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 2021-22 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.
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 2021-22 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.
I suppose we should have seen Brock’s 80-7 rout of archrival Peaster coming last Friday.
The Eagles have been getting better and more explosive by the week as they adjust to first-year coach Billy Mathis’ offensive scheme, and quarterback Tyler Moody has only gotten more efficient along the way.
Our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week was nearly perfect against Peaster, hitting 11 of 12 throws for 239 yards and five scores. He also rushed five times for 54 yards and an additional touchdown, giving him a direct hand in seven TDs.
Coleman 49, San Saba 7 — The Bluecats clinched the district title with 313 yards rushing as a team.
The Coleman defense, which ranks among the best in the Big Country, forced four San Saba turnovers and held the Armadillos to just 208 yards in total offense.
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.
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Goldthwaite 49, Winters 13 — Goldthwaite pounded out 259 yards rushing as a team and limited Winters to 190 yards in total offense to earn a crucial district win.
Seth Gardner rushed for 112 yards and two scores and Jackson Patrick rushed for 37 yards and another score to lead the Eagles (4-4, 2-1) which has virtually locked up a playoff spot with the win.
COLEMAN — For the better part of the last two decades, the Cisco football team has maintained a reputation for dominant physicality. And very seldom have the Loboes been outplayed via their own style.
But in Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, the Coleman Bluecats did exactly that — rushing for 221 yards as a team in a 31-7 win at Hufford Field.
Jadin Jackson rushed for 133 yards and two scores and threw for a third TD to lead Coleman (7-0, 3-0 District 4-2A Division I), which is now in the league driver’s seat.
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.
San Saba 44, Winters 12 — Wes Lackey rushed for 46 yards, had 148 yards receiving and accounted for three touchdowns to help San Saba to its first win of the year.
Reagan Mejia chipped in as well, catching two passes for 54 yards and an additional score to help the Armadillos (1-6, 1-1) snap a seven-game losing streak dating back to last year’s playoffs.
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.
Who says defensive players can’t be the Player of the Week?
That’s certainly not true at Big Country Preps, where our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week helped push Stephenville to a stunning 35-7 rout of perennial power Waco La Vega on Friday night.
Senior linebacker Reese Young takes our weekly accolade after charting an almost unbelievable 25 tackles to lead an SHS defensive effort that saw the Yellow Jackets hold La Vega to just 94 yards rushing on 44 carries.
Goldthwaite 28, San Saba 26 — Jackson Patrick rushed for 216 yards and a score to lead Goldthwaite to a win over its archrival in the district opener for both clubs.
Seth Gardner added two rushing touchdowns to help the Eagles (3-3, 1-0), who led 28-14 in the third quarter before surviving a San Saba rally.
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 …
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.
LAST WEEK: 45-6, .882
SEASON TOTAL: 208-52, .800
After a disastrous night of picking football games on Sept. 19 that saw his season percentage dip below .800, Gramps Ren has rebounded. Thank you, thank you.
Last Friday saw this column hit with more than 88 percent accuracy on games throughout the Big Country, pulling its season percentage to an even .800 as we hit the season’s midpoint.
This week I’ll be heading west — way West — to the very edge of our coverage area to get a first-hand look at the Big Spring Steers in their matchup with Littlefield in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Let’s dive in to this week’s picks, shall we?
Defensive specialists seldom get the attention they deserve in volleyball. Not unlike offensive linemen in football, who do the dirty work behind the scenes that enables the glamour positions to shine.
That isn’t the case at Big Country Preps, where we take pride in giving credit to those willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty.
Snyder libero Abby Benitez, perhaps the best defender in the entire Big Country, fits that mold and has captured our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the week ending Sept. 25.
Winters 48, Hico 7 — Jon Kullen Busher threw for 267 yards and four scores to help Winters (1-3) break into the win column.
The Blizzards rushed for 123 yards and two scores as a team with Aiden Leamon leading the way with 80 yards and two scores on 11 touches.
LAST WEEK: 36-16, .692
OVERALL: 163-46, .779
After four straight weeks of picking 80 percent or better, the USS Ren ran aground last Friday, bottoming out with a season-low .692 percentage and dropping my season tally to .779.
I generally like to be above 80 percent by midseason, so last Friday served as a wakeup call. Actually, it was more of a gut punch. But I’ll get over it.
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will see me traveling to Snyder, where the unbeaten Class 4A Tigers will play host to 3A DI state champion Jim Ned in what should be an absolutely electric atmosphere.
You all set? Let’s dive in to this week’s picks.
