Category: Coleman Bluecats

by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Bible’s big night propels Bangs to blowout win over Coleman

BANGS — While he didn’t set a career-high for rushing yards, Bangs senior running back Connor Bible still put together a memorable night as the Dragons rolled to a 53-10 win over Coleman in District 7-2A Division I play on Friday night.

Bible ran for 244 yards and five touchdowns and added a 32-yard reception for a score to lead the Dragons, who scored on their first seven possessions of the game — a week after punting seven times in a lopsided loss to Mason.

Bangs coach Colton Buzzard was proud of the way that his team bounced back from the 51-0 loss to the Punchers to start district play.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 7-2A DI WEEK 7 REPORT: San Saba, Mason and Coleman open league play with victories

San Saba 22, Johnson City 14 — Jason Everett ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns and Graden Lebow added 94 yards and a score as the Armadillos ran for all 300 of their yards in a big district win over the Eagles.

San Saba (4-2, 1-0), which didn’t attempt a pass in the victory, raced out to a 13-0 first-quarter lead and carried it into halftime, before holding off a Johnson City rally in the second half.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Roby’s Weatherly takes this week’s award

Even in an otherwise “quiet” week, six-man players find a way to make a lot of noise. 

With many of our teams enjoying an open week prior to district play, Knox City and Roby got into a knock-down drag-out six-man game, with the Greyhounds winning 86-80. 

So great was this game, that our Big Country Preps Player of the Week emerged from the losing side of this matchup, with Roby quarterback Eli Weatherly taking our Player of the Week award for the Week ending Oct. 3

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 7-2A DI WEEK 6 REPORT: Brady can’t keep pace with Llano; rest of district has week off

Llano 45, Brady 13 — Luke Davis passed for 200 yards and three touchdowns while adding 33 yards rushing on five carries to fuel the Yellowjackets to a comfortable win over the Bulldogs.

Cole Landers ran for 92 yards and a touchdown and Cash Lynch received for 94 yards and a score as Llano increased a 24-13 halftime lead to 38-13 by the end of the third quarter.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Graham QB Corley takes this week’s top honor

A week ago, Graham senior quarterback Cooper Corley narrowly missed taking our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.  
 
This time around, there was no stopping him.  

Corley, who led the Steers to a 48-21 win over Peaster, hit 16 of 27 throws for 307 yards and two TDs.  

He also rushed 12 times for 132 yards and four more scores and caught a 29-yard TD pass for seven touchdowns on the night.  

“Very rarely do you see a kid total 7 TDs in a night and score in three different ways,” Graham coach Clay McChristian said. “He scored at least one touchdown passing, rushing, and receiving.

“That is right at 1000 total yards and 13 TDs in the last two weeks against two quality opponents.” 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 7-2A DI WEEK 5 REPORT: Coleman, Bangs, San Saba and Mason close nondistrict play with wins

Coleman 52, Eldorado 20 — Hunter Edington passed for 241 yards and three touchdowns, and Chantz Adams ran for 184 yards and four scores to lead the Bluecats to a blowout win over the Eagles.

Jayden Smith was Coleman’s leading receiver with 70 yards and a TD as the Bluecats () increased a 28-14 halftime lead to 40-20 by the start of the fourth quarter.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 7-2A DI WEEK 3 REPORT: Bangs, Mason and Coleman victorious in 3-3 week for district

Bangs 51, Cross Plains 12 — Ryder Duncan passed for 195 yards and three touchdowns and added a fourth TD rushing to lead the Dragons to a blowout win over the Buffaloes.

Connor Bible just missed 100 yards rushing, finishing with 98 and a score on 15 carries, while Jayton Byler was Bangs’ leading receiver with two catches for 59 yards and a TD.

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Rigdon still making plays in college for Arizona State

NOTE: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net. 

Rigdon accepts his Offensive MVP trophy following Benjamin’s 2022 victory over Loraine for the 1A DII state title.

Grayson Rigdon is listed as the No. 3 running back on the Arizona State football depth chart, but the former Strawn-Benjamin High School player scored two long-distance touchdowns in the Sun Devils’ 70-7 season-opening win over Morgan State last Saturday.

The 5-foot-11 sophomore scored on receptions of 54 and 56 yards. On both touchdowns, quarterback Cutter Boley threw to Rigdon coming out of the backfield, and he used his running skills to turn the short receptions into long touchdowns.

Rigdon’s first touchdown extended ASU’s lead to 35-7 early in the second quarter. His second score made it 56-7 early in the third quarter.

In addition to the two receptions for 110 yards, Rigdon finished Saturday’s game with four carries for 22 yards rushing and one kickoff return for 18 yards.

The Sun Devils play at No. 10-ranked Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC-TV.

As an ASU freshman last season, Rigdon played on special teams in six games. He also had two carries and one reception in the Sun Devils’ Sun Bowl loss to Duke.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Pinkerton takes his second award in as many weeks

We prefer to not have the same athlete win our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in successive weeks, given that it is our aim to share the love. But every now and then, the numbers simply make that impossible. 

So here we have it: Haskell’s Haegen Pinkerton has won our accolade twice in as many weeks, and deservedly so after leading the Indians to a 62-44 win at Bangs on Friday. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 7-2A DI WEEK 2 REPORT: San Saba, Coleman, Mason pick up wins as league goes 3-3

San Saba 34, Eastland 19 — Enrique Mendoza ran for 182 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 438-yard rushing effort for the Armadillos in a two-touchdown win.

Jason Everett added 167 yards and two TDs of his own to help San Saba, which finished with 460 total yards in the win.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

FEATURE: Bluecats starting to settle in following tumultuous two months

SWEETWATER — When the calendar flipped from June to July this year, the Coleman Bluecats football team was preparing for its 13th season under John Elder, who had amassed 81 wins and eight playoff berths while leading the program since the 2014 season.

Not even two weeks later, on July 13, Elder announced that he was stepping away from the program in a move that sent shockwaves across the Big Country coaching community.

A week later, Coleman ISD named Elder’s offensive coordinator, Zach Edington, as his successor for at least the 2026 season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 7-2A DI WEEK 1 REPORT: Coleman, Bangs, Mason open with wins; Brady, San Saba drop openers

Coleman 16, San Angelo Grape Creek 12 — Post-touchdown conversions were the difference in this matchup, which saw the Bluecats cash in two-point conversions after both of their touchdowns while the Eagles failed to convert after either of their two scores.

Grape Creek, which trailed 8-6 at halftime, led 12-8 in the third quarter after following a first-half defensive touchdown with a rushing score. But Coleman closed out the scoring with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Hunter Edington to Jayden Smith for what proved to be the winning points.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Quarterbacks

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Running Backs

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

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.   

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Kickers/Punters

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Backs

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Linebackers

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen

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” →

by Daniel Youngblood

2026 DISTRICT PREDICTIONS: Evan and Daniel make their picks

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!

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

COLEMAN FEATURE: Bluecats’ QB hopes to recapture the magic of 2024

An interesting scenario has emerged within the Coleman Bluecats’ football team this season.

Hunter Edington began walking the sidelines at Coleman football games by age 3 or “since he could walk,” said his dad Zach Edington, who was a Coleman assistant coach for 22 years from 2003-2025.

As a sophomore in 2024, the younger Edington was quarterbacking the Coleman JV team until the starting varsity quarterback was injured. Hunter ended up starting five varsity games at quarterback to end the season.

The Bluecats were 0-7 when Hunter became their starting quarterback, but he guided the Coleman to district wins over Hico 14-6, Ballinger 14-7 and Bangs 31-16 to secure a playoff berth.

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

2026 COLEMAN FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Bluecats have new coach, but few changes expected

Before examining Coleman’s expectations for this football season, you have to set the table with the Bluecats’ late head coaching change.

John Elder, 81-56 with eight playoff berths and three 11-win seasons, resigned as Coleman’s head coach in mid-July – about three weeks before the start of fall camp practices.

Fortunately for Coleman, the Bluecats had a veteran coach with longtime ties to the area already on the staff. Coleman promoted Zach Edington to head coach. Edington has coached at Coleman for 23 years, including the last 13 as offensive coordinator.

“I’m from Cross Plains, class of 1999, and in college, I did my student teaching at Coleman. They hired me right out of college in 2003, so Coleman is the only school I’ve coach at,” Edington said.

“Having been here my whole career, the Coleman administration and school board know what they’re going to get out of me.”

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by Daniel Youngblood

2026 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: First-Team Roster

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2026 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: Second-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

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.

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by Evan Ren

2026 Big Country Preps Rising Stars Baseball Team: The top sophomores and freshmen in the area

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.

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