Here are the Big Country’s receiving leaders through Week 1:

Here are the Big Country’s passing leaders through Week 1:

Here are the Big Country’s rushing leaders through Week 1:

Here are the district standings for all 11-man football districts involving Big Country schools after Week 1 (with results and upcoming games):

Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-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.

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

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 2023.

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

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A year ago, a Jim Ned club that had been ravaged by injuries during its two scrimmages, met eventual 2A DI state champion Hawley in our first Game of the Week of the season.

By night’s end, the Bearcats had posted a 30-7 win — their first of 16 consecutive wins on the road to the championship.

This year, Jim Ned is healthy, deeper and more experienced than a year ago and has the benefit of the home field advantage. We therefore, will stick with this matchup for a second straight season as our Game of the Week. 

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 on Tuesday, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2023. Don’t forget to check in Thursday 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 receivers.

After starting the offensive portion of our series Monday with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 10 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2023.

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 2023.

We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.

Continue reading “Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Offensive Linemen” →

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 eight kickers and top five 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 2023 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 2023.

We hope you enjoy our list.

After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen last night, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2023.

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 2023.

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.

When the Big Country chapter of the Texas Association of Sports Officials began meeting this summer to prepare for the 2023 season, a declining number of officials was especially concerning to members of the board of directors.

The local chapter, one of at least 15 in the state, was confronted with a shortage of 30 officials this year — a number that equates to fully staffing five or six games every week.

That’s where Rueben Morales, who is in charge of recruiting for the local chapter, and his team got to work and succeeded in a major way.

Here are the Big Country pairing and results from the Texas 7-on-7 state tournament being held in College Station.

Continue reading “Big Country 7-on-7 State Tournament Pairings, Results” →

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: FCA football all-star game (50 images)” →

Due to their nature, high school all-star football games can often be lackluster affairs.

Asking guys who have gone more than six months without strapping on pads to come together and learn a game plan they can execute with just four days of practice is a significant challenge. It’s easy to forgive players if they look a little out of sync or rusty.

Saturday night’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes Myrle Greathouse All-Star Classic at Hugh Sandifer Stadium was anything but your normal affair, however, as the Blue Team beat the Red Team 24-14 in an event that’s been going on for more than two decades.

For Snyder’s Wes Wood and Comanche’s Jake Escobar, who led the Blue and Red teams, respectively, though, it was less about wins and losses than the greater good of the week.

Most high school football teams have that one player acknowledged by the coaching staff as the prime example of what a teammate should be. 

He’s the guy who seldom misses any practice time and is a regular in the weight room. He’s early to arrive. He’s late to leave and takes pride in being coachable, though he seldom needs direction. 

He always sets the right example for younger players. He doesn’t complain and, above all else, he’s tough enough to make all the aforementioned traits consistently possible. 

This is the only Big Country media source that honors them. 

Welcome to the “True Grit” team — a collection of area players nominated by their head coaches who exemplify the character traits football mentors want throughout their roster. 

Not all of them are great players. In fact, many of them will never play a down of college football. But every single one of them is making the most of their high school football experience and has helped those around them do the same.

We are absolutely honored to present these young men to you — the toughest football players the Big Country had to offer, gathered in our 2022 — listed in no particular order, with their coaches describing them in their own words. Enjoy!