Here are the Big Country’s rushing leaders through Week 13:
Nobody ever truly obtains perfection on the football field. And even if you believe you’ve achieved it, any competent coach can quickly scan the game film and point out when and where you could have been better along the way.
Roscoe sophomore Jax Watts, however, came about as close as one can come to that lofty goal in Friday’s 61-0 win over Hamlin.
To begin with, our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week hit 17 of 18 passes for 436 yards and six touchdowns as the Plowboys (9-1) closed the season with a nine-game winning streak and district title.
Early 24, Wall 14 — Jaxyn Price threw for 185 yards and two scores to lead Early to a big win over Wall.
Trailing 14-10 in the fourth quarter, the Longhorns (8-2, 3-2) got a pair of late touchdowns to force a three-way tie for second place in the league standings between the Longhorns, Wall and Breckenridge.
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.
Jim Ned 35, Breckenridge 12 — Tate Yardley threw for 185 yards and three scores and Xavier Wishert rushed for 237 yards and one score on 31 carries to help Jim Ned (9-0, 4-0) lock up the district title.
The Indians rolled up 478 yards in total offense en route to the win, including 293 yards on the ground.
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.
Portrait and hospital photo by Brad Schowengerdt. Game photos by Toni Brockway.

The Clyde Bulldogs have lost seven of eight games as they finish a tough rebuilding football season. But the Bulldogs also have witnessed an inspiring miracle with the return of Wes Schowengerdt.
The senior offensive tackle has returned to play in Clyde’s last two games, including the Bulldogs’ only win against San Angelo TLCA. He returned after a 10-month battle with cancer, including seven months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He also was diagnosed with COVID during the middle of treatments, leading Schowengerdt to spend a month in the hospital at one point.
The 230-pound offensive tackle weighs about 50 pounds less than before all the treatments, but No. 56 just wanted a chance to finish what he started.
Wall 29, Breckenridge 26 — Dominic Garcia rushed for 113 yards and a score and Gabe Haskins had 90 yards combined rushing and passing while accounting for two TDs to lead Wall in a thriller.
The win was crucial for Wall (4-3, 2-1) which is in strong contention for the No. 2 seed in the district race.
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.
Clyde 61, TLCA 22 — Blake Carr threw for 172 yards and two scores and Austin Hastings rushed for 56 yards and two more touchdowns as Clyde (1-6, 1-1) earned the first win of the Danny Dudgeon era.
The Bulldogs quickly built a 47-14 lead by halftime, after which they were able to cruise to the finish line.
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.
Breckenridge 44, Clyde 29 — Jerry Lawson rushed for 106 yards and four TDs and Anson Rodgers rushed for 143 yards and two more scores to lift Breckenridge to a tough road win in the district opener for both clubs.
Breckenridge never trailed, but never managed to completely shake Clyde, which rallied from a 32-14 deficit with two straight third quarter TDs to cut the gap to 32-29.
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.
A quick look at the box score from Sweetwater’s 70-54 win over Eastland and one just knew that the Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week was located somewhere in that massive pile of numbers.
SHS quarterback Leo Holsey emerged as the top man, hitting 17 of 19 throws for 434 yards and six touchdowns.
Add his 101 yards rushing on 15 carries with three more scores and the choice was made easy — even on a night with 1,277 yards in combined total offense between the two teams.
With the exception of Wall, every team in District 3-3A DI took Friday night off, enjoying their midseason bye before district play begins.
League play opens on Oct. 8 with a full slate of games.
Here’s a quick rundown of where each team is at this stage.
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?