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The Albany basketball teams pulled off a clean sweep of Hawley on Tuesday night in District 10-2A action at Lion Gymnasium as the girls squad won 37-27 before the Lions claimed a 60-42 win in the nightcap.
It marked the 16th win in a row for the Albany boys, who entered the state rankings at No. 25 this week, while the Lady Lions took advantage of other upsets in the district to move into a tie for fourth place and find themselves squarely in the hunt for a playoff berth.
Both teams will face Stamford in their next action with the Bearcats and Bulldogs set for a Friday matchup (weather permitting) before Albany heads to Stamford on Tuesday.
Ysée Le Borgne may feel like a fish out of water living in Ballinger, Texas. After all, the 16-year-old foreign exchange student and native of Lille, France is more than 5,000 miles and (needless to say), a major cultural shift away from her hometown.
On the basketball court, however, the 6-foot sophomore guard is right at home — so much so that she earned our Big Country Preps Player of Week for the week ending Jan. 17 with a rare quadruple double.
Le Borgne, who opened the week with a 24-point, 14-rebound double-double in a loss to Colorado City, showed the potential for a “quad” that night with seven steals, six pass deflections and four blocks.
Three days later it happened in a 43-32 win over Coleman that saw Le Borne finish with 23 points, 12 boards, 10 steals and 10 pass deflections.
District races are heating up throughout the Big Country and the cream is quickly rising to the top in our area leagues.
Last week and helped provide some clarity in a number of district’s throughout the BCP coverage area, and this week will, no doubt, do the same.
Without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive into this week’s column and take a look at the biggest games on this week’s slate and some of the top results last week had to offer.
ANSON — Tuesday night featured a pair of thrilling finishes at Tiger Gymnasium as the Hawley girls claimed a 50-47 win in overtime while the Anson boys held on for a 47-46 win in District 10-2A play.
It wasn’t just the scores that were nearly identical as both games featured a frenetic end to regulation.
The girls game featured a Hawley turnover in the offensive end with 7.69 seconds to play before Anson was called for a travel with four seconds left on the clock. The Hawley boys missed a layup with 11 seconds to play before the Tigers were called for an over-and-back violation with four seconds left.
With district play either underway or starting this week for all area boys basketball teams, it’s time to start taking a closer look at how our Big Country hoops races are shaping up.
And as we’ve done in the past, we’ll break down our top upcoming matchups, the top results from the previous week and the area’s biggest surprise right here each Sunday, starting with this column.
We hope you enjoy a look at this week in area boys basketball.
In helping the Jayton Jaybirds to a second-straight state title last week, senior running back Bode Ham not only produced the top game in our coverage area, but his performance will likely remain part of six-man lore forever.
With Jayton topping Richland Springs 99-54, Ham’s numbers were nothing short of shocking, with 430 yards rushing and a state championship record 10 TDs on 28 carries.
For good measure, he was 3 of 4 through the air for 118 yards and an additional three scores, giving him 548 total yards and a direct hand in a state championship-record 13 touchdowns at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
You have to love a great all-around performance and in the case of Brayden Henry, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, his effort in last week’s 84-25 bi-district win over El Paso Bel Air was a record-setter.
Aside from going 6 of 7 through the air or 56 yards and one TD, he also rushed five times for 137 yards and three more scores.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Forsan bi-district football (74 images)” →
SWEETWATER — Hawley junior running back Brycen Stofel has had a quiet 2025 season for the most part, but when the Hawley football team needed him to step up, he did so in a big way.
Stofel ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries Thursday as Hawley claimed a 42-14 win over Forsan in a Region I-2A Division I bi-district matchup at the Mustang Bowl.
It was an effort Hawley coach Mitch Ables said he told Stofel that he hoped to see more of.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stamford-Hawley football (65 images)” →
Cisco 56, Olney 24 — Colby MciLroy threw for 143 yards and two TDs and Cody Gayle rushed for 96 yards and another score to help Cisco (9-1, 5-0) to a lopsided win over Olney.
Colbin Harrison was McilRoy’s top target, hauling in two catches for 89 yards and two scores.
Cisco improved to 9-1 with its ninth straight win over Clyde in Week 1.
Olney fell to 3-7 and 1-4.
HAWLEY — The final play of Friday night’s showdown between Stamford and Hawley in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week couldn’t have been written into any script — Hollywood or otherwise.
It sure wasn’t in the playbook for either head coach.
Stamford forced a Hawley punt with nine seconds left and nearly pulled off a miracle, when — after numerous laterals on the punt return — C’nai Whitfield was finally pushed out of bounds at the HHS 25 to allow the Bearcats to hold on for a 36-28 win in the District 4-2A Division I finale at Forrest Field.
It’s been a good while since a Goldthwaite Eagle snagged our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in any sport. But sophomore Owen Campbell obliterated that streak with a fabulous effort in a 61-0 rout of Meridian on Friday.
His performance came on both sides of the ball, beginning with 12 carries for 144 yards and four touchdowns from his running back position.
Defensively Campbell charted eleven tackles, including seven solos, four assists and an interception from the GHS secondary.
“Owen had a tremendous game on Friday where he contributed to our win,” coach Andy Howard said. “He made a huge impact in all three phases of the game. He plays a huge role for us every week on defense, offense and on special teams.
“He continues to grow and improve as a player every week. I am proud of Owen but proud of everyone around him as well.”
Cisco 35, Anson 14 — Colby McIlroy rushed for 169 yards and one score and threw for 95 yards and another TD to lift Cisco to a district-clinching win over Anson.
Leading 21-14 at the break, the Loboes iced the game with a pair of unanswered touchdowns in the second half.
The Loboes improved to 8-1 and 4-0 with the win; Anson fell to 6-3 and 1-3.
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?
Anson 54, Olney 15 —
The Tigers snapped a two-game losing streak with a lopsided win at home over the Cubs.
Hunter Teichelman threw for 334 yards and five scores and added one rushing touchdown to pace Anson (6-2, 1-2) which put itself in an excellent position to earn a playoff spot with the win.
Alex Lozano (four catches, 136 yards, two TDs) and Malachi St. John (seven catches, 114 yards, two TDs) were Teichelman’s targets of choice.
ABILENE — While a venue change and an extended lightning delay forced the Cisco Loboes and Hawley Bearcats to make adjustments on their adjustments Friday at Wylie’s Hugh Sandifer Stadium, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week between the two squads lived up to the pregame hype surrounding the key District 4-2A Division I matchup.
After watching Hawley score 20 unanswered points to turn a 14-6 second-quarter deficit into a two-score lead heading into the fourth quarter, Cisco rallied with two touchdowns in the final period to claim a 29-26 win and take sole possession of the district lead in the process.
The victory, which improved CHS’ season record to 7-1, pushed the Loboes’ to 3-0 in league play — a game ahead of Hawley (5-3, 2-1) and Stamford (5-3, 2-1) with wins over both in their pocket.
Forsan senior Hayden Bowlin had a career night last Friday and picked up our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in the process.
To begin with, the FHS QB rushed for 280 yards and five scores in last week’s 60-27 win over Colorado City. Aside from that, he threw for 59 yards, he returned a punt 75 yards for a sixth TD and had a 34-yard kickoff return to give him 389 all-purpose yards and 36 of FHS’ points.
Stamford 28, Anson 21 — Stamford entered this game as an underdog in the view of many, but left as the victor after forcing four Anson turnovers.
Limited to only 185 yards in total offense for the night, the Bulldogs (4-3, 1-1) still managed to build a 28-6 first-half lead before hanging on for the win.
Despite piling up 371 yards in total offense and outgaining Stamford by nearly 200 yards, Anson (5-2, 0-2) dropped its second straight game after a 5-0 start.
Slowly but surely, the Cooper Cougars have emerged as one of the most explosive teams in the Big Country. And in its latest exploit, CHS rolled up 517 yards in total offense in a 66-16 win over Lubbock Cooper.
At the top of the stat sheet: Cooper quarterback Jaden Carrillo, who hit 18 of 27 throws for 263 yards and six touchdowns. He also rushed 11 times for 80 yards and another score to help the Cougars improve to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in District 2-5A DII.
His six TD passes tied a school record held by Zac Allen and Clayton Nicholas.
With Hamlin extending its winning streak to five, I can hear its detractors (and with some validity) saying that the Pipers have yet to be tested by an upper tier 2A DII team.
Hamlin fell to Division I Anson in an injury-plagued opener, but hasn’t faced a team currently over .500 since.
OK, that’s fine.
But there’s one thing to keep an eye on: Hamlin is doing what a good team would do as a heavy favorite — it’s winning comfortably.
In fact, with the exception of a 19-14 win over Crosbyton, the Pipers have outperformed computer projections on a weekly basis. In other words, this club is better than most believed it would be and without question, it’s better than last year.
Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS NOTEBOOK: Hamlin, Brownwood, Glen Rose and Hawley all on tap tonight” →
Hawley 32, Anson 26 — Aiden Romo threw for 214 yards and four scores to lead Hawley (4-2, 1-0) to a huge win over previously unbeaten Anson in the district opener for both clubs.
Hunter Teichelman led Anson (5-1, 0-1) with 314 yards passing and two scores.
Anson will face Stamford (3-3, 0-1) in a crucial matchup next Friday; Hawley will travel to Olney on the same evening.
The season’s midpoint usually offers little in the way of big-time performances, with most of the area teams taking a bye week prior to the opening of district play.
This year was an exception.
Haskell junior quarterback Haegan Pinkerton delivered an astonishing effort in last week’s 56-42 win over Seymour, that could have taken our weekly accolade at any given point in the season.
Olney 33, Crosbyton 0 — The Cubs (2-3) were the lone districts member to hit the field on Friday and came away with a win over struggling Crosbyton.
Tucker Cortinez threw for 343 yards and four scores to lead the Cubs.
The victory was the second in succession for Olney, which travels to Abilene TLCA next Friday.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Albany volleyball (55 images)” →
ALBANY — Even after losing in straight sets, Albany volleyball coach MJ Reneau was encouraged by how her team performed against No. 7 Hawley at home on Tuesday night.
Hawley claimed a 25-17, 25-23, 25-19 win in the District 6-2A matchup to move to 2-0 in district play while the Lady Lions fell to 1-1.
After the match, Reneau said the final score didn’t indicate how close the two squads are, especially the opening set, which saw Hawley go on a 12-3 run.
As it turned out, the best game in the Big Country last week was Clyde’s dramatic 54-49 win over Muleshoe in the top shootout the area has seen thus far in 2025.
At the heart of all that mayhem was our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, CHS junior quarterback Devan Wright.
Cisco 65, Frenship Memorial 13 — The Loboes rolled up 500 yards in total offense including 321 on the ground in a lopsided win over Memorial.
Noah Hernandez rushed for 108 yards and one score on four carries and Colby Mcilroy threw for 179 yards and three scores to led Cisco (4-1), which charted its fourth straight win.
Memorial dropped to 3-2.

DE LEON — Both schools have Bearcat mascots. Both wear maroon and both entered Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week with 2-1 records.
The similarities, however, ended there.
De Leon dominated their guests from Hawley in a 52-34 win that saw DHS substitute liberally after building a 44-14 lead through three quarters.
LAST WEEK: 54-17, .760
SEASON TOTAL: 161-46, .777
Not all weeks are created equal in high school football, and this week is a good example of it.
There are at least 5-10 games that could easily fit as our Big Country Preps Game of the Week. But at the end of the day, you have to submit your choices and move on.
Our top choice: Hawley (2-1) taking on De Leon (2-1) in a matchup between two clubs that are capable of deep playoff runs.
Since losing their season opener to Peaster (34-0), the Tolar Rattlers (2-1) have not only managed to improve, but they’re rapidly gaining momentum to go with that progress.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Briton Rice, is a part of that, having thrown for 197 yards and four scores in last week’s 42-18 win over Millsap. This, after missing a week with an injury.
Hawley 51, Merkel 34 — This was projected to be a shootout and those in attendance were treated to exactly that.
Jesse Nieto threw for 249 yards and five TDs to lift Hawley (2-1), which held off the Badgers after building a 37-13 third-quarter lead. Brycen
Stofel was another key contributor for Hawley with 170 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week is seldom an easy choice and this week was no exception. But Big Spring senior quarterback Marcus Rios had the numbers to snag the top spot in a brilliant performance against Lubbock High on Friday.
Rios hit 11 of 19 throws for 261 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-27 win. But that’s just the beginning.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Albany football (36 images)” →
Stamford 33, De Leon 20 — Trailing 20-14 at the end of three quarters, Stamford rallied with 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat the Bearcats.
Mason Mueller threw for 213 yards and two scores and Brayden Jimenez rushed for 121 yards and another TD to lead the Bulldogs (1-1).
Heston Jobe led De Leon (1-1) with 140 yards passing; Lane Couch rushed for 118 and two scores.
ALBANY — If it’s raining in the Big Country during football season, two things are a virtual guarantee: the West Texas Fair & Rodeo is in Abilene and Albany is scheduled to play Hawley.
For the first time in four meetings, the Lions and Bearcats were able to play at their scheduled location as Albany took a 21-7 win on Friday night at Faith Field at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium. The previous three seasons had seen the game played twice at Hardin-Simmons University’s Shelton Stadium and once at Wylie’s Hugh Sandifer Stadium.
The latest matchup was a defensive slugfest that saw the Lions knock off Hawley for the second time in three years despite the fact that the Bearcats have dominated the series since 2018.
Photo provided by Randy Day
Milestones catch our eye when selecting our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, as do great weekly performances. But when both occur at the same time, you can rest assured that player will be in the running for the top spot.
This week the spotlight goes to Comanche senior outside hitter J’Lee Salinas, who not only helped the Maidens to the Heart of Texas Tournament Championship in Brownwood, but she also hit the 500-kill milestone in process.
Anson 49, Hamlin 6 — The Tigers rolled up 431 yards in total offense, including 377 yards through the air to hand Hamlin a lopsided loss.
Grayson Feagan was the top gun for Anson, throwing for 349 yards and five scores. Alexander Lozano and Malachi St. John were his top targets. Lozano finished with three catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns while St. John had nine catches for 99 yards and two more scores.
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: Hawley-Winters football scrimmage (56 images)” →
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.
HAWLEY — Hawley junior Camden Ables has always been a bit ahead of the learning curve since he arrived on campus as a freshman two years ago. He was older than most people in his class, he was the son of a coach (Hawley’s Mitch Ables) and he had the physical tools of an upper classman before playing his first snap.
Not surprisingly, he started as a freshman and earned All-Big Country Preps honorable mention honors in the process. He was a first-team All-Big Country Preps tight end as a sophomore and was named to our Rising Stars team (area’s top underclassmen) as well.
With all that behind him, Camden still has two years of eligibility left as a 17-year-old junior and the proverbial sky, seems to be the limit. Numerous Division I schools have already got him on their radar screen and there is no telling where it will eventually lead.
He’s grown an inch, gained 15 pounds of muscle and now at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, he’s running a 4.7 in the 40-yard dash.
HAWLEY — Hawley coach Mitch Ables is unaccustomed to taking a step back.
Having posted a 118-27 record in his 11 years at HHS, including seven straight seasons with 10 wins or more and a state title in 2022, Ables’ teams have had a knack for reloading.
This season, however, could produce a set of challenges that Hawley hasn’t seen in quite some time. Aside from losing half of their starters to graduation, the Bearcats must find a new quarterback and replace several players who earned All-Big Country Preps honors a year ago.
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. 20. 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. 4, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2025 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
Today, we take a look at the Hawley Bearcats.
OTHER 2025 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Saturday and Sunday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2025. 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 Big Country had to offer during the 2025 season.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
Here are our first-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.