Goldthwaite 42, Bangs 14 — Ethan Deeds passed for 136 yards and two touchdowns — both to Luke Sanderson — and rushed for 93 yards and two more scores as the Eagles pounded out 259 yards on the ground to pull away from the Dragons for a lopsided victory in a near must-win game for both teams.
Sanderson finished with 99 yards receiving on eight catches to supplement a rushing attack that also got 75 yards from Max Storm, 43 from Marcus Stevens and 41 from Erick Lozoya. Behind that nucleus, Goldthwaite (3-4, 1-2) increased a 7-0 halftime lead to 21-0 by the midway point of the third quarter and held from there for the win.
TOLAR — Isaac Blessing rushed for 127 yards, passed for 146 more and accounted for five touchdowns to lead Tolar to a 43-0 trouncing of Coleman in a District 5-2A Division I battle that helped define the league’s playoff hierarchy in the early stages.
Contrast in styles games make for excellent entertainment and are usually high on our list of potential Big Country Preps Games of the Week. 
Coleman 40, San Saba 26 — Jadin Jackson rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns and received for 85 yards, while Brayden Torres had another productive passing day to fuel the Bluecats to a victory over the Armadillos. 
San Saba 32, Hamilton 28 — Ethan Gonzales ran for 215 yards and three touchdowns while Lane Miller added a pair of rushing scores of his own to lead the Armadillos to an upset win over the Bulldogs in the district opener for both squads.
There are big games and then there are those that border on insanity. 
TUSCOLA — Jim Ned coach Matt Fanning is one of those guys who barely flinches when someone mentions his accomplishments. So it should come as no surprise that he had to be told early in the season that he was approaching the school record for career wins by a football coach. 
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. 
De Leon 42, Cross Plains 7 — Heston Jobe hit 15 of 21 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns while adding 66 yards and two more scores on the ground to lift the Bearcats to a comfortable win over the Buffaloes.
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. 
San Saba 40, Florence 3 — The Armadillos piled up 365 yards rushing, getting big days on the ground from running back Ethan Gonzales (18-133, 2 TDs) and quarterback Lane Miller (13-122, 2 TDs) in their blowout win over the Buffaloes.
The Hawley baseball team wasn’t going to make short work of Coleman. Both Mother Nature and the Coleman Bluecats saw to that on Saturday at Drigger’s Field at McMurry University. 
COLEMAN — There was nothing fancy about it. Nothing overwhelming. But at the end of the day, Coleman’s 6-2 win over area rival Bangs on Tuesday, was solid enough to keep the Bluecats (13-9, 8-3 District 7-2A) in contention for a No. 2 seed in the playoffs. 
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. 
Clyde’s Payton Phillips is no stranger to our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. She’s no stranger to gold medals either. 
It’s difficult to trump a no-hitter, though Snyder’s Ava Aviles came close last week. 
It’s not often that a Big Country baseball team charts two no-hitters in the same week. But when two pitchers with the same last name are charting the no-nos it’s about as common as the planets aligning. 
With our recent bad weather pushing an extra game into last week for the Coleman Bluecats, it gave senior guard Braxton Smith three chances to pile up big numbers. 
Eula’s Clayton Gray, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 4, earned the accolade on two fronts. Not only did he post big numbers in consecutive wins over Moran and Rising Star, but he also reached an impressive milestone in the process. 
He entered last week as the leading scorer in the entire Big Country, putting up more than 37 points per game. So few will be surprised to hear that Benamin’s Grayson Ridgon has put up yet another performance worthy of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week Award. 
A limited number of minutes, if the numbers compute correctly, can figure strongly in our selection of Player of the Week. 
Cisco 55, Reagan County 0 — The Loboes dominated Reagan County, rolling up 555 yards in total offense, of which 378 were on the round. 