Category: Hico Tigers

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Sweetwater plays host to Clyde in battle of unbeatens

LAST WEEK: 44-11, .800
SEASON TOTAL: 183-49, .788

Some weeks are just loaded with competitive area games and Week 5 of the 2023 season falls squarely into that category. 

This week’s menu features six or seven games that under normal circumstances, would qualify for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week. This forces us to push some great matchups aside to select our spotlight game. 

This week, we go with a battle of unbeatens — Class 3A Division I Clyde (4-0) at Class 4A Div. II Sweetwater (4-0) — at the famed Mustang Bowl at SHS. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cooper’s Bray takes this week’s top spot

When it comes to individual performances, there are big games and there are big games.

And then there’s what Cooper junior Daniel Bray did against San Angelo Central last week in leading the Cougars to their first win of the season.

The explosive tailback, who had been limited some in the first two weeks by a nagging ankle injury and the growing pains of a young offensive line, broke out in a historic way in that 53-45 victory over the Bobcats. By the time the game was over, he had rushed for a school-record 366 yards and seven touchdowns on just 21 carries, making a case for our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award that was too compelling to pass over — even in a week with a number of other monster performances.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS NOTEBOOK: Quick looks at Colorado City, Brownwood, Hico and Clyde

While their program is battling through a difficult rebuilding phase, the Colorado City Wolves and second-year coach Monty Leaf are learning to recognize key points along the way.

It hasn’t been easy. 

After pushing through last year’s 1-9 campaign, C-City opened at 0-2 with losses to good teams from Roscoe and New Home before breaking through with a 15-12 win at Christoval on Friday. And in many respects, it really was a breakthrough. 

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 10-2A DIV. II WEEK 3 REPORT: Hico routs Cross Plains to remain unbeaten

Hico 31, Cross Plains 7 — The Tigers (3-0) remained unbeaten behind a solid effort from Carson Keller, who rushed for 129 yards and one score and threw for 91.

Cross Plains fell to 1-2, hampered by three turnovers. The Buffaloes were led by Dusty Wyatt, who rushed for 101 yards and one score.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Snyder’s Stewart takes our first award of the school year

After a summer-long effort to produce our football preview, it is good to be back in our school year routine — a big part of which is our Big Country Preps Player of the Week. 

That said, we are proud to hand our first accolade for 2023-24 to Snyder senior quarterback Easton Stewart, who led the Tigers to a 42-0 season-opening win over Slaton last week. 

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by Evan Ren

BCP NOTEBOOK: This week’s entries — Comanche, Sweetwater, Santo, Hico

Comanche’s concession stand is currently without a roof after being hit by severe winds over the weekend. Friday’s home date with Bangs has been shifted to Dublin at 7:30 p.m. 

COMANCHE — Strong straight-line winds or a small tornado? 

Nothing is verified just yet, but one thing is for certain: Comanche High School has some work to do on both its concession stand and press box after being hit by high winds over the weekend.

The damage sustained was serious enough to force athletic director Jake Escobar to make contingency plans for home dates until further notice.

“The roof of the concession stand flew off about 100 yards,” Escobar said. “Part of the press box roof fell off and our ag building, which is a big tin building —its roof broke open and it was pretty bad.” 

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by Daniel Youngblood

HICO FEATURE: With growing pains behind them, Swearengin feels Tigers’ ‘time is now’

The 2022 season was a unique one for the Hico football team.

With just one senior in the program, the youthful Tigers were forced to tackle a challenging slate of opponents that were all more seasoned than they were. And, at times, that showed.

But around the Hico fieldhouse, the Tigers are optimistic that last year’s growing pains will pay off in a major way this year. And with 19 of 20 lettermen back, including all 11 starters on offense and 10 on defense, there’s strong support for that belief.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2023 HICO FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Experienced Tigers hoping to take sizeable step forward

In his first two years as Hico’s football coach, Todd Swearengin faced an uphill climb.

In 2021, he inherited the challenge of trying to install a new system and culture in a program that had won just six games combined over the previous three seasons. And last year, he had just one senior with which to tackle a tough new district schedule. 

After going 9-13 over those two campaigns and closing each in the playoffs, Swearengin will be blessed with his most talented and experienced team yet in 2023. And he’s hoping those factors — and another full year in his system — will be enough to fuel the Tigers to their first winning season since 2017.

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by Evan Ren

COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Hico Tigers … 34 days to two-a-days

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. 16. 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 July 31, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2023 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.

We continue in Class 2A Division II with the Hico Tigers. On Wednesday we will take a look at the Forsan Buffaloes, followed by the Anson Tigers on Thursday.

Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Hico Tigers … 34 days to two-a-days” →

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Jernigan takes our final award for 2022-23

Our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the 2022-23 school year could have gone any number of directions. 

We finally settled on Goldthwaite junior Lainey Jernigan, who swept both the girls 2A hurdles titles at the state meet last week. 

Jernigan won the 100 hurdles in 14.62 and the 300 hurdles in 44.12. And the good news for GHS fans is, she’s coming back to defend both crowns next year. 

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by Brandon McAuliffe

STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Stamford girls claim share of Class 2A team title

AUSTIN — After a slow start in the field events on Friday saw the Big Country net just four medals, things heated up in the evening session when the track events got rolling.

Big Country athletes picked up 10 medals under the lights at Mike A. Meyers Stadium at the University of Texas, giving the area 14 for the day.

On top of that, the Stamford girls team finished in a three-way tie with Refugio and Panhandle with 32 points to claim a share of the state championship. Goldthwaite’s girls finished three points back in fourth.

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by Daniel Youngblood

REGION II-2A TRACK RECAP: Albany, Cisco go 1-2 in boys race; Stamford shares girls title

SPRINGTOWN — Big Country athletes made a big showing at the Region II-2A track meet, collecting a combined 37 medals and clinching 28 state berths over the two-day event at Porcupine Stadium.

 Along the way, Albany and Cisco went 1-2 in the boys team race, while Stamford shared the girls team title with Era and Hamilton.

The Albany Lions had the highest point total of any program, boys or girls, collecting five medals on the way to 70 points, while the Cisco boys followed closely behind with 67 points. Stamford finished third in the boys team race with 64 points,  while the girls earned 56 points to finish in a three-way tie atop the team standings.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Lady Tigers rally to top Cisco in high-profile nondistrict matchup

CISCO — Two very likely playoff teams got a sneak preview of what postseason competition will be like in a nondistrict softball game on Tuesday. 

Trailing 6-3 after three innings, the Hico Lady Tigers rallied for a 9-6 win at Cisco in a battle of two clubs who are both chasing potential district championships — Hico in District 12-2A and Cisco in District 8-2A. 

Kiersten Fincannon was 4-for-4 with a double, a homer and six RBIs to lead Hico (14-8), which outscored Cisco 6-0 over the final four innings to get the win. Fincannon also went the distance in the circle, scattering eight Cisco hits and overcoming five errors committed behind her to get the win. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Fincannon fires perfecto and no-hitter to take this week’s award

You know you’re on a roll when you throw a no-hitter and it’s your second-best performance of the week. 

That was the case for Hico junior pitcher Kiersten Fincannon, not only threw a no-hitter in a 24-0 win over Meridian, but also tossed a perfect game in a 22-0 rout of Itasca. 

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by Evan Ren

CLASS 2A BI-DISTRICT REPORT: Cisco, Forsan, Hawley, Bangs, Coleman, Albany, Santo all advance to area round

REGION I-2A DIV. I 

Cisco 55, Reagan County 0 — The Loboes dominated Reagan County, rolling up 555 yards in total offense, of which 378 were on the round. 

Hunter Long and Trent Huston combined for 263 yards rushing and four touchdowns to lead Cisco (9-2), which led 42-0 at the break.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Boys Basketball Position Rankings: Posts

After highlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, we now take a look at the area’s best big men.

For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top 10 post players.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Boys Basketball Position Rankings: Guards

With boys basketball season beginning this week, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2022-23 season.

For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this winter.

We hope you enjoy reading through our list.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 10-2A DIV. II WEEK 11 REPORT: Dawson takes No. 2 seed, Meridian snaps losing streak, Mart finishes unbeaten

Wortham 48, Dawson 40 — In a battle for the District’s No. 2 seed, Wortham rallied from an early deficit to defeat Dawson. 

Tanner Bean scored on a 7-yard run with 16 seconds to play to lift Wortham, which will face the No. 2 seed from District 9 in the bi-district round.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Girls Basketball Position Rankings: Posts

After focusing on the top guards and forwards the Big Country has to offer the past two nights, it’s time to shift our attention to the paint.

For the final installment in our three-part position rankings series, we list our top-10 post players for the 2022-23 season.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through these rankings, and make sure to come back next week when we’ll feature the top boys basketball players in the Big Country.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Girls Basketball Position Rankings: Forwards

After kicking off our girls basketball position rankings series with the guards on Tuesday, we now turn our attention to the forwards.

For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top 10 players at that position with some others to watch for in 2022-23.

We hope you enjoy our list.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Big Country Preps Girls Basketball Position Rankings: Guards

With the girls basketball season upon us, it’s time to take a look at the local and area players who will be making the biggest impact for their teams during the 2022-23 season.

For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions, we’ll be focusing on the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this season.

As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 10-2A DIV. II WEEK 10 REPORT: Hico clinches playoff spot, Mart clinches district title

Hico 45, Meridian 13 — The Tigers rushed for 388 yards through seven different ball carriers in a lopsided win over Meridian. 

Price Mullin rushed for 144 of that with one touchdown and Carson Keller rushed for 93 yards and three scores to top the Tiger stat sheet. 

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 10-2A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Hico locks up playoff berth with win over Hubbard

Hico 56, Hubbard 12 — The Tigers pounded out 330 yards rushing with five different players scoring touchdowns.

Price Mullin rushed for 78 yards one one TD and Carson Keller rushed for 67 yards and two scores to lead Hico, which improved to 3-6 overall and 2-3 in league play. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 10-2A DIV. II WEEK 8 REPORT: Dawson tops Hico to join Wortham, Mart among league’s remaining unbeatens

Dawson 52, Hico 22 — The Bulldogs were too much for the Tigers, racing out to a 30-0 first-quarter lead and taking care of business from there to stay unbeaten at 7-0 overall and 3-0 in league play.

Freshman quarterback Brant Boatright had a big day for Dawson, hitting 14 of 16 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns, while Colby Springer rushed for 98 yards and a TD on just five carries to lead a 232-yard rushing effort. Isaac Johnson was the Bulldogs’ top receiver, hauling in eight passes for 90 yards and a score.

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