Cisco 38, Comanche 6 — Colby McIlroy passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns and added another score on the ground to fuel the Loboes to a lopsided win over the Indians.
Landry Vosburg added 102 yards and one TD rushing, and Cannon Harris had 84 yards and two TDs receiving to help Cisco, which led 24-6 by halftime.
Comanche 28, Breckenridge 6 — Cooper Welch threw for 135 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 pass attempts, and LaDainian Smith added 63 yards and a pair of scores on the ground to fuel the Indians to a three-score win over the Buckaroos.
Comanche also got productive days from Nicolas Anaya (6-91 rushing) and Zaden Tello (6-82 rushing; 2-64, 1 TD receiving) in increasing a 13-0 halftime lead to 28-0 in the fourth quarter before Breckenridge finally got on the board with an 80-yard kickoff return.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”
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!
Every coach wishes they had a Joe Salinas.
Someone that plays physically, never takes a snap off and will do whatever he’s asked.
When Dublin coach Greg Hardcastle needed a quarterback after losing a couple Lions to injury early last season, Salinas was the obvious candidate to handle the position.
“He’s going to do whatever he needs to do to help the team,” Hardcastle said. “He’s a great teammate, and he’s that same way in everything he does. He’s one of those kids who if someone needs help with anything, he’ll get it done. It’s the way he’s been raised.”
Dublin doesn’t have a big senior class to lean on.
But what the Lions do have is a strong junior class that gained plenty of experience during last year’s 1-9 record when they were sophomores.
“We’ve got a good core group that gained a lot of experience, and now that they’re juniors, they’re a little more mature,” Dublin coach Greg Hardcastle said. “I feel like it’s going to help us in the long run. Another year in the weight room plus being experienced and comfortable in our system.”
Among the veteran juniors is Joe Salinas, who is Dublin’s leading returning rusher with 380 yards and six touchdowns. Jayden Balvantin is a talented lineman who can play anywhere up front, while Kyler Gaitan and Hudsen Joslin are versatile skill players.
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.
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.
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.
Here are our first-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2026 All-Big Country Preps Softball 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 softball selections, please click the links below.
Scoring and rebounding is only part of the story when it comes to basketball. Behind the scenes and beyond the view of the public, is where character is often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps Gym Rat Team that we salute the individuals who exude the most of it.
This team isn’t about who the best players are, though some of the area’s top players are on this list.
The Gym Rat team is about effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches love above all else and that championship foundations are built upon.
It is for that reason that our Gym Rat team is selected entirely by area coaches, described in their own words. And Big Country Preps is absolutely honored to present these individuals to you — the best “team players” (boys and girls) that the area had to offer during the 2025-26 season.
Players are listed in no particular order.
Enjoy.
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: 2026 Eula Softball Tournament (126 images)”
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 19. With the end of the regular season, this will be the FINAL boys basketball leaders we post this year.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Feb. 12. This will be our FINAL girls stat leaders for 2026.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his or her email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive.
The boys basketball regular season is nearing its end, and district championship and playoff pictures across the area are coming into view.
Most leagues now have clear favorites in both their title and playoff races, but several remain unresolved with just two or three games left to play.
With just a couple of weeks of games remaining, let’s dive in and take a look at this week’s biggest games and last week’s most significant developments.
Surprised — and in some cases, stressed out — faces could be seen in abundance Monday morning at Abilene’s Region 14 Education Services Center, where coaches from throughout the area and beyond gathered to learn their new district homes as part of the University Interscholastic League’s biennial realignment.
In what can best be described as a seismic shift in the Big Country football landscape, a majority of area schools were placed in unfamiliar environs — be that a new district with new foes or even a new region entirely.
The now venerated process by which the UIL releases the packet containing the new district alignments for football, basketball and volleyball is frequently compared by coaches to waking up on Christmas morning to find what presents await under the three. And on this day, in particular, few found the gifts they were expecting.
Most high school football teams have that one player acknowledged by the coaching staff as the prime example of what a teammate should be.
He’s the guy who seldom misses any practice time and is a regular in the weight room. He’s early to arrive. He’s late to leave and takes pride in being coachable, though he seldom needs direction.
He always sets the right example for younger players. He doesn’t complain and, above all else, he’s tough enough to make all the aforementioned traits consistently possible.
Know someone like that? Here is where they are honored.
Here are our first-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps Football Team (Third-Team roster). For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team — an honor reserved for the area’s top freshman and sophomore football players. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Clifton 7, Brady 6 — The Cubs finished with just 117 total yards and one touchdown, but it was enough claim a defensive win over the Bulldogs and the district’s No. 2 playoff seed.
Clifton (8-2, 4-1), which held Brady to 166 yards of offense, got a 43-yard touchdown pass from Carter Ritz to Judd New late in the first half and made that hold up thanks to some key defensive plays late in the game.
Brady 20, Tolar 14 — Ashton Taylor ran for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the Brady defense limited Tolar to 199 yards of total offense as the Bulldogs scored a hard-fought win over the Rattlers to stay unbeaten in district play.
BHS (7-2,) also got 78 yards and a TD rushing from Sean Jacoby, who passed for 72 yards as the Bulldogs built a 12-0 lead by halftime.
What more can be said about the performance of Wall senior Landon York last week other than it was a model of efficiency?
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week shredded Grape Creek in a 48-0 district win to clinch the District 4-3A DII championship.
Along the way, York connected on 18 of 21 throws for 246 yards and get this: seven touchdowns. That means one out of every three throws resulted in points.
How good of a night did he have? How about a ridiculous quarterback rating of 294.1?
Brady 17, Early 15 (OT) — The Bulldogs needed four overtime periods to outlast the Longhorns, getting a two-point conversion run from Ashton Taylor to break a 15-all deadlock and secure a thrilling win.
Taylor also had a touchdown run in the second overtime period after neither team could score in the first. Brady (6-2, 3-0) led 7-0 at halftime thanks to a first-quarter TD run by Johnny Roque, but Early answered with a scoring pass from Caden Wilson to Andrew Reedy to tie the game at 7-all and eventually force overtime.
Early 28, Clifton 3 — Caden Wilson passed for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and the Longhorns defense limited the Cubs to just 80 yards of offense to improve to 2-0 in league play with a dominant effort against CHS.
Early (3-4 overall) finished with just 222 total yards, but that was enough to build a 14-3 halftime lead and create separation from there for the lopsided win.
Early 43, Tolar 14 — Cameron Love ran for 106 yards and a touchdown, while Caden Wilson and Isaac Ibarra each added two rushing scores to help the Longhorns snap a four-game losing streak with a lopsided win over the Rattlers.
Early (2-4, 1-0) ran for 314 yards as a team, getting 70 yards from Stone Ratliff and 69 yards each from Wilson and Ibarra in the victory. Wilson also passed for 67 yards, hitting Andrew for a TD as the Longhorns built a 28-14 halftime lead.
Ingram Moore 37, Brady 33 — The Bulldogs outgained the Warriors 480-322, but an early hole proved too deep to climb out of in a hard-fought loss.
Brady (3-2) trailed 9-0 after a quarter and 23-7 at halftime, before mounting a rally in the second half. The Bulldogs, who converted just one of five fourth-down attempts in the game, narrowed the gap to 30-25 and 37-33 in the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they get to the lead.
Brady 36, Ballinger 19 — Sean Jacoby passed for 134 yards and four touchdowns and added 101 yards on the ground, while Ashton Taylor ran for 156 yards to lead the Bulldogs to a three-score win over the Bearcats.
As a team, Brady (3-1) ran for 351 yards on 39 carries, getting 61 yards and a TD from Johnny Roque in addition to what Jacoby and Taylor provided. Taylor also also had a 40-yard TD reception for the Bulldogs, who got two TD catches from Rylan Pedigo (2-39 receiving).
Tolar 42, Millsap 18 — Britton Rice passed for 171 yards and four touchdowns, and Kelvin Murray ran for 126 yards and a score to lead the Rattlers to a comfortable win over the Bulldogs.
Leading just 7-6 after one quarter and 14-6 at halftime, Tolar (2-1) outscored Millsap 14-6 in each of the final two periods to pull away.
Brady 24, Mason 22 — Sean Jacoby ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns, and Ashton Taylor ran for 91 yards and two scores to help the Bulldogs to a hard-fought win over the Punchers.
Behind those two, Brady (2-0) increased a 12-7 halftime lead to 18-7 in the third quarter before holding off a Mason rally in the final period.
Early 35, Bangs 18 — Caden Wilson passed for 236 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 84 yards and two more TDs to lead the Longhorns to a three-score win over the Dragons.
Brandon Walker added 88 yards and a touchdown rushing and Andrew Reedy had 91 yards and a TD receiving for Early, which outscored Bangs 26-12 in the second half to pull away.
Got the truck started yet?
Ready to jump on one of those farm-to-market roads to watch high school football into the late hours on a Friday night?
You’re not alone.
And, as tradition would have it, I tip my cap to those of you who will be hitting the trails each week in search of pigskin. My method: a preseason menu of sorts.
Each week for the next 11 weeks, Big Country Preps will be searching for its Game of the Week, and we’re already looking ahead. We now present our preliminary list of Big Country Games worth traveling for, but keep in mind: the following list is subject to change as surprises and disappointments emerge.
And as we all know … surprises and disappointments always emerge.
So, without further delay, here is our list of Big Country games worth traveling for in 2025.
I’ll see you on the road.
Dublin will rely on 15 seniors on its high school football team this season.
But don’t get the impression that the Lions’ success will solely be determined by upperclassmen.
That’s because Dublin will also rely on six sophomores to play pivotal roles in 2025 after most of them earned varsity snaps as freshmen.
Control what we can control.
That’s one of the messages Dublin coach Greg Hardcastle always preaches to his players no matter what the situation.
Last year the Lions lost their first seven games and had some injuries, but they were resilient enough to make the playoffs.