Idalou 31, Sweetwater 6 — Two fumbles and an interception hurt Sweetwater in its opener with Idalou.
The Mustangs were limited to 245 yards in total offense, with 187 of that coming on the ground.
Mason Blueford was the top gainer for Sweetwater with 61 yards rushing on eight carries.
Idalou (1-0) finished with 389 total yards.
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.
LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000
SEASON TOTAL: 0-0, .000
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!
In high school football, particularly at the small school level, talent ebbs and flows. And with the exception of the few “reload” programs that can maintain a standard of excellence through heavy graduation losses, a team’s ceiling in a given year is most often determined by the amount of experienced talent it has on its roster.
This is great news for the 2026 Clyde Bulldogs.
After fielding a sophomore-heavy team in 2024, coach Johnathon Haddock rode that nucleus as juniors to a 7-4 record in his second year with the program last year. Entering Year 3 with that talented core “all grown up,” the coach and his staff have well-justified hopes and expectations for a special season in Clyde, America.
In 2025, the Clyde football team took a significant step forward, flipping its record from the season before to finish 7-4 in coach Johnathon Haddock’s second season at the helm.
With almost the entirety of that roster back for another go-round this fall, the Bulldogs are looking to make a similar leap in Haddock’s third year.
CHS returns a remarkable 25 lettermen this season, including nine starters on both sides of the ball, and the Bulldogs are hoping to capitalize on that experience with a special season in 2026.
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.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps softball 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 Softball 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 softball selections, please click the links below.
ABILENE — The Wall boys track team successfully defended its Region I-3A championship Saturday, piling up 141 points to run away from the field at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
The Hawks swept all three relays, setting new meet records in two of those, while accounting for all eight of the area’s gold medals on the boys side.
Wall also had the top finish among area girls teams at the Region I-3A meet, taking second in that race behind champion Holliday — three points ahead of third-place Jim Ned, which also made a strong showing.
Collectively, athletes from the Big Country Preps coverage area combined for 37 medals, earning 23 automatic berths to the Class 3A state meet May 14 in Austin.
If you’re going to top someone who throws a perfect game in our in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column, you had better do something very special.
This rare occurrence took place last week when Brock sophomore shortstop Kayden Blue helped the Lady Eagles to a three-game bi-district series win over Levelland with a truly memorable performance. In the process, she edged Abilene High ace George Ferguson, who delivered a perfect game win over Cooper.
With Brock sandwiching wins in Games 1 and 3 (5-1 and 5-2) around a 5-4 loss in Game 2, Blue was quite literally unstoppable, going 10-for-10 in the series with five runs scored (accounting for more than a third of BHS’ run tally. Yet it doesn’t stop there. She also posted a pair of walks (one intentional), making her a perfect 12 for 12 in reaching base throughout a difficult series against excellent competition.
“Kayden showed all the characteristics of a great leader in all three games and was phenomenal in the leadoff spot for us”
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: Clyde-Ingram Moore softball bi-district playoff (41 images)”
CLYDE — After spending a portion of the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the state, the Clyde softball team found itself with its back against the proverbial wall on Saturday at the Hanner Sports Complex in the Region I-3A Division I bi-district round against Ingram Moore.
With home field advantage in Game 1, the Lady Warriors took advantage of six Clyde errors in a 6-2 win, forcing the Lady Bulldogs into a situation of needing to take two games on their home field to keep their playoff run alive. The loss in the series opener was the Lady Bulldogs’ fifth in their previous six games.
Despite jumping on the Lady Warriors early, the Lady Bulldogs saw their season come to an end in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss. It was a season-ending conversation in the outfield that came too soon for Clyde coach Reagan Sewell as he completed his 30th year in coaching.
There are varying degrees of “no-hitter” in both high school baseball and softball. This is especially true when the mercy rule is concerned, with pitchers holding the opposition hitless through five innings (in a 10-run rule game) and in the case of the 15-run rule, through only three frames.
Whether those should be called actual no-hitters, depends on who you speak to.
There was, however, nothing arguable about the potential no-no delivered by Abilene junior pitcher George Ferguson in last week’s 2-0 win over Wichita Falls Memorial. To begin with, Ferguson held Memorial hitless through 8.2 innings before finally giving up an infield single in the ninth. In the process, he walked only one batter and fanned 17.
It was nothing short of a brilliant performance against a Memorial team that had won eight straight games. If ever one deserved credit for a no-hitter without actually throwing one, it’s Ferguson.
“George did a great job on the mound from start to finish and that included a 45-minute weather delay,” coach Brad Harman said.
In a week that featured at least a half dozen athletes who could have taken our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, we finally settled on a Stephenville senior for our weekly award.
Willis Jackson, one of the premiere speedsters in the Big Country, took four district titles in the District 6-4A meet last week
This included individual gold medals in the 100 meters (10.66), long jump (22-8.5) and Triple jump (43-8.5). He also collected gold with the 800 relay team (1:28.53), along with a silver with the 400 relay (42.45).
“Willis is headed to the area track meet in five events,” coach Kolt Kittley said. “He comes to workouts every day with a big smile and a great attitude.
“He was huge in helping us win the district track meet this year.”
Scoring and rebounding is only part of the story when it comes to basketball. Behind the scenes and beyond the view of the public, is where character is often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps Gym Rat Team that we salute the individuals who exude the most of it.
This team isn’t about who the best players are, though some of the area’s top players are on this list.
The Gym Rat team is about effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches love above all else and that championship foundations are built upon.
It is for that reason that our Gym Rat team is selected entirely by area coaches, described in their own words. And Big Country Preps is absolutely honored to present these individuals to you — the best “team players” (boys and girls) that the area had to offer during the 2025-26 season.
Players are listed in no particular order.
Enjoy.
As one would expect, the Jim Ned Relays had a quality field of competition last week, opening the door for one of its athletes to snag Big Country Preps Player of the Week honors.
So it’s not surprising that its top performer sits atop of our weekly list of highlighted competitors from around the area.
Wall senior Bryson McFarden takes our weekly accolade after medaling five times in Tuscola with four golds and a silver.
In the pitcher’s circle, there are varying degrees of perfection. And in the case of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, that statement was fully illustrated on Friday in a 6-0 Clyde win over Merkel.
Yes, CHS freshman Brynli Reynolds threw a perfect game. But this wasn’t your standard, every day, run-of-the-mill, garden variety perfecto.
In fact, it may have been the most dominating performance by a baseball or softball pitcher the Big Country has seen in the last two decades.
Aside from retiring 21 straight hitters from a very good Merkel team (19-2), Reynolds fanned the first 17 batters she faced and finished with 20 strikeouts. She also helped herself at the plate, going 1-for-2 with an RBI.
It was the second time this season that the Clyde freshman has taken our weekly accolade.
CLYDE — You know you’re witnessing a masterful pitching performance when fans of the opposition have been reduced to cheering foul balls. And in Friday’s 6-0 Clyde win over Merkel, CHS hurler Brynli Reynolds delivered exactly that — a game so dominating that any contact made by the opposition was greeted with encouragement.
To begin with, Reynolds tossed a perfect game against a Merkel team that entered the contest with a 19-1 overall record. There were no hits, no walks and no Clyde errors while 21 straight Merkel hitters were retired.
But that doesn’t fully illustrate what occurred at Clyde’s Hanner Sports Complex. In fact, it undersells it.
Reynolds, you see, is only a freshman. And in seven innings of work against a legitimate district title contender, she struck out 20 batters. Not only that, but she fanned the first 17 hitters she faced, with the only ball put into play being a routine groundball out to second base by McKinley Crouch with two outs in the sixth inning.
Lost in all this was an effective pitching performance by Crouch, who allowed four earned runs on eight hits against a 19-0 Clyde team with 11 strikeouts of her own.
The Lady Badgers fell to 19-2 overall and 3-1 in District 6-3A. Clyde is now 6-0 in district.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week earned the accolade on the state’s biggest stage.
Jayton senior guard Sean Stanaland was a big contributor in several areas for the Jaybirds in a surprisingly easy 78-45 win over Kennard in the Class 1A Division II state title game. This began with the 28 points he scored to help JHS to its third straight championship.
He also pulled down 15 rebounds to go with five assists and three steals as Jayton capped its season with a victory in San Antonio’s Alamodome.
A week after Lipan’s Court Gaylor took our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award, yet another Lipan player has done the same thing.
And by sheer coincidence, her last name is Gaylor as well.
This time around it is freshman guard Sydni Gaylor, Court’s Younger sister, who has taken the accolade after leading the LHS girls to a Class 2A Division II state title in San Antonio on Thursday.
Helping the Lady Indians to a 42-35 over perennial power Martin’s Mill, Sydni finished with 23 points and was voted by attending media as the game’s MVP.
And the good news (at least for Lipan) is, this kid is only a freshman.
Entering the week at 35-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, the Lipan Indians have won 33 straight games since suffering their only loss of the year to Class 4A Dallas Roosevelt in mid-November.
At the heart of that success has been standout point guard Court Gaylor, who performed at a high enough level in LHS’ first two playoff games to claim our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
When Cisco junior guard Carter Toof is on his game, there is little one can do to stop him. He’s going to get his point, whether you like it or not.
That was the case last week when Toof helped Cisco to a win over Abilene TLCA with 43 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. He followed that with 20 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals in a playoff warmup loss to Benjamin.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 19. With the end of the regular season, this will be the FINAL boys basketball leaders we post this year.
This database has been 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.
Aside from being a traditional area area power in softball, the Clyde Lady Bulldogs are known for getting off to fast starts every spring and quickly establishing the fact that they’re a team to be reckoned with.
But this year, with freshman pitcher Brynli Reynolds making a major splash, Clyde is not only good, it’s scary good.
At this point, the Lady Bulldogs are 3-0, with wins over good teams from Hawley (8-1), Littlefield (10-0) and most recently, over three-time defending 3A state champion Coahoma (7-0).
Reynolds, who has taken our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, tossed a no-hitter in the Hawley win. And in 21 innings of work last week, she allowed only one earned run on seven hits with — get this — 51 strikeouts. Yes, you read that correctly.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Feb. 12. This will be our FINAL girls stat leaders for 2026.
This database has been 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: Wall-Clyde basketball doubleheader (68 images)”
The boys basketball regular season is nearing its end, and district championship and playoff pictures across the area are coming into view.
Most leagues now have clear favorites in both their title and playoff races, but several remain unresolved with just two or three games left to play.
With just a couple of weeks of games remaining, let’s dive in and take a look at this week’s biggest games and last week’s most significant developments.
CLYDE — Friday night marked the first step in a return to normalcy for the Clyde athletic program, which is still reeling from Sunday’s tragedy that took the lives of junior Kyler Dailey and his older sister Brileigh, a 2025 graduate, as the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs hosted Wall for a District 6-3A doubleheader at Bulldog Gym.
On a night where emotions were high and the two schools saw both of their teams come together in prayer in a silent gym between games, it was Wall that headed back south with a pair of district championships.
The Lady Hawks quickly showed why they are the top-ranked team in the state in Class 3A with a 65-17 win to finish an undefeated run through district play, while the Wall boys squad held off a valiant second-half rally by Clyde in a 59-44 win — a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
With weather postponements forcing Tolar to play three games last week, there was positive in an otherwise hectic week: It gave one of THS’ athletes the opportunity to showcase a remarkable run of consistency.
Tolar sophomore Atley Kolb takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the Week ending Jan. 31, after posting three straight double-doubles in as many days to help the Lady Rattlers in wins over Millsap (57-25), Eastland (59-25) and Breckenridge (74-19).
Kolb posted 10 points and 13 rebounds against Millsap; 21 points and 11 boards against Eastland and 12 points and 10 boards in the Breckenridge win.
Surprised — and in some cases, stressed out — faces could be seen in abundance Monday morning at Abilene’s Region 14 Education Services Center, where coaches from throughout the area and beyond gathered to learn their new district homes as part of the University Interscholastic League’s biennial realignment.
In what can best be described as a seismic shift in the Big Country football landscape, a majority of area schools were placed in unfamiliar environs — be that a new district with new foes or even a new region entirely.
The now venerated process by which the UIL releases the packet containing the new district alignments for football, basketball and volleyball is frequently compared by coaches to waking up on Christmas morning to find what presents await under the three. And on this day, in particular, few found the gifts they were expecting.
Last week’s winter storm made for a wild week of action, condensing a week’s worth of games into three day’s time. And the results were as unpredictable as you might expect given the circumstances.
We saw several district championship and playoff races shaken up by upsets and others take shape as the cream continued its rise to the top.
As we do here weekly, it’s time to take survey of the Big Country boys basketball landscape. We hope you enjoy this look at the biggest developments from last week and the biggest games this week’s slate has to offer.
With January’s schedule-jumbling weather behind us, we now look forward to multiple games with playoff implications around the Big Country Preps coverage area.
There were no shortage of big matchups last week and as usual, there are several more in the days ahead.
So let’s take a quick look at the menu for Feb. 2-6.
It should be fun, I’ll see you on the road.
Mother Nature did her best to bring the high school basketball season to a standstill, sending a winter storm that put most Big Country teams on the shelf for a week. But the action around that unexpected break gives us plenty to talk about in this week’s look at the area boys basketball scene.
With a number of excellent (and meaningful) games last week and some big matchups slated for the next few days, the area district races remain as intriguing as ever.
Let’s go ahead now and take a look at the biggest games the area slate has to offer this week and some of the outcomes last week that helped shape the weeks to come.