Stanton 37, Forsan 36 — FHS suffered its third consecutive one-score loss to open the season, dropping a heartbreaker to its Buffalo counterparts.
Forsan led 24-22 at halftime thanks to a 24-point second quarter. But SHS outscored FHS 15-6 in the third quarter to go up 37-30, and Forsan was unable to complete the conversion after its fourth-quarter touchdown, leaving it with a gut-wrenching one-point loss.
LAST WEEK: 46-28, .621
SEASON TOTAL: 94-48, .661
Abysmal.
That’s about the only adjective that comes to mind when trying to describe my Big Country football picks, which are off to the single worst start through two weeks that I’ve ever experienced in 18 years of covering area football.
A percentage of .621 after two weeks of play is beatable by throwing darts, flipping coins, or even consulting with your local horoscope page. Yet here I sit, trying to dig myself out of the hole I’ve created. But enough of that, Glen Rose at Brownwood is our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, in a week filled with interesting matchups.
Let’s have a look at them:
Post 32, Forsan 30 — The Buffaloes dropped a close one for the second straight week, following last week’s 34-28 loss to rival Coahoma with an even narrower defeat to the Antelopes.
Leading 10-6 after a quarter, Forsan was outscored 18-0 in the second period to go to halftime down 24-10. The teams then traded touchdowns in the third quarter, making it a 32-18 game heading into the fourth, when the Buffs scored twice but couldn’t complete the conversion on either TD.
Seymour 58, Colorado City 35 — The Wolves couldn’t keep up with the Panthers, opening the season with a shootout loss.
C-City trailed 6-2 after scoring a defensive two-point conversion following Seymour’s first touchdown and remained competitive through halftime, trailing just 34-23 in the second quarter. But Seymour extended its advantage to three scores in the second half to pull away for a comfortable win.
BIG SPRING — The Coahoma Bulldogs turned three Forsan turnovers and a defensive two-point conversion into 22 points — and ultimately a win — on Thursday at Memorial Stadium, kicking off the 2024 season with a thrilling 34-28 victory in the annual Howard County Bowl.
Coach Chris Joslin’s defense scored nine points directly and set up two of the offense’s four touchdowns with takeaways, using a bend-but-don’t-break style to help the Bulldogs leave Big Spring with their second straight victory in the rivalry series and sixth in the last eight years.
Forsan ran 24 more offensive plays than Coahoma and outgained the Bulldogs 389-281, but a 3-0 gap in the turnover margin and a couple of explosive offensive plays by CHS were enough to turn the tied in a game Joslin’s squad led from the 6:04 mark of the first quarter on.
LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000
SEASON TOTAL: 00-00, .000
Week 1 is often loaded with difficult picks and 2024 is no exception.
Our first slate of games this year has a number of contests that could have qualified for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week. But we finally settled on Albany at Stamford for the spotlight.
The two-time defending state 2A DII state champions, minus several key players lost to graduation, facing a Stamford club bringing back most of its skill and a ton of speed.
Playing in a Forsan program that prides itself on physicality, few players personify that gritty, hard-nosed mentality more than senior Huston Stockton.
A 6-foot-1, 205-pound bruiser at running back and defensive end, Stockton is a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the football.
Entering his senior year off a junior campaign that saw him earn first-team all-district honors at both of his positions, Stockton could make his biggest impact yet for the Buffaloes in 2024. And Forsan coach Jason Phillips feels that’s a good thing for a program seeking its fifth consecutive playoff berth.
Forsan coach Jason Phillips has been around long enough to know the ingredients he needs to build a successful football team. So it should probably excite FHS fans that he feels the 2024 squad checks all of the most obvious boxes.
The Buffaloes, who are coming off back-to-back tri-district championships, return 19 of their 28 lettermen from last year’s 8-3 squad, including all but three starters on offense and an experienced defensive front.
Add to this a group of reinforcements from a 7-1-1 junior varsity team, and it’s easy to see why the longtime Forsan mentor is chomping at the bit to get on the field and see what this year’s team can accomplish.
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. 21. 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 Aug. 5, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2024 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
We stay in Class 2A Division I with the Forsan Buffaloes. On Tuesday, we will take a look at the Anson Tigers, followed by the Cisco Loboes on Wednesday.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Forsan Buffaloes … 34 days to two-a-days”
OTHER 2024 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2024. It is off the field, however, where character, grit, and work ethic are often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team that we wish to honor those players, male and female, who were (simply put) the hardest-working, best teammates in the area this spring.
This team isn’t about who the best baseball and softball players were.
The All-Hustle team honors effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches wish they had in every player and upon which championships are built.
It is for that reason that this team is largely selected by area coaches and described in their own words.
Big Country Preps is now honored to present these individuals to you — the best team players (boys and girls) that the the Big Country had to offer during the 2024 season.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
AUSTIN — The comeback kids finally fell short. But not before putting nearly everyone at McCombs Field on the edge of their seats.
Power-hitting Forsan, with its penchant blasting its way out of trouble, saw its season come to a close on Tuesday in a 4-3 loss to Beckville in a Class 2A softball state semifinal.
Bethany Grandgeorge was 2 for 3 with two doubles and earned the pitching win, while Gracey Struwe and Bailey Quinn were both 1 for 3 with two RBIs to lead Beckville (32-6-2), which advances to face either Crawford (29-6) or Shiner (31-3) for the Class 2A state title at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Forsan (30-8-1), which had chopped a 4-0 deficit to 4-3, saw its rally end when Grandgeorge tossed a scoreless seventh inning while facing the top of the FHS order.
LAMESA — Facing a must-win situation in Game 2 of their Region I-2A championship series with Forsan, the Anson Lady Tigers showed up ready to play on Wednesday in Lamesa, with a raucous crowd behind them.
They even rallied from an early 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 lead in the third inning.
Forsan, however, had an answer in an overpowering offensive display that featured 11 hits and two homers in a 10-3 win that clinched the first state berth for the Lady Buffaloes in 14 years.
K’dynce Speck was 3 for 4 with a double, homer and four RBIs and Maddie Roach was 2 for 4 with a homer and a win in the pitching circle to lead Forsan (30-7-1) which opens play at the state tournament at Red and Charline McCombs Field on Tuesday.
This will be the first trip to state for Forsan since the Lady Buffs claimed back-to-back Class 1A state titles in 2009 and 2010. Anson closed its season at 21-13, just one step away from reaching the first state tournament in program history.
In a series full of wild momentum swings, it was the Forsan softball team that landed the decisive one against Haskell on Saturday at Abilene Christian University’s Poly Wells Field.
The Lady Buffs jumped out to a 7-0 lead through the first two innings of Game 3 and held on for a 10-6 win and a date with Anson in the regional final next week.
After rallying from a six-run deficit to win Game 1 on Thursday, Forsan saw Haskell start fast on Friday as the Maidens took Game 2.
Saturday’s series finale marked the first time all week that the Lady Buffs jumped out to an early lead and they made the most of it.
ABILENE — Less than a day removed from coughing up five errors and blowing a 7-1 lead, the Haskell Maidens found redemption at Abilene Christian University on Friday.
Trailing Forsan 1-0 in a best-of-three slate following a disastrous 15-7 loss on Thursday, Haskell produced a well-played, well-pitched 12-3 win at Poly Wells Field on Friday to knot the series at a game apiece.
Harley Medford was 3 for 4 with two doubles, a triple and five RBIs to lead Haskell (22-5), which snapped a 19-game Forsan winning streak with the victory.
ABILENE — Three innings into Game 1 of a Region I-2A semifinal on Thursday, everything was going Haskell’s way.
The Maidens were leading Forsan 7-1, they had outhit the Lady Buffs 8-3, they had all the momentum and it was beginning to look like a possible mercy rule victory for HHS.
Then it happened: An overwhelming display of power on the part of Forsan resulting in 14 unanswered runs over the final four innings, giving the Lady Buffs a stunning 15-7 come-from-behind win at Abilene Christian University.
K’leigh Williams was 3 for 5 with a double, a homer and four RBIs to lift Forsan (27-6-1), which can end the best-of-three series with a win in Game 2 at noon on Friday at ACU. Game 3, if needed, will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the same location.
Haskell (21-5), was led by sophomore Paige Sheets, who was 2-for-3 with a triple and four RBIs.
Both of this week’s Region 1-2A semifinal softball matchups will have a measure of, “Hey, wait a minute!” potential, especially if/when fans look into the third base coach’s boxes when the games’ announcers introduce the principal figures.
When Forsan and Anson take the field for their series against Haskell and Floydada, respectively, their head softball coaches will be leading a second team from their schools to the playoffs during the current school year. That’s what happens when the successful head softball coach is also the school’s successful head football coach.
And, even though Forsan’s Jason Phillips and Anson’s Cory McCombs took different paths to become two-sport mentors, they both are hoping for the same thing at the end of the week: a chance to face each other in next week’s region final series, the winner of which will be headed to the state tournament.
Here are the recaps of the Big Country softball playoff results in the second round of the postseason: Continue reading “SOFTBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Despite weather, 12 area teams advance to third round with Bangs-Stamford outcome still pending”
AUSTIN — After area Class 3A and 4A competitors opened the UIL Track & Field State Meet with a combined 10 medals on Thursday, Big Country Preps athletes took partial ownership of the medal stand at Mike A. Meyers Stadium at the University of Texas on Friday in the Class 2A and 5A portions of the event.
Area athletes combined to claim 18 medals on the day, with Hico junior Kaylee Hunt joining Goldthwaite seniors Lainey Jernigan and Hope Hermesmeyer in a dominating performance.
The trio combined for six medals on the day as Goldthwaite, Stamford and Hico all posted top-five finishes in the 2A girls team competition.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 25.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
There is very little that Eula’s Halie Cauthen isn’t good at athletically. Already an Honorable Mention All-Big Country Preps basketball player, the EHS junior showed her full range of versatility last week with three big performances in three different sports.
To begin with, Cauthen opened the week by qualifying for the 1A state golf tournament as an individual at the regional tournament, closing with rounds of 103 and 105.
Then, after playing 54 holes of golf in three days, Cauthen rushed back to compete for the district championship in softball against Cross Plains.
With a game time of 7:30 p.m., she arrived from the golf tournament at 7:25 and went 4 for 4 with three triples, three RBIs and four runs scored to help Eula clinch the district title in a 10-1 victory.
But Cauthen wasn’t finished quite yet.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 18.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 18.
With the end of the regular season, this will be our FINAL softball leaders posting for 2024.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 11.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
While we normally try to share the love in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column, five district titles in one week isn’t easy to sidestep.
And while Wall’s Briggs Jones has already pulled down our award once this year, he earned a second with his showing at the District 6-3A meet in Clyde last week by sweeping the long jump (23-2), the triple jump (44-10.75), the 200 meters (21.92), the 100 meters (10.72) and assisting the 800 relay team to gold with a 1:29.68 split.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 4.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 4.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through March 28.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through March 28.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
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 upon which championship foundations are built.
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 2023-24 season.
Players are listed in no particular order.
Enjoy.
Here is our 2024 All-Big Country Preps boys basketball Rising Stars team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here is our 2024 All-Big Country Preps girls basketball Rising Stars team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Doing a bit of everything is a specialty of Cisco senior guard Cole Thompson, who takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award after a pair of big nights in an 88-53 win over Hamlin and a 57-51 loss to Albany last week.
Thompson opened on Tuesday with 29 points, five assists, four steals and three boards in the Hamlin win. He followed that with a near triple-double that saw him tally 16 points, 10 boards, eight assists and two steals against Albany on Friday.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 25.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 25.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
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.
Welcome to Big Country Preps’ “True Grit” team — a collection of area players nominated by their head coaches and Big Country Preps staff, who exemplify the character traits football mentors want throughout their roster.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Jan. 11.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Jan. 11.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
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.