Seymour 38, Munday 20 — Brayden Loyd passed for 438 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 639-yard effort for the Panthers in a comfortable win over the Moguls.
Jaxon Carrington (17-101, 1 TD) and Colton McGough (5-67, 2 TDs) both had productive rushing games, while Brason Zeissel (6-133, 1 TD), McGough (4-103, 1 TD), Layton McAdams (5-89) and Avery Parrish (3-87) all had big days receiving the ball for Seymour, which improved to 3-6 overall and 2-3 in league action with the win.
Windthorst 55, Haskell 7 — Brock Belcher passed for 90 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 59 yards and an another score to lead the Trojans to a lopsided win over the Indians.
Windthorst (7-1, 4-0) ran for 231 yards as a team, getting productive days from Hunter Anderle (5-71, 1 TD), Tyler Camacho (12-61, 1 TD) and Karson Vieth (3-36, 2 TDs) as well.
LAST WEEK: 41-10 .803
SEASON TOTAL: 367-108, .772
Football season doesn’t feel complete without at least one visit to Chesley Field in Cisco. And Friday night, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week will stop by for a crucial District 4-2A DI matchup between the Loboes (5-2, 1-1) and Hawley (7-0, 2-0).
For Hawley, a win here will keep open the possibility of an unbeaten regular season. For Cisco, a victory would signal the beginning of a climb back into area prominence.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
With the Albany Lions winning last week’s district game with Winters by a score of 60-0, there were ample opportunities for the Lions to produce a Player of the Week-worthy performance.
They found one in senior Branson Beal, who rushed 11 times for 144 yards and five scores. He also caught a 46-yard TD pass to chart six touchdowns on the night.
“He might have the quickest feet of any (player) I have coached,” Albany coach Denney Faith said. “Combine that with great vision it makes him fun to watch.”
Haskell 37, Archer City 16 — Haegen Pinkerton passed for 192 yards and ran for 128 yards and four touchdowns to help the Indians rebound from last week’s loss to Munday with a dominant effort against the Wildcats.
Montrel Johnson also had a solid day on the ground, rushing for 66 yards and a TD, while Brian Weng was Haskell’s leading receiver with 93 yards on six catches. Behind those three, the Indians () scored 16-third quarter points to stretch a 13-8 halftime lead to 29-16 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Munday 20, Haskell 13 — The Moguls pushed out to a 20-7 halftime lead and held on from there for a hard-fought victory over the Indians.
Down 7-0 early, Munday (4-3, 1-2) used a pick-six to even the score in the second quarter before adding a passing TD and a rushing score to take its two-touchdown lead into the break.
LAST WEEK: 32-12, .809
SEASON TOTAL: 279-91, .757
Now it’s time to get down to business.
With most of the Big Country taking an open date last Friday as a prelude to district play, we now dive headfirst into the games that count the most.
District play opens tomorrow for most leagues in the area, the intensity of which is already tangible.
Can you feel it?
We’ll see you on the road.
Here’s this week’s area picks:
Seymour 24, Haskell 13 — Brayden Loyd passed for 201 yards and three touchdowns while adding 112 yards on the ground to lead the Panthers to a hard-fought win over the Indians.
Jaxon Carrington (19-108, 1 TD) also eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for Seymour (2-4, 1-1), which got big receiving days from Brason Zeissel (5-121, 2 TDs) and Layton McAdams (6-67, 1 TD).
Haskell 22, Petrolia 19 — Haegen Pinkerton ran for 146 yards and a touchdown and passed for 83 yards and two scores to lead the Indians to a thrilling win over the Pirates in the district opener for both teams.
Haskell (3-2, 1-0) trailed 13-12 at halftime before taking a 20-19 lead into the final quarter. There were no offensive points scored by either team in the last 12 minutes, but the Indians got a safety to account for the final margin.
Hamlin 39, Munday 0 — The Pied Pipers pulled away from the previously unbeaten Moguls early in a battle of two of the area’s most improved teams.
Hamlin led 27-0 by halftime, and Munday never threatened after in falling to 3-1 on the year.
LAST WEEK: 47-11, .810
SEASON TOTAL: 141-59, .705
After nosediving in Week 2 with one of the worst pick records I’ve ever had, the column rebounded in Week 3 with an .810 percentage to push my overall tally over .700 again.
As for this week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, Mr. Yale Youngblood will be on hand in Tolar to cover Comanche’s road game with the Rattlers in what should be a fun one.
I’ll be heading to Ballinger, where the Bearcats (3-0) will play host to Brady (2-1) in a battle of upstarts.
Let’s dive into this week’s picks:
Haskell 52, Abilene TLCA 0 — The Indians had no trouble with the Eagles, scoring early and often in a blowout win.
Haskell, which moved to 2-1 with the victory, built a 40-0 lead by halftime and was able to preserve the shutout from there.
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:
Sometimes, the biggest stage creates the biggest performances.
And in the Big Country, the stage doesn’t get any bigger than the annual Abilene – Abilene Cooper matchup — one of the biggest rivalries in the state of Texas and arguably the biggest in our area (though you may get an argument from Brownwood-Stephenville).
Friday night with much of the city of Abilene paying attention, AHS quarterback Brayden Henry had a memorable night, hitting 15 of 19 throws for 216 yards passing and two TDs.
Haskell 25, Quanah 19 — HHS picked up its first win of the season, scoring the only touchdown of the second half to rally from a 19-18 halftime deficit against Quanah.
Haegen Pinkerton had a big game for Haskell, passing for 118 yards and a touchdown while adding 153 yards and three more scores on the ground.
Munday 57, Abilene TLCA 6 — The Moguls snapped a 14-game losing streak dating back to Oct. 7 of 2022 with a win over the Eagles in their season opener.
Munday led 22-0 by the end of the first quarter and extended its lead to 41-0 by halftime.
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.
HASKELL — Entering his fourth season at the helm of Haskell’s football program, Mitch McLemore has a chat about the progress of his program, his past and the direction he sees the game taking in this brief preseason Q&A with Evan Ren.
Q: Coach, thanks for joining us, we appreciate your time. First off, before you got your first head coaching job at Junction, tell us about your time spent as an assistant with coach Wayne Hutchinson at Stamford and what that meant to you.
A: We were at Knox City before that and had a great five years there and then Stanford became available. We prayed about it and moved and had a great eight years there. But you know, God does what he got does and that was all part of that Junction move. I really wasn’t looking was happy anyway so here we are today many years later and he and I are still like brothers from another mother. To me he’s a great football coach and great man with a great family and our families are very close.”
HASKELL — Every now and then, hunger can overcome a lack of experience.
And in Haskell, where a youthful group of sophomores and juniors will lead the HHS football team in 2024, that is precisely what coach Mitch McLemore is counting on.
“We’re only going to have about five or six seniors,” said McLemore, who has guided the Indians to three straight playoff berths since his arrival at HHS. “But our strength will be that our kids want to play and they want to get better every week.
“We’ve got a group that has been (in the system) for three years, so a lot of stuff is already (understood) and we’ll just have to tweak a few things. So they’re hungry and they’re excited.”
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.
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 start in Class 2A Division II with the Haskell Indians. On Saturday we will take a look at the Albany Lions, followed by the Cross Plains Buffaloes on Sunday.
Continue reading “2024 COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Haskell Indians … 45 days to two-a-days”
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 — 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.
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.
CLYDE — The Haskell softball team scored early and often Tuesday, pounding out 18 hits in just four trips to the plate on their way to a 16-0 win over Coleman in a single-game Region I-2A playoff at the Hanner Sports Complex.
The Maidens got at least one hit from eight of their nine starters and had six players notch multi-hit games, while pitcher Paige Scheets was nothing short of dominant in a five-inning one-hitter.
The victory improved Haskell to 19-4 on the year and earned the Maidens a trip to the I-2A quarterfinals, where they’ll face off with the winner between Cisco and Miles next week.
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.
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: Stamford-Haskell softball (36 images)”
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.
HASKELL — With the District 7-2A/1A softball standings teetering on the brink of a rare, four-way tie for the top 2A seed, the Haskell Maidens had a chance to clarify things on Tuesday if they could knock off Stamford in the regular season finale for both clubs.
It didn’t happen.
Emma Follis tossed a five-hitter with 13 strikeouts and Jasmine Whitaker had a two-RBI single in the seventh inning to lift Stamford to a crucial 3-2 win on Haskell’s home field.
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.