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.
Every now and then, the biggest performances come at precisely the right time. And in the case of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, that couldn’t be more true than it is now.
With his team laboring through a five-game losing streak and in danger of losing a playoff spot, Big Spring’s Kavien Ford came up with one of the best performances we’ve seen this year when he rushed for 374 yards and seven scores on 39 carries in a 63-43 win over San Angelo Lake View.
The win put Big Spring (2-6, 1-1) in a three-way tie for second place with one game remaining in the regular season. It also kept Lake View in sole possession of last place.
Clyde 48, Bowie 21 — The Bulldogs (8-0, 3-0) remained unbeaten, clinched a playoff spot and took another step toward a district title with a road win at Bowie.
Blake Carr threw for 260 yards and five scores and Fabian Gomez rushed for 97 yards and another TD to lift Clyde, which can clinch the district championship with a win at Iowa Park next week.
LAST WEEK: 40-8, .833
SEASON TOTAL: 347-79, .814
As Week 9 of the 2023Texas High School football season gets underway, there are multiple high-profile games that would qualify as our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
But we’re settling for a rare Thursday night matchup at Tarleton State University where seventh-ranked 4A DI Stephenville (5-2, 1-0) will play host to fourth-ranked China Spring (6-2, 2-0) in a game will give the victor sole possession of first place in District 5.
Picking who wins it may come down to throwing darts, but I do believe China Spring has one key advantage.
Big numbers are one thing. But when they come in the clutch in a multitude of areas, that’s difficult to top for our weekly Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
This time around, it’s Sweetwater junior running back-linebacker Korda Moore taking the top spot for the week ending Oct. 14.
Moore had a big night in last week’s dramatic 45-41 win over Midland Greenwood, with 25 carries for 187 yards and four TDs. He also caught three passes for 65 yards and two more scores.
But he wasn’t finished there. He also completed a 23-yard pass and scored on two two-point conversion runs to finish with 40 total points on the night.
Vernon 42, Breckenridge 20 — The Lions pounded out 388 yards rushing to hand Breckenridge a loss at Buckaroo Stadium.
Breckenridge, which hurt itself with three turnovers, was limited to 286 yards in total offense. Camden Escalon led the Bucks with 226 yards passing a two scores.
CLYDE — In what was likely the main event in District 3-3A Division I play this year, Clyde quarterback Blake Carr delivered four huge haymakers to help lead the Bulldogs to a 29-14 win over rival Jim Ned before a capacity-plus crowd Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
The dual-threat signal caller had scoring tosses of 40, 7 and 33 yards. And for good measure, his 33-yard scoring run with 21 seconds left sealed a big win for the hosts, who improved to 7-0 on the season and 2-0 in district play. The Indians fell to 5-2 and 1-1.
As big as Carr was for Clyde, he had to share hero honors on this night with a defense led by Braylon Gomez, Josh Hutton and Dai’Jon Booker. The Bulldogs held the Indians to 12 first downs, 234 yards for the game — and no points in the first half.
LAST WEEK: 41-7, .854
SEASON TOTAL: 307-71, .812
Big Country Preps makes a point of sharing the love and we look for opportunities to take our Game of the Week to as many different places that make sense each year.
Yet since our inaugural season in 2018, a rebuilding Hico football team missed our spotlight game for five straight seasons.
That drought ends this week when BCP visits Hico for the first time as the Tigers (5-2, 2-1 District 10-2A DII) host Dawson (5-1, 2-0) in a crucial matchup with high seed implications.
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.
One top-notch performance after another.
That’s the 2023 résumé of Clyde senior quarterback Blake Carr, who has once again taken our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award after leading the Bulldogs to a 60-36 rout of Vernon on the road on Friday.
It is the second time this season Carr has taken the top spot.
Jim Ned 34, Bowie 6 — Brayden Shipman rushed for 126 yards and one score and Dean Guffey threw for 84 yards and another TD to lift Jim Ned to a win over Bowie.
The Indians (5-1, 1-0) finished with a modest 256 yards in total offense.
Bowie fell to 1-5 and 0-1.
VERNON — Clyde is a different team this season.
In case anyone had forgotten that, the Bulldogs’ performance Friday night against Vernon in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week served as a stark reminder.
A battle of unbeatens turned into a blowout as Clyde scored early and often, routing the Lions 60-36 in a District 3-3A Division I opener.
LAST WEEK: 37-3, .925
SEASON TOTAL: 266-64, .806
Contrast in styles games make for excellent entertainment and are usually high on our list of potential Big Country Preps Games of the Week.
Friday we have such a matchup when Clyde (5-0) travels to Vernon (5-0) in the District 3-3A DI opener for both clubs. Clyde and its power spread offense capable of running or throwing the ball well, against a run-based multiple attack used by Vernon that seems almost out of the 1950s.
Both clubs are good at what they do. Both are physical and both are fully aware of how important this league opener is. In fact, this may end up ranking as one of the more physical Games of the Week we’ll see in 2023.
As fans of the Clyde Bulldogs revel in the school’s resounding success in both volleyball and football this fall, they don’t have to look long to find a common denominator in the collective achievement.
The volleyball team is 26-12 and 2-1 in District 6-3A and will play at Ballinger (4-6) at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. The overall record is a little deceiving in that all but a handful of the defeats came against Class 5A and 6A schools. Per usual, Clyde is a 3A contender.
The Bulldogs’ football team, meanwhile, is 5-0 heading into its District 3–3A Division I opener at Vernon (also 5-0) on Friday. The winner will emerge as the district leader, but few around the program believe Clyde won’t have a run to — and possibly through — mid November.
And one last name appears on the rosters of both teams: Carr.
After an 0-4 start against a brutal non-district slate, the Cisco Loboes have rebounded with a pair of wins in district play, most recently, Friday’s 48-7 victory over Winters at Chesley Field.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, senior running back Gus Hart, was at the forefront of that win with 173 yards and six touchdowns on only 14 carries.
“Gus had a great game against Winters,” coach Kevin Stennett said. “He has battled some injuries this year and he is finally getting back to 100 percent. “We will rely on him heavily over the next few weeks.”
LAST WEEK: 46-12, .793
SEASON TOTAL: 229-61, .789
More often than not, Big Country Preps makes an appearance at the annual Stephenville-Brownwood matchup. Because more often than not, it produces a game worthy of one of Texas’ top rivalries.
This year is no exception as Stephenville travels to famous Gordon Wood Stadium for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
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-Jim Ned volleyball (72 images)”
TUSCOLA — When you’re coming off a bad match, sometimes all it takes to get back on track is playing a rival.
It can also help when you aren’t playing up to your capabilities for your coach to yell at you a little bit.
Both of those happened at Bill Thornton Arena on Tuesday night as Clyde used a 13-3 run to close out the first set and take a 25-23, 25-21, 25-15 win over Jim Ned in a tense District 6-3A matchup.
Photo by Chase Seabolt, HubCityPreps.com
Entering District 2-5A Division I play off back-to-back losses, the Abilene High football team needed a fast start and a strong performance on the road against Lubbock Monterey to get back on track and kick off its league schedule the right way.
Led by senior quarterback Dylan Slack, the Eagles got both, building a 49-7 halftime lead on their way to a 59-14 win over the Plainsmen.
Slack’s fingerprints were all over the win as he hit 15 of 20 passes for 217 yards and five touchdowns while adding another score on the ground — a performance worthy of this week’s Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
The biggest problem I have with our high school football scheduling practices in Texas is that by the second year of the alignment period, many of those schedules are out of date and no longer suitable for schools that have been hit hard by graduation. And if you want an example of that, I’ll give you one close to home: the Cisco Loboes.
Cisco (1-4), which notched its first win of the season last week with a victory at Colorado City, is both young and thin in the numbers department. It’s one of those years that every program below the 4A level will eventually run into. And unfortunately, since the Loboes had reeled off 12 straight winning seasons, including a state title in 2013, their nondistrict schedule was merciless.
No Class 2A team was willing to take them on, so they ended up with four straight likely playoff teams from Class 3A in Clyde, Wall, Breckenridge and Jacksboro.
Breckenridge 36, Benbrook 28 — The Buckaroos allowed more than 400 yards in total offense to Benbrook, but survived a shootout on the road.
Two turnovers, forced by the Breckenridge defense, were a key, along with 243 passing yards, to give the Buckaroos (3-2) their third straight win after an 0-2 start.
SWEETWATER — Both clubs may have entered Friday at 4-0. But at the end of the night, it was a senior-laden Clyde team dominating a Sweetwater club filled with underclassmen, 41-7 in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Blake Carr rushed for 121 yards and two scores and threw for 88 yards and two more TDs to life Clyde (5-0), which spoiled Sweetwater’s homecoming in the Mustang Bowl to remain unbeaten.
Sweetwater (4-1), which lost starting quarterback Caiden Ortiz to a hand-wrist injury in the second quarter, was led by Uriah Aguilar-Rivera with 143 yards rushing and one score.
“This is a pillar win for our program,” Clyde coach Danny Dudgeon said. ” We’ve been on the up and up, but for us to get over the hump against a good Sweetwater team is a very big win for us.”
LAST WEEK: 44-11, .800
SEASON TOTAL: 183-49, .788
Some weeks are just loaded with competitive area games and Week 5 of the 2023 season falls squarely into that category.
This week’s menu features six or seven games that under normal circumstances, would qualify for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week. This forces us to push some great matchups aside to select our spotlight game.
This week, we go with a battle of unbeatens — Class 3A Division I Clyde (4-0) at Class 4A Div. II Sweetwater (4-0) — at the famed Mustang Bowl at SHS.
There are big games and then there are those that border on insanity.
Moran running back Ellis Hise, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Sept. 16, fell squarely into the latter category on Saturday with a performance that was absolutely nuts.
Helping the Bulldogs to a thrilling 68-67 win over Mullin in one of the top six-man games the Big Country has seen this year, Hise rushed for 287 yards and six touchdowns on only 26 carries. But that’s just the beginning.
Jim Ned 38, Rockdale 12 — Dean Guffey threw for 201 yards and two scores and Aiden Ellis rushed for 150 yards and another TD to keep Jim Ned (4-0) unbeaten.
The Indians rushed for 314 yards as a team while accumulating 515 yards in total offense.
Rockdale dropped to 1-3.
With the win, Jim Ned coach Matt Fanning (54-13) became the winningest football coach in Jim Ned football history, passing former Coach Brad McCoy (53-19).
When it comes to individual performances, there are big games and there are big games.
And then there’s what Cooper junior Daniel Bray did against San Angelo Central last week in leading the Cougars to their first win of the season.
The explosive tailback, who had been limited some in the first two weeks by a nagging ankle injury and the growing pains of a young offensive line, broke out in a historic way in that 53-45 victory over the Bobcats. By the time the game was over, he had rushed for a school-record 366 yards and seven touchdowns on just 21 carries, making a case for our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award that was too compelling to pass over — even in a week with a number of other monster performances.
While their program is battling through a difficult rebuilding phase, the Colorado City Wolves and second-year coach Monty Leaf are learning to recognize key points along the way.
It hasn’t been easy.
After pushing through last year’s 1-9 campaign, C-City opened at 0-2 with losses to good teams from Roscoe and New Home before breaking through with a 15-12 win at Christoval on Friday. And in many respects, it really was a breakthrough.
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-Merkel football (78 images)”
Breckenridge 41, Cisco 6 — Breckenridge (1-2) earned its first win of the year after forcing five Cisco turnovers.
The Buckaroos, who threw for 218 yards and rushed for 137, built a 27-6 halftime lead and were never threatened after that.
MERKEL — One thing is for certain: Merkel’s new scoreboard and videoboard at Badger Stadium are fully functional.
With the Badgers showing off their new improvements in their home opener, it was Clyde that landed the most body blows in a thrilling 69-57 win on Friday night in nondistrict action.
The game featured an astonishing six touchdowns in a span of 6:51 in the third quarter — a stretch that saw five touchdowns scored in a stretch of 13 snaps.
After two weeks, few teams are grabbing the attention of Big Country football fans more than the Clyde Bulldogs (2-0), who have opened with consecutive wins over Cisco and Eastland.
And topping the list of last week’s area performers is Clyde senior quarterback Blake Carr, who posted some eye-popping numbers in last week’s 34-21 win at EHS.
“All good things to those who wait.”
— English proverb
We’ve all seen good high school coaches let go after only two years. And with very few exceptions, it’s almost always a bad move.
Well, allow me to give you three good examples of why there is a payoff for patience and a reward for living up to the words we feed the kids — you know, like overcoming adversity, being loyal, being respectful and working through the process.
Yeah, those words.
Clyde 34, Eastland 21 — Clyde rolled up 441 yards in total offense and shut Eastland out after the break to improve to 2-0.
Blake Carr was 10 of 20 for 237 yards and two scores and rushed for 167 yards and two more TDs to lead Clyde, which closed with 442 yards in total offense.
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-Wylie volleyball (98 images)”
The Wylie volleyball team pulled two wins closer to .500 on Tuesday with a sweep in its dual match against Midland Christian and Clyde, defeating the Lady Mustangs 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 before knocking off the Lady Bulldogs 25-16, 25-14, 21-25, 25-17.
The victories improved WHS to 11-13 with three matches to play before its Sept. 8 district opener against Abilene High. And coach Shay Cox is hoping they will provide some positive momentum for a Lady Bulldogs squad that had lost six of its previous eight matches going into Tuesday night.
After a summer-long effort to produce our football preview, it is good to be back in our school year routine — a big part of which is our Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
That said, we are proud to hand our first accolade for 2023-24 to Snyder senior quarterback Easton Stewart, who led the Tigers to a 42-0 season-opening win over Slaton last week.
Clyde 40, Cisco 28 — Blake Carr threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 97 yards and another score to lead Clyde to a win over Cisco.
The Bulldogs closed with 483 yards in total offense with senior receiver Daijon Booker accounting for 218 yards of it on seven receptions.
After racing out to a fast start, Clyde quarterback Blake Carr saw his junior season come to an abrupt end in 2022.
A broken thumb on his throwing hand cost him the second half of that campaign, derailing a potential breakout season for both the signal caller and his team.
But if you expect Carr to be bitter or crestfallen about the opportunities missed last fall, you might be surprised by his response to the injury. Instead of feeling anger or sadness at the thought of missing out on four-plus games and a chance to lead the Bulldogs to a playoff berth, the senior said he’s grateful for the experience and the lessons it taught him.
Last fall, the Clyde football team made some positive strides in coach Danny Dudgeon’s second season, but an 0-5 finish left the Bulldogs at home for the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
With 25 lettermen back from that 4-6 team, including standout quarterback Blake Carr, who missed most of the second half of last season with a broken thumb, CHS is determined to end that drought in 2023.
Boasting a roster that features seven returning starters on both sides of the ball, the Bulldogs have good reason to be optimistic. But competing in a deep and talented District 3-3A Division I, Dudgeon knows his team will have to stay healthy and play well to reach its goals.
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-Hawley football scrimmage (44 images)”
Day 1 of Big Country Preps’ 2023 Photo Tour is now in the books, with seven more days of shooting yet to come from practice fields throughout the area.
Here are but a few of the images collected Monday:
Continue reading “Scenes from Big Country Preps Photo Tour Day 1”
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. 16. 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 July 31, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2023 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
We continue in Class 3A Division I with the Clyde Bulldogs. On Friday we will take a look at the Jim Ned Indians, followed by the Brock Eagles on Saturday.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Clyde Bulldogs … 11 days to two-a-days”
Our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the 2022-23 school year could have gone any number of directions.
We finally settled on Goldthwaite junior Lainey Jernigan, who swept both the girls 2A hurdles titles at the state meet last week.
Jernigan won the 100 hurdles in 14.62 and the 300 hurdles in 44.12. And the good news for GHS fans is, she’s coming back to defend both crowns next year.
Cover photo courtesy of Stephenville coach Kolt Kittley
AUSTIN —The UIL State Track and Field meet kicked off Thursday with Classes 3A and 4A competing at Mike Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, and the Big Country had a fairly strong showing.
The closest finish determining who would be on and off the podium came in the Class 3A girls 800 meter run where Ballinger’s Addison Martin ran the race in 2 minutes, 17.522 seconds, edging Holliday freshman Kenli Atwood by a microscopic 0.007 seconds after diving through the finish line in her final event of a storied career.
Martin’s podium finish, where she was just one-tenth of a second off what had been the top qualification mark, was one of 14 medal-worthy performances for area athletes.
It’s always a great accomplishment to go to the state track meet in multiple events. But when it’s done in dominating fashion at the Class 4A level or above, you’re generally talking about a very special, gifted athlete.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Victoria Cameron of Stephenville, falls directly into that category and she has the regional hardware to prove it.
Taking four gold medals at the Region I-4A meet, Cameron scored 30 individual points while clinching four berths to the state meet.
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: Region I-3A track meet (118 images)”
The Brock boys track teams clinched its third consecutive region championship Saturday at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium, and for the second year in a row, the Eagles’ stiffest competition came from Breckenridge.
Brock took first at the Region I-3A meet, tallying 70 team points over the two-day competition, while the Buckaroos finished with 55 points, edging third-place Vernon (54) for their second runner-up finish in as many years.
Those performances headlined a successful meet for area competitors, which saw athletes or relay teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area claim 26 total medals — 14 on the boys side and 12 on the girls. That list featured 15 automatic qualifying bids to the state meet May 11-13 in Austin, including 10 total gold medals.
A no-hitter alone is often enough to secure the Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. But when it’s backed by a solid offensive performance, it’s very difficult to get knocked off of the perch.
Brock sophomore Jesse Rusinek takes this week’s accolade after holding Eastland hitless in a 15-0 mercy rule win that saw him miss a perfect game by one walk. He fanned 12 in the process.
“He was dealin’ out there,” Brock coach Kobe Page said of the stuff Rusinek had in the Eastland game. “When he’s on, he’s pretty tough … just showing up, battling and moving the ball around the strike zone. He was ‘on.'”
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-Jim Ned softball (73 images)”