With the exception of Wall, every team in District 3-3A DI took Friday night off, enjoying their midseason bye before district play begins.
League play opens on Oct. 8 with a full slate of games.
Here’s a quick rundown of where each team is at this stage.
LAST WEEK: 45-6, .882
SEASON TOTAL: 208-52, .800
After a disastrous night of picking football games on Sept. 19 that saw his season percentage dip below .800, Gramps Ren has rebounded. Thank you, thank you.
Last Friday saw this column hit with more than 88 percent accuracy on games throughout the Big Country, pulling its season percentage to an even .800 as we hit the season’s midpoint.
This week I’ll be heading west — way West — to the very edge of our coverage area to get a first-hand look at the Big Spring Steers in their matchup with Littlefield in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Let’s dive in to this week’s picks, shall we?
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below a selected photo. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Clyde-Jim Ned volleyball (65 images)”
TUSCOLA — The Clyde volleyball team took sole possession of first place in the District 6-3A race on Tuesday, sweeping Jim Ned 25-13, 26-24, 25-19 at Bill Thornton Arena to improve to 3-0 in league play.
Entering the night tied with the Lady Indians atop the district standings, the Lady Bulldogs (23-11 overall) overcame a strong start by Jim Ned to pull away in Game 1 and rallied from game point in Game 2 to set up the sweep.
It was a key road victory for CHS, which now holds a one-match lead on both Jim Ned (14-10, 2-1) and Wall (25-10, 2-1) with matches against Brady and San Angelo TLCA to wrap up the first half of league play.
Continue reading “GAME STORY: Clyde volleyball sweeps Jim Ned to gain edge in District 6-3A race”
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below a selected photo. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Jim Ned-Snyder football (70 images)”
Early 49, San Angelo Grape Creek 0 — Jaxyn Price threw for 222 yards and four TDs to keep Early (5-0) unbeaten at the season’s midpoint.
Tre Beam rushed for 115 yards and a score and Cale Ozuna added a pair of rushing touchdowns to lead the Longhorns, who will face Jim Ned (5-0) in a District 3-3A DI showdown on Oct. 8.
SNYDER — By night’s end Jim Ned’s 22-15 win at Snyder had become the game that both teams needed.
Defending Class 3A DI state champion Jim Ned needed another team besides Cisco to match them physically and push them into the fourth quarter. Upstart Snyder, after four straight routs over decidedly weaker teams, needed to solidify the fact that it is indeed, a good football team.
Both got their wish at Tiger Stadium on Friday when the Indians rallied from a 15-7 second half deficit to hand Snyder its first loss of the year. Xavier Wishert rushed for 200 yards and touchdown and Sergio Hernandez added a back-breaking pick-six in the fourth quarter to lead Jim Ned (5-0), which now heads into its bye week to prep for district play.
LAST WEEK: 36-16, .692
OVERALL: 163-46, .779
After four straight weeks of picking 80 percent or better, the USS Ren ran aground last Friday, bottoming out with a season-low .692 percentage and dropping my season tally to .779.
I generally like to be above 80 percent by midseason, so last Friday served as a wakeup call. Actually, it was more of a gut punch. But I’ll get over it.
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will see me traveling to Snyder, where the unbeaten Class 4A Tigers will play host to 3A DI state champion Jim Ned in what should be an absolutely electric atmosphere.
You all set? Let’s dive in to this week’s picks.
Big Country Preps is publishing 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.
We will continually update the database throughout the regular season.
When you combine our two key factors in selecting our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week — quality of numbers and level of difficulty — nobody outperformed Stephenville quarterback Ryder Lambert last week in SHS’ 37-7 rout of Class 5A Abilene Wylie.
Lambert connected on 22 of 28 throws for 458 yards and five scores to help push the Yellow Jackets to 4-0.
Just four weeks in and the ‘Jackets are looking like they could win Texas’ most difficult 4A district (5-4A DI), despite having road dates with Waco La Vega and Midlothian Heritage.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below a selected photo. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cisco-Jim Ned football (57 images)”
TUSCOLA — Xavier Wishert ran for 175 yards and two scores while Tate Yardley added a pair of touchdowns as Class 3A Division I’s top-ranked Jim Ned held off a rally from 2A Division I’s No. 5 Cisco 28-14 on Friday night at Indian Stadium.
It wasn’t just Wishert’s legs that made a difference on Friday night and he was quick to credit a few of his teammates.
Yardley, Braden Lewis and Blaine Palmer have been inseparable no matter the season — spring, summer, fall or winter. The trio is always putting in work whether on the football field or as members of Jim Ned’s powerful baseball team as the primary members of its starting rotation.
The camaraderie that those three have built playing catch was something Wishert said makes his job easier and coach Matt Fanning said makes the Indians offense that much harder to stop.
LAST WEEK: 36-16, .692
OVERALL: 163-46, .779
After four straight weeks of picking 80 percent or better, the USS Ren ran aground last Friday, bottoming out with a season-low .692 percentage and dropping my season tally to .779.
Big Country Preps is publishing 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.
We will continually update the database throughout the regular season.
Cisco 28, Breckenridge 27 — The Loboes (3-0) needed overtime to put away Breckenridge in a thriller at Chesley Field.
Hunter Long scored on an 8-yard TD run in OT and followed it with a two-point conversion run to put the Loboes over the top.
Breckenridge played a turnover-free game while picking off two Cisco passes to nearly pull off one of the biggest upsets of the young season.
LAST WEEK: 42-9, .823
SEASON TOTAL: 85-21, .801
I was very much looking forward to our Big Country Preps Game of the Week – Coleman (2-0) at Brady (2-0). Unfortunately, COVID intervened by midweek, forcing a cancellation of the contest.
On a positive note, there are several other quality games throughout the area for us to focus on, and (taking a bow) the column is already hitting over 80 percent on picks and we’re only in Week 3.
Numbers of that sort are generally reserved for Weeks 7-10, so I’m feeling pressure to keep the early momentum going.
In the absence of our Game of the Week, I’ll be heading to Cross Plains on Friday, where Haskell will be paying a visit to the Buffaloes (COVID allowing, of course).
Let’s dive in to this week’s picks:
Early 33, Tolar 16 — Tre Beam rushed for 158 yards and two scores and Jaxyn Price threw for 187 yards and two more touchdowns to keep Early (2-0) unbeaten.
Price hit five different receivers on the night, but Jeremy Brown was hit favorite target, hitting six times for 61 yards and a score.
Prior to the season, we listed Dublin’s Chris Teten among our Top 10 area quarterbacks to watch in 2021. And he wasted no time in demonstrating why.
Only a junior, Teten threw for 310 yards and five scores in a 43-14 win over area rival De Leon to capture our first Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the 2020-21 school year.
Hitting 16 of 26 throws, Teten threw a 69-yard TD pass on the first play from scrimmage, setting the tone for the rest of the evening. With the game in hand, he played a little more than a half before being taken out.
Breckenridge 49, Jacksboro 28 — Jerry Lawson rushed for 59 yards and two scores and Chase Lehr rushed for 28 yards and another touchdown to lead Breckenridge to a big win as an underdog.
Leading 27-20 at the break, the Buckaroos broke the game open with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns.
At last, here we are.
The 2021 football season has arrived, giving us a much-needed diversion every Friday night, in isolated spots all over Central Texas. As always, I will endeavor to pick the winner of all our area games, from Class 1A through Class 6A, with the top matchup serving as our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Our first spotlight game should come as no surprise, with long-time Hamlin coach Russell Lucas debuting as the head coach of the Sweetwater Mustangs — one of the most -storied programs in the Big Country.
Their opposition?
The Stephenville Yellow Jackets at Tarleton State’s Memorial Stadium.
With that, let’s dive into the picks, shall we?
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 2021.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff a new season.
As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.
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 2021. 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.
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 linemen, 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 2021.
We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s top offensive players. 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 trenches, ranking the Big Country’s top 10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2021.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
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 2021 season.
After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield 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 shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top-10 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2021.
We hope you enjoy our list.
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 2021.
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.
With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2021.
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.
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.
Every year, one of the things I look forward to most, is mapping out the upcoming football season — charting the games I believe will have the greatest impact.
First and foremost, it’s a preseason menu for area fans who enjoy driving to some of the Big Country’s best football games on a weekly basis. Call it a football roadmap of sorts.