Category: Hico Tigers

by Daniel Youngblood

District 8-2A Div. II Week 6 Report: Albany routs Meridian to open league play

Albany 60, Meridian 0 — Leading 13-0 after a quarter, the eighth-ranked Lions exploded for 27 points in the second quarter to put the Yellowjackets away by halftime in the district opener for both squads.

Albany (4-1, 1-0) gained 380 of its 468 yards on the ground, rushing for six total touchdowns in the win. Jaheim Newton (10-133, 1 TDs) led all rushers, while Isaiah Dockins (10-94, 4 TDs) also had a big game.

Meridian, which fell to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in league play, finished the game with minus-49 total yards, rushing for negative-58 yards on 24 carries.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 8-2A Div. II Week 5 Report: Cross Plains dominates Miles

Cross Plains 41, Miles 12 — The Buffaloes put together one of their most complete performances of the year Friday, outgaining the Bulldogs 372-160 in a thorough victory.

Cason Allen rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown while Cody McWilliams added 163 yards and four scores to fuel Cross Plains, which led 21-0 by halftime.

The Buffs (4-1), who also got an efficient game from quarterback Justin Gresham (5-7-0—93, 1 TD), will have next week off before opening league play Oct. 9 at Hico.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Hawley tangles with upstart Dragons (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)

LAST WEEK: 36-12, .750
SEASON TOTAL: 152-47, .763

I have not been to Bangs for a Game of the Week since 2013 — the last time the Dragons posted more than six wins in a season and the last winning record they had prior to last year’s 6-5 mark.

That drought ends tomorrow, when I travel to BHS for an interesting showdown between the Dragons (3-0) and Class 2A Division I power Hawley (3-1).

Bangs has the better overall numbers, but Hawley has faced a slightly tougher overall schedule, making this pick a perplexing one.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 8-2A Div. II Week 4 Report: Albany bounces back to shut out Haskell

Albany 43, Haskell 0 — The Lions bounced back from last week’s loss to Hamlin with a strong showing Friday, racing out to a 29-0 halftime lead and cruising from there to a shutout win over their former district mates.

Albany outgained Haskell 467-6, getting 211 yards passing and two touchdowns from quarterback Barrett Beal and 147 yards and one TD rushing from Jaheim Newton.

The Lions, now 3-1, will look to build on this win next week when they travel to Anson to take on the 3-1 Tigers.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 4)

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.

For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday morning.

Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.

Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 4)” →

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Jim Ned heads to Cisco for interclass showdown

LAST WEEK: 42-9, .824
SEASON TOTAL: 116-35, .740

Week 4 arrives and I’m finally hitting my stride on pick accuracy.

It’s been an odd year thus far, both in terms of results and overall feel. It’s been tough to gauge.

Nonetheless, we’re hitting the road once again this Friday, with the Big Country Preps Game of the Week landing at Chesley Field in Cisco, where the Loboes (2-1) will play host to a Jim Ned club that is two divisions larger than they are.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 8-2A Div. II Week 3 Report: Santo rallies past Cumby to improve to 2-1

Santo 27, Cumby 12 — Playing the area’s only Thursday game, the Wildcats rallied for 21 fourth-quarter points to pull away from the Trojans in a neutral site matchup at Rio Vista.

Case Procter, who had a hand in each of Santo’s first three touchdowns, sparked the comeback, hitting Andrew Sanders from 32 yards out to give the Wildcats a 14-12 lead early in the fourth quarter before making it an eight-point game with his second rushing touchdown of the contest.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 3)

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.

For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday morning.

Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.

Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 3)” →

by Evan Ren

Big Country Volleyball Statistical Leaders (through Sept. 7)

Big Country Preps will publish area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m.

This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 8-2A Div. II Week 2 Report: Santo picks up first victory at Valley Mills

Santo 21, Valley Mills 7 — Quarterback Case Procter ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns and the SHS defense limited the Eagles to 130 yards of total offense Friday as the young Wildcats improved to 1-1 with a neutral site victory in Dublin.

 Santo built a 14-7 halftime lead and shut out Valley Mills over the final two quarters to preserve the win.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 2)

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.

For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday morning.

Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.

Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 2)” →

by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Pipers return to Hawley in rematch of classic (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)

LAST WEEK: 34-15, .694
SEASON TOTAL: 34-15, .694

If this were a horse race, Gramps Ren just stumbled out of the gate.

A .694 pick percentage is one of the worst weeks I’ve had in recent memory — brought on by a disastrous 15-9 tally (.625) in the six-man ranks.

That stinks.

Alas, we have yet to reach the first turn, so it’s way early. If I’m not hitting over .800 down the backstretch, I may resort to consulting with a palm reader.

Here’s a look at this week’s Big Country football games.

I’ll see you on the road.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Big Spring’s Baeza takes the top spot

It has been at least years since we’ve seen the type of offensive execution exhibited by the Big Spring Steers in Friday’s 36-14 win over Vernon. And Big Country Preps has never had a Big Spring player as its player of the week. 

Until now.

Junior quarterback Gabriel Baeza helped bring both of those streaks to a close, hitting 20 of 32 passes for 282 yards and four scores. In his spare time he also rushed nine times for 56 yards and two more touchdowns, giving him 338 total yards and a direct hand in six scores.

In doing so, he takes our first Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the 2020-21 school year. It was the first season-opening win for the Steers since a 58-56 win over Kerrville Tivy on Aug. 30, 2014.

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by Daniel Youngblood

District 8-2A Div. II Week 1 Report: Lions sharp in season-opening rout of C-City

Albany 47, Colorado City 0 — Barrett Beal passed for 164 yards and a touchdown, while Jaheim Newton rushed for 157 yards and three scores to fuel the Lions to a blowout win over the Wolves.

After outscoring C-City 12-0 in the first quarter, Albany took complete control in the second, scoring three more touchdowns to take a 34-0 lead into halftime.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 1)

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.

For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday morning.

Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.

Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 1)” →

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: A switch! Due to some disciplinary moves, we’re now heading to Jim Ned!

LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000

SEASON TOTAL: 0-0, .000

After picking a career-high 83 percent a year ago, I was feeling quite self-assured and self-important at the close of last football season.

Little did I realize that a year later, I’d be happy to just to have games to pick and not care about what the percentage is.

In short, the world has dealt me a serious dose of perspective.

We have football, ladies and gents. Let’s hope a sense of normality returns with it.

At any rate, let’s take quick look at this week’s area contests.

I’ll see you on the road.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Quarterbacks

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 10 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2020.

We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff a new season.

Continue reading “BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Quarterbacks” →

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Running Backs

As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top rushers.

After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends Monday, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2020. Don’t forget to check in Wednesday night when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.

We hope you enjoy tonight’s list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

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 pass-catchers.

After starting the offensive portion of our series Sunday with the big guys up front, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 10 wide receivers/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2019.

We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.         

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen

With the defensive and special teams rankings in the rear view, it’s time to look at the area’s offensive standouts. 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 big boys, ranking the Big Country’s top 10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2020.

We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Kickers/Punters

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 2020 season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Defensive Backs

After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the secondary 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 key on the defensive backs, giving our list of the area’s top-10 players and others to look out for in 2020.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Linebackers

After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen on Wednesday, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2020.

Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 10 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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Football Preseason Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen

With the start of football season less than two weeks away, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2020.

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 10 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.

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by Evan Ren

2020 DISTRICT PREDICTIONS: Evan and Daniel make their picks

Without further ado it is time for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.

This is the culmination of several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor, so we’re more than ready to post it. 

So 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. 
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by Evan Ren

Evan Ren’s top area games to travel to in 2020

Every year, for the past several years, I have looked ahead at the season schedule to create a menu of sorts — a menu for Big Country football connoisseurs to choose some Friday night pigskin in the area. 

History has proven that this isn’t an exact science, and the further out we go from Week 1, the more difficult this endeavor becomes. Nonetheless, I cannot resist a peek at my crystal ball — smudged as it may be.  

I must emphasize, that the entire list you’re about to read is subject to change. This is not a concrete list of Big Country Preps Games of the Week. It’s closer to an educated guess, contingent upon about 10,000 different variables. 

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by Evan Ren

FEATURE: Hico’s Cooper Roach expected to make huge impact following knee surgery

HICO — Through the final eight games of 2019, Hico running back-linebacker Cooper Roach was stuck on the sidelines with an injured knee, watching his shorthanded teammates struggle through what was left of an 0-10 season.

Lost for the season in Week 2 against area rival Hamilton, Roach had injured his MCL and meniscus, forcing him into surgery and months of arduous rehabilitation. 

His injury was doubly crippling for the Tigers, who not only lost one of their top offensive weapons, but one of their best tacklers as well — effectively costing them two key players instead of one. 

The 16-year-old was hoping to be a major contributor last year, but never got the opportunity. He now enters his third varsity season with hopes of making up for lost time and helping the Tigers to snag their first playoff spot since 2017.

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by Evan Ren

2020 HICO FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Tigers believe they can take a step forward

The 2019 campaign was a difficult one for the Hico Tigers, who labored through an 0-10 record short on overall numbers and short on experience.

However, there are multiple reasons to believe HHS can take a step forward this fall, not the least of which was realignment, which dropped the Tigers to District 8-2A DII for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Numerically things are looking up as well, as long as the Tigers are fortunate enough to avoid the medical tent. 

Coach Randy Thornton has 11 of 22 positions occupied by returning starters, with 12 lettermen back from his 2019 club. This includes some capable skill people in running backs Jaydon Qualls and Reese Polk (5-10, 155), along with receiver Angel Gonzales (5-8, 145). 

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