Eastland 21, Jim Ned 19 — Isaiah Hays passed for 259 yards and a touchdown and Cayden Alford rushed for a pair of scores to lift the Mavericks to an upset win over the Indians.
Preston Rose had a huge day receiving, hauling in four passes for 127 yards and a TD for EHS (1-4), which outscored Jim Ned 14-12 in the final quarter to earn its first victory of the season.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Tolar-Comanche football (39 images)”
Merkel 54, Bangs 37 — Connor Willyerd and Maddox O’Malley rushed for 171 and 164 yards, respectively, as the Badgers ran over and around the Dragons for a comfortable win.
Willyerd had one touchdown and O’Malley rushed for four as Merkel (3-1) finished with 389 yards on the ground as a team. Braxton Duden (4-60 rushing) also had a rushing TD for the Badgers, who got 98 yards passing and one score from O’Malley and 72 yards and two touchdowns receiving from Kaden Blubaugh.
COMANCHE — It was to be a special night for Comanche, with an overflow crowd and a game ball hand-delivered at the 50-yardline via helicopter to kick off the 2023 Homecoming celebration.
Unfortunately for Comanche, the Tolar Rattlers never received the memo and left Indian Stadium with a convincing 41-18 win to hand the seventh-ranked 3A DII Indians their first loss of the year.
Isaac Blessing threw for 125 yards, rushed for 148 and accounted for three scores to lead fifth-ranked 2A DI Tolar, which took a quick 14-0 lead and managed to hold off the Indians with a combination of big plays and defense.
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.
Comanche 57, Early 0 — Layden Welch passed for 266 yards and four touchdowns and Colt Schwertner rushed for 264 yards and a score to fuel the Indians to a blowout win on a day standout running back Sawyer Wilkerson was limited to three carries by an ankle injury.
Welch, who hit Kyler Beaty six times for 136 yards and two TDs, also ran for 28 yards and two scores as Comanche improved to 3-0.
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.
Merkel 34, Stanton 7 — The Badgers overcame a slow start, scoring 34 unanswered points over the final three quarters to rally from a 7-0 deficit after the first.
Maddox O’Malley passed for 234 yards and a touchdown and added another TD on the ground to lead Merkel (2-0), which also got 116 total yards from Connor Willyerd (14-72 rushing; 4-44 receiving) and strong receiving days from CJ Walcott (3-105, 1 TD), Bryant Jones (2-68, 1 TD) and Kaden Blubaugh (2-66, 1 TD).
There are all manner of metrics by which a transcendent quarterback is defined. A strong and accurate arm … A knack for knowing just what to do with your legs and when to use them … The ability to lead the team to victory under even the most challenging circumstances …
Those certainly factor into the mix.
But while Comanche coach Joaquin Escobar puts checks in all those boxes when he assesses his signal caller, Jayden Welch, he notes that there’s something else about his special senior that resonates above the tangibles.
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.
COMANCHE — Strong straight-line winds or a small tornado?
Nothing is verified just yet, but one thing is for certain: Comanche High School has some work to do on both its concession stand and press box after being hit by high winds over the weekend.
The damage sustained was serious enough to force athletic director Jake Escobar to make contingency plans for home dates until further notice.
“The roof of the concession stand flew off about 100 yards,” Escobar said. “Part of the press box roof fell off and our ag building, which is a big tin building —its roof broke open and it was pretty bad.”
Comanche 37, Brady 8 — Sawyer Wilkerson ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns, while Layden Welch passed for 163 yards and three scores and rushed for 51 yards and an additional TD to fuel the Indians to comfortable win over the Bulldogs.
Behind those two and receiver Kyler Beaty, who hauled in five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, Comanche (1-0) built a 25-8 lead by halftime and was never threatened after the break.
COMANCHE — In Class 3A Division II, one can count themselves as fortunate if they can suit up 60+ players in the entirety of their high school football program. Many do not have the numbers to field a freshman team and 10-15 seniors are the norm.
Yet somehow, the norm isn’t applicable in Comanche. At least, not lately.
There, where coach Jake Escobar enters his third season with the Indians, an astonishing level of participation has suddenly pushed CHS’ overall numbers to nearly 80 total players, with 19 of them being seniors on a varsity roster of nearly 40.
Continue reading “EVAN REN: Overwhelming participation rates are pushing Comanche out of the norm”
COMANCHE — On paper, the initial numbers released by Comanche football looked good, with seven starters on both sides of the ball among 16 lettermen from last year’s 10-2 team and an expected roster of 28 players.
What the Big Country is about to find out, however, is that the Indians are in even better shape than what the media is reporting.
With an unexpected spike in participation, Comanche will not only have roughly 80 players in its program, but will carry nearly 40 players on its varsity roster, giving third-year coach Jake Escobar plenty of support around a nucleus of 19 seniors.
Day 2 of Big Country Preps’ 2023 Photo Tour is now in the books, with six more days of shooting yet to come from practice fields throughout the area.
Here are but a few of the images collected Tuesday:
Continue reading “Scenes from Big Country Preps Photo Tour Day 2”
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 Comanche Indians. On Sunday we will take a look at the Dublin Lions, followed by the Eastland Mavericks on Monday.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Comanche Indians … 16 days to two-a-days”
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: 2023 State LineMAN Championships (133 photos)”
Bangs southpaw Abby Wolf has thrown so many no-hitters this year, that the subject barely raises an eyebrow. But in consecutive district wins over Coleman and Christoval last week, the sophomore managed to create a stir.
Missing a perfect game by one hit batsman in a 7-0 win over Coleman, she followed that with three perfect innings in a 15-0 route of Christoval.
In other words, Wolf tossed nine complete hitless innings last week, along the way walking none and fanning 13.
You know you’re on a roll when you throw a no-hitter and it’s your second-best performance of the week.
That was the case for Hico junior pitcher Kiersten Fincannon, not only threw a no-hitter in a 24-0 win over Meridian, but also tossed a perfect game in a 22-0 rout of Itasca.
Softball tournaments can distort the significance of pitching accomplishments due to inning caps or time limits, rendering perfect games or no-hitters into half-versions of their true selves.
However, there is no denying that tournaments are work, especially for pitchers, and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Hamlin southpaw Zoe Moore, earned the accolade with a 4-0 record in the Wichita Falls Sunrise Optimist Tournament last week.
It’s always a good sign early in the season when you’re getting good pitching against quality competition. And in the case of the Big Spring Lady Steers, the numbers in the circle thus far are downright encouraging.
Courtesy of senior Alexcia Munoz, the Lady Steers are off to a 5-1 start, including a 4-0 mark from Munoz in last week’s Abilene Icebreaker tournament.
While Hawley’s Kason O’Shields is better known for his prowess on a football field, the HHS senior is actually a remarkable all-around athlete who is capable of having an impact in a variety of different sports.
This week is a prime example of that, as O’Shields takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the week ending February 18.
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.
And he did exactly that.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week opened with 19 points and nine steals in a win over Bangs last Monday. He followed that with 13 points, eight assists and 10 steals in a near-triple double in a win over Winters.
Photos courtesy of Santos Gomez
As Richard Pringle walked off the floor a couple months ago after telling his Comanche boys basketball team he would be retiring after the season, senior Miguel Martinez jogged up and put his arm around him.
“Looks like we’re going out together,” the point guard told Pringle.
That timing isn’t by coincidence. Pringle had thought about calling it quits at the end of the 2021-22 season, but he admitted Martinez was one of the main reasons he hung around this season.
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.
To begin with, the junior guard chalked up 29 points, six boards and four blocks in a win over Moran. He also tallied 43 points, eight boards and four steals in a win over Rising Star.
A limited number of minutes, if the numbers compute correctly, can figure strongly in our selection of Player of the Week.
That is the case with this week’s winner, Gavin Landenberger of Cisco, who opened the week with 29 points, five boards, three assists, and five steals in a win over Haskell last Tuesday.
However, what sealed the deal for the senior guard, was a 20-point, four-rebound, five-assist and five-steal game he charted in a win over Hamlin — numbers he posted in only 18 minutes of playing time.
NOTE: This will be our final Player of the Week column for 2022. It will return on Monday, Jan. 9.
It’s always a significant accomplishment to chart a double-double. But when one averages a double-double over the course of five straight games, you begin to put a blip on the area radar screen.
Munday senior Jaxon Bowman did precisely that last week, helping the Moguls to a 5-0 record and the tournament championship at Blackwell. Aside from averaging 11.2 points per game, the senior grabbed a whopping 13 boards per contest to along with a combined 12 steals as Munday improved to 12-2.
Consistency and versatility always score big in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column.
Add a few extras to your stat sheet and play well over several games and you’ll generally end up at or near the top of our weekly list.
That is precisely why Comanche sophomore guard Kinsey Glasgow has earned our Player of the Week award for the Week ending December 3.
Having fought his way through a mid-season injury, Albany quarterback Cole Chapman is back in form.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week was the dual threat we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on Saturday, leading the Lions (11-2) to a 35-18 whipping of formerly unbeaten Wink in the Region II-2A Division II semifinals.
With the Wylie football team’s season on the line, facing a 40-30 deficit with less than six minutes remaining, the Bulldogs needed an epic comeback to rally past Colleyville Heritage on Friday at Grapevine’s Mustang-Panther Stadium.
Fortunately for coach Clay Martin’s squad, their senior quarterback has made a habit of leading those this year.
After throwing just his sixth interception on a fourth-down play midway through the final quarter, KJ Long was given new life when his defense forced and recovered a quick fumble. He made the most of it by leading a pair of quick scoring drives — the last to put the Bulldogs 43-40 with three seconds left on the clock — to fuel his team to a wild 50-40 area-round win and earn this week’s Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
With standout running back Sawyer Wilkerson getting much of the media attention in 2022, the Comanche Indians have been receiving efficient, under-publicized play from the quarterback spot through much of a 10-1 record.
Last week was perhaps the best example of that, with junior signal caller Layden Welch torching Henrietta with an 11 of 16 passing performance for 248 yards and five TDs in a 69-27 win.
But that’s just the beginning.
Welch also rushed 11 times for 65 yards and two scores. He gathered five solo tackles, four assisted stops, forced a fumble and deflected a pass to help CHS advance to the area round.
Jim Ned 41, Pilot Point 0 — Troy Doran rushed for 174 yards and two scores to lead Jim Ned to an easy first round win over Pilot Point.
The Indians rolled up 479 yards in total offense en route to the win, overcoming a 3-1 turnover disparity in the process. Leading 14-0 at the break, Jim Ned blew the game open with 27 unanswered points in the second half.
After highlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, we now take a look at the area’s best big men.
For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top 10 post players.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.
After kicking off our boys basketball position rankings series on Tuesday with the guards, we now shift our attention to the forwards.
For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top-10 players at that position for 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With boys basketball season beginning this week, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2022-23 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this winter.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
If it’s true that big-time players make big-time plays in big moments, few had a stronger claim to that “big-time” title this past week than Wylie sophomore Hayden Wright.
The Bulldogs free safety not only came through with three interceptions in his team’s 20-10 District 2-5A Division I title-clinching win over crosstown rival Cooper, he recorded all three picks in the fourth quarter as Wylie was trying to hold off a late Cougar rally.
For that effort, which saw him snatch his fourth, fifth and sixth interceptions of the season, the young playmaker has been named the Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 5.
Comanche 49, Eastland 7 — The Indians wrapped up a perfect run through district play with a blowout win over the Mavericks, rushing for 285 yards in the victory.
Comanche (9-1, 5-0), which led 29-0 by halftime and took a 35-0 lead into the fourth quarter, got 194 yards and two touchdowns rushing from standout sophomore Sawyer Wilkerson, while quarterback Layden Welch passed for 100 yards and one touchdown and ran for 80 yards and two more scores.