 passing yards, was lost to a knee injury early in the second quarter with Cisco trailing 8-0. The Loboes didn’t complete a pass following his departure.
“We came out and executed our game plan,” Hawley coach Mitch Ables said. “The best thing for us was coming out of a physical game like this without having a bunch of injuries. That’s always a plus, but I’m super proud of our kids.”
LAST WEEK: 41-10 .803
SEASON TOTAL: 367-108, .772
Football season doesn’t feel complete without at least one visit to Chesley Field in Cisco. And Friday night, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week will stop by for a crucial District 4-2A DI matchup between the Loboes (5-2, 1-1) and Hawley (7-0, 2-0).
For Hawley, a win here will keep open the possibility of an unbeaten regular season. For Cisco, a victory would signal the beginning of a climb back into area prominence.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Stamford 43, Anson 0 — Christian Duran threw for 201 yards and two scores and Kason Vega rushed for 114 yards an another score to keep top-ranked Stamford (7-0, 2-0) unbeaten.
The Bulldogs led 21-0 at the break and 36-0 after three quarters.
Limited to only 127 total yards, Anson (4-3, 0-2) was led by Corey Lane with a combined 66 yards rushing and passing.
Stamford 41, Cisco 14 — Kaston Vega rushed for 83 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Stamford to a win over Cisco in the district opener for both clubs.
Defensively, the Bulldogs limited Cisco to 215 yards in total offense. Julius Proffitt led Cisco with 140 yards passing and two scores.
Stamford improved to 6-0 and 1-0; Cisco fell to 4-2 and 0-1.
LAST WEEK: 32-12, .809
SEASON TOTAL: 279-91, .757
Now it’s time to get down to business.
With most of the Big Country taking an open date last Friday as a prelude to district play, we now dive headfirst into the games that count the most.
District play opens tomorrow for most leagues in the area, the intensity of which is already tangible.
Can you feel it?
We’ll see you on the road.
Here’s this week’s area picks:
Crosbyton 22, Olney 8 — The Cubs’ struggles continued on Friday with their fourth loss in five starts.
They may have a chance to gain some momentum on Friday when they open district play with Abilene TLCA (0-5) at home.
Crosbyton improved to 2-3.
Stamford 55, Henrietta 14 — Christian Duran rushed for 77 yards and three scores and threw for 96 yards and another TD to keep Stamford (5-0) unbeaten at the season’s midpoint.
Other key contributors included Kaston Vega, who rushed for 194 yards and two scores and Cle Whitfield (94 yards rushing, two TDs) as SHS built a 41-7 halftime lead before putting things into cruise control.
Limited to only 197 total yards, Henrietta fell to 2-3.
Hawley’s Keagan Ables is no stranger to the Big Country Preps Player of the Week column — appearing among our top performers multiple times over the last three years.
However, his latest effort to help HHS defeat De Leon 54-21 on Friday, may rank as one of his best.
The Hawley senior connected on 16 of 32 passes for 441 yards and six touchdowns to help Hawley improve to 4-0 on the year.
Anson 51, Haskell 13 — The Tigers used a dominating defensive effort to hand Haskell a loss.
Limited to only 238 yards in total offense, indians were down 31-7 by the break and never made a game of it.
Corey Layne topped the stat sheets for Anson with 228 yards passing and 160 yards rushing while accounting for five TDs.
LAST WEEK: 47-11, .810
SEASON TOTAL: 141-59, .705
After nosediving in Week 2 with one of the worst pick records I’ve ever had, the column rebounded in Week 3 with an .810 percentage to push my overall tally over .700 again.
As for this week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, Mr. Yale Youngblood will be on hand in Tolar to cover Comanche’s road game with the Rattlers in what should be a fun one.
I’ll be heading to Ballinger, where the Bearcats (3-0) will play host to Brady (2-1) in a battle of upstarts.
Let’s dive into this week’s picks:
Versatility is a definite advantage for nominees in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column. And for Anson senior quarterback Corey Layne it was enough to put him in this week’s top spot.
Leading the Tigers (3-0) to a 49-28 over Dublin, Layne connected on 18 of 27 throws for 284 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed eight times for 65 more yards and two additional scores.
Layne was equally effective from his linebacker spot, collecting 10 tackles and one interception.
LAST WEEK: 46-28, .621
SEASON TOTAL: 94-48, .661
Abysmal.
That’s about the only adjective that comes to mind when trying to describe my Big Country football picks, which are off to the single worst start through two weeks that I’ve ever experienced in 18 years of covering area football.
A percentage of .621 after two weeks of play is beatable by throwing darts, flipping coins, or even consulting with your local horoscope page. Yet here I sit, trying to dig myself out of the hole I’ve created. But enough of that, Glen Rose at Brownwood is our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, in a week filled with interesting matchups.
Let’s have a look at them:
Jim Ned 42, Lubbock Trinity Christian 12 — Gray Beasley threw for 165 yards and three scores and rushed for 35 yards and another TD to lift the Indians (1-1).
Also having big nights were running backs Aiden Ellis, who rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries and Jaron Pryor (11 carries, 59 yards, one score).
DE LEON — Entering this football it was expected that De Leon junior quarterback Heston Jobe would be among the top producers in the Big Country.
It took him all of one night to prove it in a 79-43 win over Dublin on Friday.
Jobe, who connected on 13 of 20 throws for 413 yards and four scores, also rushed for 176 yards and four more TDs.
By night’s end, the Bearcats were 1-0 and Jobe had accounted for 589 yards and five touchdowns.
Hawley 49, Roscoe 21 — Keagan Ables threw for 294 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 68 more and another TD to lift Hawley in its opener.
The Bearcats (1-0), who trailed finished with 460 yards in total offense, trailed 14-13 at the break, but took control of the contest with a 36-7 outburst in the second half.
LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000
SEASON TOTAL: 00-00, .000
Week 1 is often loaded with difficult picks and 2024 is no exception.
Our first slate of games this year has a number of contests that could have qualified for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week. But we finally settled on Albany at Stamford for the spotlight.
The two-time defending state 2A DII state champions, minus several key players lost to graduation, facing a Stamford club bringing back most of its skill and a ton of speed.
CISCO — There is no arguing that the last 22 years have been the most successful stretch in Cisco football history. In fact, it’s not even close.
Since 2002, the Loboes have won outright or shared 15 district championships, appeared in five state title games and won a state championship in 2013.
The biggest common denominators? Members of the coaching staff, many of whom have stayed with the program through coach Brent West’s retirement from the game in 2019.
Among the players, however, one name has been a constant somewhere in the program for the last 16 years: the name of Gayle — a family that has supplied the CHS athletic department with five brothers and a sister since 2008, a key factor in the two most dynamic decades of CHS sports the school has ever seen.
CISCO — Sooner or later, every high school football program hits a stretch when either numbers, experience or talent are in short supply.
The 2023 season saw perennial power Cisco take its turn in two of these areas when a young, shorthanded group of Loboes posted a 5-7 mark — the first losing campaign for CHS since 2010.
Last year’s struggles snapped a run of four consecutive seasons with double-digit wins for the Loboes, the last three of which were under fifth-year coach Kevin Stennett, who guided Cisco to regional title games in 2020, 2021 and 2023.
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. 21. 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 Aug. 5, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2024 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
Today, we stay in Class 2A Division I with the Cisco Loboes.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Cisco Loboes … 32 days to two-a-days”
OTHER 2024 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2024. It is off the field, however, where character, grit, and work ethic are often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team that we wish to honor those players, male and female, who were (simply put) the hardest-working, best teammates in the area this spring.
This team isn’t about who the best baseball and softball players were.
The All-Hustle team honors effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches wish they had in every player and upon which championships are built.
It is for that reason that this team is largely selected by area coaches and described in their own words.
Big Country Preps is now honored to present these individuals to you — the best team players (boys and girls) that the the Big Country had to offer during the 2024 season.
The players below are listed in no particular order.