Big numbers are always great to have when we decide the winner of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. Solid numbers across multiple tasks are even better.
That was the case with this week’s spotlight player, Buck Powell, of Hico, who helped the Tigers to a 47-14 rout of Maud in the Class 2A DII bi-district round on Friday.
With a new season of boys high school basketball poised to begin, it’s time to take a look at what the Big Country will produce on the court.
Below you will find our top teams in each classification in the Big Country Preps coverage area, from Big Spring in the West, to Brock in the east and from Brady in the south to Munday in the north.
Our rankings of the top teams in each class are given, along with a season outlook, cataloguing our expectations for each club.
Here’s our preview. We’ll see you on the road.
Abernathy 61, Coahoma 41 — Abernathy rushed for 295 yards and forced three CHS turnovers to secure the No. 3 seed going into the playoffs.
Coahoma produced 469 yards in total offense but was crippled by the giveaways.
LAST WEEK: 47-5, .903
SEASON TOTAL: 438-91, .827
With the column hitting at more than 90 percent accuracy last week, we now close the regular season on the upswing and with something uncommon: A local Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
While our weekly picks column generally highlights the top area game outside of the Abilene city limits, this week seems to call for us to stay at home with rivals Wylie (6-3, 3-1) and Cooper (4-5, 3-1) fighting for sole possession of the No. 2 seed in District 2-5A Division II.
NOTE: This will be our final installment of Big Country Volleyball Statistical Leaders for the 2023 season
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.
With much of the reporting from Friday’s 34-30 win by Hawley over Stamford going to a stunning game-winning touchdown scored by Camden Ables, someone got lost in the shuffle.
That would be our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Diontay Ramon, a Hawley senior receiver-DB without whom, the Bearcats’ last-minute miracle never would have materialized.
For starters, Ramon hauled in 11 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. He also had four carries for 23 yards and another score, but we’re just warming up.
Coahoma 41, Lubbock Roosevelt 22 — Jaidyn Vineyard rushed for 204 yards and three TDs on 23 carries and Boy Cox threw for 217 yards and three more TDs to lead the Bulldogs to a crucial win over Roosevelt.
By pulling off what many see as an upset, the Bulldogs have now forced a four-way tie for second place — a log jam that will be (at least partially) broken up next Friday.
LAST WEEK: 44-7, .862
SEASON TOTAL: 391-86, .820
It really didn’t take long for people to start talking about the Hawley – Stamford matchup in 2023. In fact, this one was on our calendar as a possible Game of the Week before the season even started.
Who will win? That depends on who you speak with. Our Twitter poll is split virtually down the middle and even the computers see this one as a near tossup.
Stamford (7-0, 4-0 District 4-2A DII) enters this game scarcely challenged, rolling over the opposition by an average tally of 45-8. Hawley (6-2, 4-0), on the other hand, comes in with some battle scars after a brutal schedule featuring Jim Ned, Lubbock Roosevelt and Albany.
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.
Coahoma 70, Stanton 28 — Boyd Cox threw for 249 yards and five scores and Jaidyn Vineyard rushed for 127 yards and three more TDs to lead Coahoma to a lopsided win over Stanton.
Leading 49-14 at the break, the Bulldogs used six different ball carriers and had seven different players catch at least one pass.
CHS finished with 423 total yards while forcing three Stanton turnovers.
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 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.
Idalou 54, Coahoma 10 — Tate Hendley threw for 144 yards and three scores and rushed for 63 yards and two more TDs to lead Idalou over Coahoma.
Idalou, which struggled through a 1-4 non-district start is now 3-4 overall and 2-0 in District 4-3A DII.
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.
Littlefield 55, Coahoma 21 — Chip Green threw for 148 yards, rushed for 170, and accounted for four touchdowns to help Littlefield to a district-opening win over Coahoma.
The Wildcats (5-1, 1-0) finished with 395 yards in total offense, including 247 on the ground.
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.
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.
Littlefield 49, Brownfield 13 — The Wildcats won their fourth straight game behind 399 yards in total offense.
Chip Green threw for 128 yards and two scores and rushed for 146 yards and another TD to lead Littlefield (4-1).
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.
Coahoma 48, Colorado City 20 — Boyd Cox threw for 184 yards and four scors and Jaidyn Vineyard rushed for 87 yards and another TD to lead Coahoma (3-1) to a win over its area rival.
Austin Perkins and Billy Baily were favorite targets of Cox, both finishing with five catches and two scores each.
During his first year as the starting quarterback at Coahoma in 2022, Boyd Cox passed for more than 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns — impressive numbers about which pretty much any high school signal caller would be justifiably proud.
But here’s the deal:
When Cox took the wheel for the Bulldogs to start last season, he was still two years away from being old enough to take a driver’s test. And what the freshman signal caller accomplished was done largely on the fly as he was learning the toughest position on the field against a host of veteran varsity defenders whose primary goal was to introduce the ear hole in his helmet to the turf below his often-scrambling feet.
Fast forward to the early part of 2023, and you’ll discover, now that he’s more comfortable being a varsity quarterback, that Cox is evolving into one of the better passers in the area — and, maybe, in the state. He has completed 49 of 76 passes for 819 yards with a 10-to-1 touchdown-to-interception rate.
Coahoma 57, Kermit 31 — The Bulldogs raced out to a 34-6 halftime lead then held off the Yellow Jackets for the rest of the evening.
Jaidyn Vineyard rushed for 149 yards and one score and Boyd Cox threw for 249 yards and four TDs to lead Coahoma (2-1).
Sonora 44 Coahoma 30 — Edgar Deluna rushed fo 256 yards and four scores to lead Sonora over Coahoma in a shootout. Juan Castillo added 103 yards through the air for an additional score as Sonora improve to 2-0.
Coahoma (1-1) was led by Boyd Cox, who threw for 228 yards and three TDs. Jaidyn Vineyard added 111 yards rushing and one score.
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.
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: Forsan-Coahoma football (60 images)”
Lubbock Roosevelt 42, Amarillo River Road 6 — The Falcon option game was nothing short of devastating on Friday, producing 332 yards on 55 carries and four touchdowns between 12 different ball carriers.
Nate Casarez led the way for Roosevelt (1-0), throwing for 73 yards and one score and rushing for 49 yards.
BIG SPRING — The 10th annual Howard County Bowl had everything you could ask for as a football fan.
Game ball delivered by a U.S. Army Golden Knight skydiver who lost both of his legs in a training accident in 1994? Sgt. First Class Dana Bowman delivered with that.
Big plays. Trick plays. A pooch kick recovery. Blocked kicks. 84 total points. 11 total touchdowns. A two-point conversion. Three field goals. 1,001 yards of combined offense. 44 total first downs. Hard hits. You can check those boxes as well.
If that’s not enough, how does a 99-yard touchdown pass sound? That also happened as Coahoma opened the season with a 50-34 win over Forsan on Friday at Memorial Stadium in the highest scoring game in the rivalry’s short history.
Since he arrived at Coahoma in 2018, it’s been Chris Joslin’s goal to have a balanced offensive attack with a variety of weapons he can throw at opposing defenses.
He’s long believed that when opponents can’t key on one or two individuals and must account for both the run and pass, that makes his offense harder to prepare for and defend.
After making strides in this area last season, the Bulldogs will field their deepest skill group yet this fall. And if things go according to plan, particularly where rebuilding the offensive line is concerned, Joslin believes this could be one of his most explosive offenses as well.
Last year, the Coahoma Bulldogs bounced back from a rocky 2021 season to reach the playoffs for the sixth time since 2016. With the bulk of their talent back from that 7-4 squad, coach Chris Joslin and his players are hoping for an even stronger showing in 2023.
The Bulldogs bring back 20 of 30 lettermen from last year’s group, including seven offensive and five starters. And that nucleus of players, which is heavy on speed and playmaking ability, has CHS excited about its chances of competing in a tough District 4-3A Division II.
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 II with the Coahoma Bulldogs. On Saturday we will take a look at the Comanche Indians, followed by the Dublin Lions on Sunday.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Coahoma Bulldogs … 17 days to two-a-days”
The special moment that had been a year in the making could begin as soon as Kaedyn Lee secured the fly ball in right field.
Coahoma, which had come so close to winning it all the previous year, could finally celebrate on the infield at McCombs Field.
The Lady Bulldogs captured the Class 3A state championship Thursday afternoon with a 4-2 victory over Santa Gertrudis Academy. It’s Coahoma’s second softball title in school history with the other coming in 1998.
A fifth-inning single that didn’t even leave the infield.
That was the only hit Coahoma ace Hannah Wells surrendered Wednesday afternoon during a Class 3A state semifinal against Emory Rains.
Wells’ domination in the circle combined with Baylor Wright’s RBI single in the second inning were the difference as the Bulldogettes kept their state championship hopes alive with a 1-0 victory at the University of Texas’ McCombs Field.
A week.
That’s how long the Coahoma softball team took off after last year’s heartbreaking 6-5 loss to Hallettsville in the Class 3A state championship game.
The Bulldogettes returned to work over the summer with one goal — making another trip to Austin and taking care of unfinished business. They haven’t relaxed much since.
COAHOMA — Hannah Wells tossed a five-inning no-hitter and was 2 for 3 with an RBI to help Coahoma to a 10-0 win over Lamesa in Game 1 of their Region I-3A championship series on Friday at CHS.
With Wells dominating in the circle, the Bulldoggettes steadily pounded away at Lamesa, bringing home two runs apiece in the first and second innings, one in the third, four in the fourth and the mercy rule clincher in the fifth.
The Bulldoggettes (33-3) can clinch their second straight trip to the state tournament with a win in Game 2, slated for 1 p.m. Saturday in Lamesa. Game 3 (if necessary), will begin 30 minutes after Game 2. Lamesa fell to 23-6 with the loss.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
ABILENE — It isn’t every day that a softball coach faces the decision of replacing a pitcher who is in the midst of throwing a no-hitter.
But Coahoma skipper Alex Orosco made that move in Game 2 of a Region I-3A quarterfinal with Henrietta on Saturday and it paid off in a 5-0 series-clinching win.
Makayla Calvio delivered four no-hit innings and Hannah Wells slammed the door shut with three more hitless frames as the Bulldoggettes (31-3) swept the best-of-three series and advanced to the regional semifinals. There, the Bulldoggettes will face Bushland on Friday at 7 p.m. at Wolfforth Frenship in a one-game, winner-take-all semi.
Coming off a bi-district sweep of Plainview in which Reese Farrar and Rylee Moore both pitched five-inning one-hitters, it was going to be difficult for Wylie’s co-aces to repeat that performance against El Paso Parkland in the area round.
And yet, they did.
Farrar pitched her second one-hitter of the playoffs while Moore tossed a five-inning no-hitter to fuel the Lady Bulldogs past the Lady Matadors 20-1 and 10-0 and into the Region I-4A quarterfinals, where WHS (30-6) will face off with 36-1 El Paso Hanks this week.
In the process, coach Heather Collier’s dynamic pitching duo claimed our penultimate Big Country Preps Player of the Year award of the 2022-23 school year.
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: Coahoma-Holliday softball area round playoff (40 images)”
HAWLEY —What took three days and two games to achieve a year ago was over in a little more than 90 minutes this time around.
In a rematch of last year’s Region I-3A championship series, Coahoma and Holliday met in a one-game winner-take-all area round clash on Thursday, with CHS ending Holliday’s season for a second straight year with a 4-0 win.
Hannah Wells tossed a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs to lead Coahoma (29-3) which advances to face either Comfort or Henrietta in the Region I-3A quarterfinals.
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.
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: Coahoma-Jim Ned baseball (40 images)”
TUSCOLA — In the aftermath of Jim Ned’s 10-0 win over Coahoma on Tuesday, there was almost no acknowledgement of the fact that Jim Ned’s Garan Millican had just thrown a no-hitter.
The truth of the matter is, many people were completely unaware of it, given that the scoreboard wasn’t accounting for hits. And even those who had suspected that he had thrown a no-no, weren’t sure of it, since they hadn’t seen the official book yet.
Case closed. Millican delivered a five-inning no-hitter in a mercy rule win at Jim Ned, helping the Indians (15-3, 5-0 District 6-3A) to remain in a first-place tie with area power Wall in the league race.
It’s a big weekend for Isabella Cox and the Coahoma girls basketball team.
The Bulldogettes need to spring a couple upsets starting Friday night against Wall and following with Merkel the next day to have a chance at the postseason.
A year after leading Coahoma to its first district title since 2008, Cox and the Bulldogettes have faced more than their fair share of adversity this winter.
UIL realignment landed Coahoma into a district with three ranked teams in No. 2 Jim Ned, No. 14 Wall and No. 19 Merkel. To make matters more challenging, Cox sprained her ankle and was forced to miss multiple district games.