As we arrive in mid-January, this year’s playoff picture is beginning to take shape with multiple games throughout the area have a direct impact on seeding.
Tonight we take a look at some of those matchups, along with the top results from last week and the area’s biggest surprise.
There are memorable shooting nights. Then there are shooting nights one is unlikely to ever forget.
Wylie senior guard Swade Sipe had one of the latter on Friday night, with a 33-point effort in a 74-62 win over Brock.
During the course of this performance, Sipe was 11 of 11 from the field, 6 of 6 from 3-point range, 5 of 5 from two-point range and 5 of 6 from the foul line.
This explosive, nearly perfect effort against a very good 4A Brock team earns Sipe our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award, during a week when several players posted numbers good enough to claim the accolade.
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.
With the arrival of the new year, Big Country Preps will again take a look at the area boys and girls basketball scenes each Sunday night until the end of the regular season.
Top games, top results and the week’s biggest surprise will be on the menu.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
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: Sweetwater-Jim Ned basketball doubleheader (39 images)”
TUSCOLA — While the two games took on a different character, both ends of Tuesday’s varsity doubleheader between Jim Ned and Sweetwater had one thing in common: both were frustrating for SHS.
In Game 1, the Jim Ned girls used a 14-0 start and a 38-point night by Lily Bryant to hand Sweetwater a 56-39 loss at Bill Thornton Arena. The nightcap saw the Indians down Sweetwater 49-47 in a physical, slow-tempo duel in which Jim Ned executed just well enough down the stretch to keep the Mustangs at bay.
EULA — The Jim Ned boys basketball team fell just short of the Eula Holiday Classic championship on Wednesday, dropping a hard-fought game to a familiar foil in the event’s title game at Mary Mosley Gymnasium.
The Indians got off to a fast start against region rival Holliday, building an early 17-9 lead, but they couldn’t maintain that momentum in a 42-36 loss to the Eagles.
That matchup capped a strong boys tournament for area teams, as Graford placed third with a 64-33 win over Christoval and Clyde took fifth with a 45-36 win over Andrews. Other noteworthy results involving area squads included a 36-34 loss by Tolar to Bells in the seventh-place game and 69-64 loss by Eula to New Deal in the consolation third-place game.
EULA — Before last year, Eula coach Josh Fostel had never won a Eula Holiday Classic championship in the tournament’s long and illustrious history. On Wednesday, he and his Lady Pirates won their second straight.
After racing out to a double-digit lead in the first half of Wednesday’s championship game, EHS saw Jim Ned rally to take its first lead of the contest on a Lily Bryant 3-pointer with just over 17 seconds remaining. But Reagan Barr answered with a clutch 3 of her own with five seconds to play to lift the Lady Pirates to a thrilling 49-47 win at Mary Mosley Gymnasium.
That action-packed title game capped a strong overall tournament for area squads, as Tolar topped Hermleigh 54-46 to take the third-place game and Clyde defeated Spur 53-44 to win the consolation title. Hico also finished sixth in the 16-team girls field, falling to Nazareth 44-27 in the fifth-place game after knocking off Holliday 50-40 in its third-round game on Tuesday.
EULA — The Jim Ned boys basketball team outlasted Christoval in the semifinals of the Eula Holiday Classic on Tuesday to earn a spot in Wednesday’s championship game against regional nemesis Holliday, which routed Graford in Tuesday’s other semifinal to set up the title game between the two Region I-3A contenders.
Trailing 32-31 with less than five minutes to play, the Indians closed the game on a 7-0 run to defeat the Cougars in their semifinal matchup. The Eagles, meanwhile, cruised past the Jackrabbits, outscoring GHS 31-7 in the second half on their way to a 57-26 victory.
With those victories, Jim Ned and Holliday advance to play for the tournament championship at 4 p.m. at Mary Mosley Gymnasium, while Graford and Chrisoval will play for third place at 1:20 p.m. at the same site.
EULA — The Eula and Jim Ned girls basketball teams played their way into the championship game of the Eula Holiday Classic on Tuesday, scoring semifinal wins over Tolar and Hermleigh, respectively, to set up a clash of Big Country powers for the tournament title on Wednesday.
The Lady Pirates rallied from a 12-9 first-quarter deficit to pull away for a 37-27 win over the Lady Rattlers, while the Lady Indians pulled off the comeback of the tournament, digging out of a 30-11 second-quarter hole to slip past the Lady Cardinals 51-50 in a thriller.
Eula and Jim Ned will tip off at 2:40 p.m. at the Mary Mosley Gymnasium for the championship following a noon third-place game between Tolar and Hermleigh. At Eula Middle School, meanwhile, Clyde will play Spur for the tournament’s consolation title after defeating New Deal 55-47 in the consolation semifinals.
EULA — The Graford boys basketball team encountered little resistance on the opening day of the Eula Holiday Classic, following a 97-18 win over Abilene TLCA in its tournament opener with a 68-37 quarterfinals win over Tolar to become the first area team to earn a spot in the event’s semifinals.
Clyde almost joined the Jackrabbits, after earning a 58-53 win over Eula in the first round. But the Bulldogs were edged 59-56 in overtime by Holliday in the quarterfinals, leaving Graford to play the Eagles in the semifinals on Tuesday for a spot in Wednesday’s championship game.
Jim Ned, which defeated Muenster 47-37 in its opener, is the only other area team remaining with a chance at the tournament title. The Indians will play Bells in the quarterfinals at 9:20 a.m. Tuesday, while Christoval and Andrews will face off in the final quarterfinals matchup at 10:40 a.m.
Coming off a breakout junior season that ended prematurely due to a torn ACL late in district play, Wylie running back Julius wasn’t having the type of senior season he had hoped to going into Friday’s Senior Night game against Plainview.
Running behind a young and often banged-up offensive line, Laine entered that matchup with 668 yards on 135 carries on the year, including a combined 139 yards on the ground in three consecutive losses leading up to the Plainview game.
On Friday, though, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound bruiser finally broke loose and found some open field — a lot of open field — in closing out his high school career with a memorable night worthy of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week honor. By the game’s end, Laine had run for a career-high 300 yards and five touchdowns, including scoring runs of 35, 39 and 49 yards, to lead the Bulldogs to a wild 70-52 victory.
Comanche 43, Clyde 42 — The Indians pulled off a stunning upset on Friday to finish at 5-5 overall and 2-3 in district play — narrowly missing the playoffs.
Comanche grabbed an early 21-7 lead, then fought off a huge Clyde rally to put an exclamation point on their season.
Jim Ned 41, Clyde 34 — Cash Gwinn threw for 157 yards and two TDs and rushed for an additional 40 yards and a third score to lift Jim Ned to an important win over Clyde.
Trailing 34-28 at the break, the Indians (8-1, 4-0) rallied with two unanswered scores in the second half to get the win.
Devan Wright led Clyde with 172 yards rushing; Miles Wilsher rushed for 72 yards and four TDs.
Jim Ned improved to 8-1 and 4-0 with the win and can clinch the district title with a win over Sweetwater next Friday. Clyde fell to 7-2 and 3-1.
Breckenridge 26, Comanche 22 — Breckenridge used a solid defensive effort to get past Comanche in a vitally important game for both clubs.
Limiting Comanche to 239 yards, the Buckaroos snagged sole possession of fourth place and the potential No. 4 playoff seed with two games left.
Breckenridge improved to 3-5 and 1-2 in league play; Comanche fell to 3-5 and 0-3.
It’s mid-October, the weather is cooling, we have a pretty good idea of what our top football teams are and as tradition would have it, now is the time when we start talking about everyone’s postseason chances.
Having covered the Big Country since 2006, I’ve been through seasons when we’ve sent five or more teams to state championship games. And in general, we almost always send at least two, so championship chat around the water cooler isn’t unrealistic at this point.
That said, it’s time to take a quick peek at those teams that I believe have the best chance of playing for a state title in December at AT&T Stadium.
We’ll break it down into three categories: Favorites (those I expect to see in Arlington), contenders (those who might get there) and longshots (those who can get there if things line up just right).
Jim Ned 49, Breckenridge 7 — Cash Gwinn threw for 186 yards and three scores and Aiden Ellis rushed for 127 yards and another TD as Jim Ned earned its fourth straight win.
The Indians quickly built a 42-7 first-half lead before coasting to the finish.
Breckenridge fell to 2-5 and 0-2.
Jim Ned 56, Comanche 3 — Cash Gwinn threw for 283 yards and three scores and Aiden Ellis rushed for 90 yards and two more TDs as Jim Ned (5-1, 1-0) won the district opener for both schools.
After building a 35-3 halftime lead, Jim Ned ended any hopes of a Comanche miracle with a 21-0 third quarter.
Comanche (3-3, 0-1) was led by Cooper Welch, who threw for 120 yards.
San Angelo Grape Creek 49, San Angelo TLCA 12 — TLCA was the lone district team to see action on Friday, falling to its archrival Grape Creek in league play.
TLCA fell to 0-5 with the loss and will open district play at home against Sweetwater next Friday.
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.
A year ago, the Ruston, La., Bearcats brought 11 DI players to the Lone Star State and beat three quality programs in Longview (21-10), Midland Legacy (38-6) and Stephenville (63-17). Yet they finished 11-3 with three losses to Louisiana teams and failed to win their state title.
What does that say about the quality of Louisiana football?
Regardless, the Bearcats are again dipping their paws into Texas’ talent pool this year, with two more wins over Longview (38-35) and Legacy (49-21). Stephenville is up next in a neutral site game in Longview this Friday and Ruston (4-0) is again loaded, with at least six DI players, including 6-foot-6, 235-pound blue chip tight end Deejay Drain.
Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS NOTEBOOK: Stephenville, Ruston, La., rematch should be closer”
Clyde 54, Muleshoe 49 — The Bulldogs topped Muleshoe in what turned out to be the area’s most entertaining game of the week.
Devan Wright rushed for 179 yards and four scores and threw for 246 yards and three more touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs, who improved to 4-1 with the win.
Muleshoe dropped to 2-3.
Comanche 36, Tolar 33 — Ladainian Smith rushed for 141 yards and three scores and Zaden Tello rushed for 103 yards and another TD to help Comanche even its record at 2-2.
Tolar (2-2) was led by Briton Rice, who threw or 259 yards and three scores.
Comanche will next see action when it travels to Early next Friday. Tolar will play host to Breckenridge on the same evening.
Comanche 42, Eastland 14 — Ladanian Smith rushed for 102 yards and two scores and Zaden Tello rushed or 72 yards and two more TDs as Comanche (1-2) earned its first win of the year.
The Mavericks dropped to 0-3 with the loss.
Eastland trailed 28-14 at the break before Comanche put things away with a pair of second-half touchdowns.
TUSCOLA — With all the press coverage garnered by the Wall offense in recent weeks, the Hawks dished out a stark reminder during Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week: They can play a little defense too.
Handing Jim Ned a 24-0 loss on its homefield, the third-ranked Class 3A DII Hawks limited the Indians to 153 total yards (including 20 yards rushing on 26 carries) and just eight first downs to get the win.
LAST WEEK: 53-15, .780
SEASON TOTAL: 107-29, .787
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, Wall at Jim Ned, has a checkmark in most of the key boxes.
A high-profile game? Check. A battle of unbeatens? Check. A rivalry game? Check. A game of importance? Check, yes, check —even for a non-district game. Is a large crowd expected? Check.
So even during a week where there are multiple matchups of interest in our area, the spotlight game was relatively easy to select.
Here’s this week’s Big Country Football Forecast. I’ll see you on the road.
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: Jim Ned-Clyde volleyball (32 images)”
CLYDE — When Clyde and Jim Ned meet on the volleyball court, records can always be thrown out the window as the two squads tend to be part of a three-way battle with Wall for the District 6-3A championship.
Tuesday night’s affair at Bulldog Gym between the Lady Indians and Lady Bulldogs was nothing short of spectacular.
When all was said and done, it was the hosts who claimed a thrilling 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22 win to start district play.
Some people like to write off the non-district portion of their football schedules, labeling it as meaningless. Some people even like to refer to it as “preseason.”
Well, that’s a misnomer. Preseason games are known as scrimmages.
Nondistrict games count on your official record, they are part of players’ season statistics, they contribute to our state records, they influence statewide rankings and like it or not, many of them are quite important.
I’ll give you a prime example.
Friday in Tuscola, our Big Country Preps Game of the Week will feature the Wall Hawks (2-0) facing Jim Ned (2-0) in a contest that doesn’t mean a thing in terms playoff seeding. Yet it will mean a great deal for both teams to prep for what they hope will be lengthy playoff runs.
Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS NOTEBOOK: Wall, Jim Ned have “value game” approaching”
Clyde 52, Eastland 28 — The Bulldogs used a 20-0 first quarter to gain control of this contest and never looked back.
Clyde (2-0) rolled up 521 yards in total offense while limiting Eastland (0-2) to 279.
Harley Griffin rushed for 124 yards and two scores and Miles Wilsher rushed for 107 and another TD to lead the Bulldogs.
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: Abilene High-Jim Ned volleyball (80 images)”
TUSCOLA — It became apparent very early in Tuesday’s nondistrict volleyball match between Abilene High and Jim Ned that the two squads would be in for a fight.
As it turned out, that fight would last five grueling sets before the Lady Indians finally prevailed with a 25-23, 19-25, 25-27, 25-19, 15-12 victory at Bill Thornton Arena.
Jim Ned, which trailed 12-10 in the fourth set after dropping the second and third, used a 6-0 run to change the momentum and maintained it the rest of the way to knock off the Lady Eagles a week ahead of a highly anticipated District 6-3A opener at Clyde.
Surprises are an important part of football, and the intrigue they provide is the biggest source of interest the game has. Admit it, if you picked 100 percent every week and never got to use the word “upset,” how fun would it all be?
Well, true to form, the Big Country Preps coverage area supplied us with our share of head-turners in Week 1 — several, in fact, that point to an even more interesting season than some of us anticipated.
There were upsets, dazzling comebacks, stunning blowouts and an assortment of other unexpecteds.
Let’s take a quick look at the five Week 1 games that surprised me the most.
Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS NOTEBOOK: My five biggest surprises in Week 1”
Jim Ned 42, Lubbock Estacado 21 — Cash Gwinn was 8-of-15 through the air for 187 yards and three scores and Aiden Ellis rushed for 113 yards and another TD to lift Jim Ned to an impressive win over Lubbock Estacado.
With the score knotted at 21-21 at the break, the Indians took command with three unanswered scores in the second half.
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.
TUSCOLA — Ten years ago, the Jim Ned football team was known more for its finesse than physicality. It was a basketball school or so went the prevailing wisdom of the time. And from 2005 through 2014, the Indians’ record reflected that, winning more than six games only once in that span with three seasons ending in 1-9 finishes and just two playoff berths.
Things began to change, however, with the arrival of coaches Jerod Womack in 2015 and Matt Fanning in 2018. The Indians were becoming known for outstanding, physical offensive line play, gradually building it into a tradition.
That tradition continues under second-year coach Johnathon McClure and heading into the 2025 campaign, the Indians’ offensive line is once again a key element of team leadership.
TUSCOLA — There are reasons to believe the Jim Ned Indians could produce a quality team in 2025, with six offensive and seven defensive starters back among 23 lettermen from last year’s 9-4 club.
For that to happen, a few pieces will need to fall into place by the time district play rolls around. At the top of that list: The quarterback position, where Jim Ned must find away to replace Gray Beasley, who has graduated and moved on to Hardin-Simmons University.
A retooled offensive line jelling by midseason will be vital as well. But second-year coach Johnathon McClure has his system established, so things should begin to run more efficiently.
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 Jim Ned Indians.
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.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps baseball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2025 All-Big Country Preps baseball teams.
Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country.
For the rest of this year’s baseball selections, please click the links below.
Here are our first-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps softball team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to release our 2025 All-Big Country Preps Softball teams.
Here, you will find our Rising Stars Team honoring the top freshmen and sophomores in the Big Country.
For the rest of this year’s softball selections, please click the links below.
Coahoma 51, Kermit 0 — Coahoma rushed or 126 yards and two scores and Austin Joslin threw for 178 yards and three TDs to help the Bulldogs improve to 3-0 on the year.