Category: Local football

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Graham QB Corley takes this week’s top honor

A week ago, Graham senior quarterback Cooper Corley narrowly missed taking our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.  
 
This time around, there was no stopping him.  

Corley, who led the Steers to a 48-21 win over Peaster, hit 16 of 27 throws for 307 yards and two TDs.  

He also rushed 12 times for 132 yards and four more scores and caught a 29-yard TD pass for seven touchdowns on the night.  

“Very rarely do you see a kid total 7 TDs in a night and score in three different ways,” Graham coach Clay McChristian said. “He scored at least one touchdown passing, rushing, and receiving.

“That is right at 1000 total yards and 13 TDs in the last two weeks against two quality opponents.” 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DI WEEK 5 REPORT: Abilene High rallies past LHS; Amarillo High, Tascosa, Monterey also victorious

Abilene High 31, Lubbock High 7 — Boss Hines ran for 180 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 346-yard rushing effort for the Eagles, who rallied from a 7-3 halftime deficit to roll through the Westerners.

Abilene High, which allowed a kickoff return touchdown just before halftime to go the break trailing, scored two touchdowns in each of the final two periods to improve to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in district play.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DII WEEK 5 REPORT: Cooper, Wylie open district with comfortable wins; Palo Duro blasts Legacy

Abilene Cooper 49, Wichita Falls Memorial 28 — Markquel Sims ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamarion Dunson ran for three touchdowns and added a fourth score receiving to lead the Cougars to thorough victory over the Mavericks in the district opener for both teams.

The game featured four ties — the last at 28-all early in the fourth quarter — but Cooper (3-2, 1-0) closed the game with 21 unanswered points to close out the victory.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Abilene High bounces back from rough first half to rout Lubbock High 31-7

LUBBOCK — Midway through its District 2-5A Division II opener at Lubbock High, the Abilene High football team found itself down 7-3 — a surprising spot considering the Eagles defeated the Westerners 73-0 in 2025.

But a fast start to the second half put AHS back on top and created a wave of momentum that would eventually carry the Eagles to a comfortable 31-7 win.

The victory improved Abilene High to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in league play heading into a matchup with Amarillo Caprock (1-3, 0-1) next week at Shotwell Stadium.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Cooper makes statement in district opener with 49-28 win over Wichita Falls Memorial

Facing off with a high-scoring Wichita Falls Memorial squad to open District 2-5A Division II play, Cooper coach Scott Stewart was worried about his Cougars being drawn into a shootout.

And for a little over three quarters Friday night, it looked like that was the direction things were headed.

But after Memorial took advantage of a muffed punt by Cooper to pull even at 28-all with 11:54 remaining in the game, the Coogs took control of the line of scrimmage, the clock and eventually the game, scoring the final 21 points in a 49-28 victory at Shotwell Stadium.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Wylie overcomes disastrous start to rout Coronado in district opener

Photos by Susanna Jackson, HubCityPreps.com

LUBBOCK — Staring at a 13-0 deficit less than four minutes into its District 2-5A Division II opener against Lubbock Coronado, the Wylie football team found itself in a precarious spot Thursday at Lowrey Field.

But 49 unanswered points before halftime changed that in a hurry as the Bulldogs rallied for a resounding 56-20 victory over the Mustangs.

Wylie ran for 298 of its 490 total yards, getting productive days on the ground from Cooper Jones (5-98, 1 TD), Jett Wilson (9-91, 1 TD) and Kory Gibson (12-80) as it improved to 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in district play.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Wall plays host to Midland Greenwood (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

LAST WEEK: 48-21, .695
SEASON TOTAL: 213-69, .755

After suffering through one my worst mid-season pick weeks in recent memory (by midseason I’m usually zeroed in), about all I could do was raise my eyebrows, shake my haed and get back to work. 

So here goes nothing:

Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week heads south this Friday to Wall, where the Class 3A Hawks will put their 20-game winning streak on the line against a Class 4A toughie from Midland Greenwood. 

Greenwood enters this game at 3-1 after topping Wichita Falls Legacy in a shootout last week, 43-42. The Rangers have averaged 33 points per game against a difficult schedule and are accustomed to big games, so they won’t enter this intimidated. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIX-MAN REWIND: Week 4 full of competitive matchups as landscape continues to take shape

The area six-man season continues to heat up, and Week 4 may have been the most competitive to date.

With a number of thrilling outcomes dotting the slate, there’s no shortage of great games and individual performances to talk about in this week’s “Six-Man Rewind” column.

We hope you enjoy this look back at last week’s action and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Stephenville answers every challenge in 42-23 win over Wylie

The Stephenville football team trailed Wylie midway through the second quarter and led by just five (21-16) after three quarters of play on Friday at Hugh Sandifer Stadium. But strong finishes to both halves allowed the Yellow Jackets to pull away for a 42-23 win in front of a packed homecoming crowd.

The Yellow Jackets scored 14 points in the last five minutes of the second quarter to go to halftime up 21-10 and outscored the Bulldogs 21-7 in the final period to turn a one-score game into a three-touchdown win.

Wylie passed for 301 yards on its way to 400 yards of total offense. But the Stephenville defense allowed just 16 points on five trips inside its own 25-yard line, stopping a fake field goal attempt late in the first half and intercepting a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter to allow the offense to create some separation with an efficient, workmanlike effort.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Dominant rushing attack leads Cooper to homecoming win over Odessa High

Cooper football coach Scott Stewart had to wait until the fourth week of the season for his home coaching debut — but his squad made sure that he picked up the win in pretty dominating fashion on Friday night.

The Cougar offense held the ball for over 30 minutes of action and ran for 364 yards on 48 carries, getting rushing scores from four players as CHS picked up a 34-14 win to close out nondistrict play with a 2-2 record.

“An old coach once told me that you want to keep the offense sweaty and the defense dry,” Stewart said. “We had some sustained drives and tired their defense out, and ours was ready to go when they came out.”

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Veteran Wylie QB Karleskint maturing into one of area’s top playmakers

With a full season of starting experience under his belt, Wylie quarterback Jadin Karleskint entered his senior year with high expectations — both for himself and from those around him.

Tabbed as a team captain and the undisputed leader of the Bulldogs offense, the talented signal caller came into this season looking — and being leaned upon — to improve on junior campaign that saw him complete 124 of 176 passes for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns in leading WHS to a 5-5 record.

While the season started with some frustration in a 13-7 home loss to Brownwood in which the Bulldogs failed to score a point in four red zone trips, Karleskint and his Wylie cohorts have been delivering on their substantial potential since, rebounding from that season-opening setback to blast Lubbock Monterey 49-3 before downing Wolfforth Frenship 28-21 in a game that wasn’t nearly as competitive as the final score might indicate.

And Karleskint has been right in the center of the team’s success, playing at a high enough level to sit fourth in the Big Country Preps coverage area in passing yards (755) and seventh in passing touchdowns (8) as Wylie (2-1) gets set to host area rival and defending state champion Stephenville (3-0) on Friday for homecoming.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Unbeaten Early travels to Hawley (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

LAST WEEK: 55-14, .794
SEASON TOTAL: 165-48, .774

The Early Longhorn have quietly stayed under the radar while posting a 3-0 record thus far, notching wins over Merkel, Breckenridge and Ballinger — the last two of which were quite convincing with scores of 47-18 and 34-0. 

The secret is out, the Longhorns are good.

But in this week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, not only will Early face its most challenging test thus far at Hawley, but it will likely go into the matchup as a slight underdog. 

At this stage, Hawley has faced a tougher overall schedule, but the Bearcats are at home and they’re more accustomed to big matchups.

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by Daniel Youngblood

MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Stephenville’s Eakin helps Tech rally past Oregon State

Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.

Coy Eakin led Texas Tech in receiving and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter last Saturday as the nationally ranked Red Raiders rallied past the Oregon State Beavers 35-24 in Corvallis, Oregon.

Eakin, a fifth-year receiver from Stephenville, caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Will Hammond that rallied Texas Tech to a 28-24 lead with 6:31 left in the game. The Red Raiders eventually won 35-24.

Nine Tech players caught passes last week, and the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Eakin led the Red Raiders in receiving with six catches for 79 yards.

Tech, 2-0 and ranked No. 13 in this week’s Associated Press poll, hosts No. 22 Houston (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday — yes, Friday — on FOX.

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIX-MAN REWIND: High-profile matchups deliver thrilling results in Week 3

With three weeks in the books, the area six-man picture continues to take shape. With a number of high-profile matchups last week, virtually all of which delivered, we were treated slate of games that was both entertaining and edifying.

If you’re a fan of competitive, well-played six-man games, you certainly got your money’s worth in Week 3.

As we do each week here at Big Country Preps, it’s time to take a look at the most compelling matchups and most outstanding individual performances in our “Six-Man Rewind” column. We hope you enjoy this look back at the week that was and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).

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Devan Wright
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde’s Wright takes this week’s award

It’s still too early to say, but 2026 could be the year of the quarterback in the Big Country. At least it has been that way through three weeks, with Clyde senior Devan Wright taking our latest Big Country Player of the Week award after another eye-popping performance from an area signal caller. 

In the wake of Haskell’s Haegan Pinkerton winning our first two awards with two huge performances in Week 1 and Week 2, Wright followed those up with one of his own in a 57-21 win over Comanche on Friday. 

Helping Clyde improve to 3-0, Wright connected on 12 of 18 throws for 194 yards and four scores. He also rushed nine times for 116 yards and three more TDs, giving him a direct hand in seven touchdowns. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DI WEEK 3 REPORT: Abilene High comes up short against Permian in 2-6 week for district

Odessa Permian 41, Abilene High 29 — The Eagles rallied from a 34-20 fourth-quarter deficit to pull within 34-29 with 3:19 to play, but Kayden Vickers hit Zephaniah Deleon with a 13-yard touchdown pass with 2:01 remaining to lift the Panthers to a hard-fought victory.

AHS, which turned the ball over on downs twice inside the Permian 25-yard line in the second half, was outgained just 426-407, getting big days from quarterback Tristan Beal (15-26-0—269, 4 TDs) and receiver John Rangel (9-204, 2 TDs). But the Eagles (1-2) fell behind 14-0 early in the second quarter and were forced to play catch-up the rest of the way.

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by Daniel Youngblood

DISTRICT 2-5A DII WEEK 3 REPORT: Cooper, Wylie pick up wins to highlight 4-3 week for league

Cooper 28, San Angelo Central 21 — Jamarion Dunson’s second rushing touchdown run of the second half broke a 21-all tie with just over two minutes remaining, serving as the winning points for the Cougars in a come-from-behind win over the Bobcats.

Cooper trailed at 7-0, 14-7 and 21-14 in the first half, before shutting Central out in the second half. The Bobcats had an opportunity to tie or take the lead in the final minutes, thanks to a long kickoff return that set them up inside the Cooper 30, but an incomplete pass on a fourth-down play allowed the Coogs (1-2) to celebrate their first victory of the season.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Cooper spoils San Angelo Central’s homecoming with thrilling 28-21 win

SAN ANGELO — The Cooper football team rallied past San Angelo Central for a thrilling 28-21 win Friday at San Angelo Stadium, earning Scott Stewart his first win as a head coach in the process.

The Cougars overcame first-half deficits of 7-0, 14-7 and 21-14 in the victory, outscoring the Bobcats 14-0 over the final two quarters to improve to 1-2.

Cooper, which had outgained each of its first two opponents handily in one-score losses, was outpaced 402 yards to 347 on Friday. But the Coogs defense buckled down when it needed to most, helping facilitate the win with a second-half shutout.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME REPORT: Wylie holds off late rally to down Wolfforth Frenship 28-21

Photos by Mark Rogers, HubCityPreps.com

WOLFFORTH — The Wylie football team dominated Wolfforth Frenship for 3½ quarters Friday, but a late Tiger rally left the Bulldogs holding on for dear life in the closing minutes of a 28-21 victory.

Trailing 28-0 entering the fourth quarter, Frenship scored three touchdowns in the final four minutes to pull within seven before WHS was finally able to close out the win to improve to 2-1.

Wylie lost the turnover battle 3-1 and gave up an onside kick return that allowed the Tigers to score two touchdowns in the span of 19 seconds. But huge days from quarterback Jadin Karleskint (25-21-1—327, 3 TDs passing) and receiver Blaze Ruffin (6-123, 3 TDs receiving) provided the Bulldogs with a big enough cushion to hang on for their second consecutive victory.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Odessa Permian scores late to hold off feisty Abilene High squad 41-29

Abilene High never led in a 41-29 loss to Odessa Permian on Friday at Shotwell Stadium. But the Eagles also never went away despite falling behind by two scores on five occasions — the first at 14-0 just seconds into the second quarter.

After the game, it was the latter fact that had AHS coach Mike Fullen feeling pretty good about his team as it prepares for an open date next week and the start of District 2-5A Division I play in Week 5.

Despite holding a lead from the 6:17 mark of the first quarter onward and extending a 24-13 halftime advantage to 34-20 on a touchdown with just under 10 minutes to play, the Panthers couldn’t put the Eagles away until the game’s final minutes, when Kayden Vickers hit Zephaniah Deleon behind the Warbirds defense for a 13-yard touchdown pass on a critical third-and-10 play.

Before that, AHS had used a safety and a 53-yard scoring pass from Tristan Beal to John Rangel to pull within five points (34-29), putting late-game pressure on a Permian squad that hasn’t felt much during a 3-0 start.

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by Daniel Youngblood

FEATURE: Veteran Abilene High linebacking corps a driving force behind early defensive success

Starting the year with six new starters on defense, Abilene High coach Mike Fullen knew there’d be a learning curve for that unit.

But with three of the five returners in his signature 3-4 scheme being senior linebackers, the coach also knew his defense was starting its building process on a strong foundation.

In inside linebackers Skyler Faimoa and Symmani Strahan and outside backer Levon Koonce, the Eagles have a trio of veteran playmakers with an abundance of varsity experience and a track record of production in the AHS scheme. Add in junior outside backer Jud Williamson, the son of defensive coordinator James Williamson, and you have one of the better linebacking corps in West Texas.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Unbeaten Santo to face one of the area’s top weapons (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)

LAST WEEK: 55-15, .785
SEASON TOTAL: 110-34, .763

Out Big Country Preps Game of the Week pairs what might be the area’s most improved team (Santo, 2-0) against one its top offensive weapons in Haskell QB Haegen Pinkerton, who with 544 yards rushing and 434 yards passing, has already won our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award twice this season. 

The Indians are a modest 1-1 on the year, but have already put up 124 points with Pinkerton accounting for 978 yards in total offense. Nonetheless, Santo has allowed just 13 total points in wins over Chilton and Dublin, and if they get their flexbone offense rolling, can effectively keep Pinkerton and company off of the field. 

That, will be the key element in keeping the Indians at bay, but Pinkerton will get his share of big plays. 
Regardless, the Wildcats will get the higher number of defensive stops and improve to 3-0. 

PICK: Santo by 10

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIX-MAN REWIND: Water Valley-Rankin, Strawn-May headline wild week of action

Week 2 is in the books, and what a week it was for area six-man football. With a thrilling win by Water Valley over top-ranked Rankin and a two-point Strawn victory over May serving as co-main events, the week’s slate more than delivered on what was promised going in.

It’s time now to take a closer look at the six-man landscape, with a focus on the biggest developments and most outstanding individual performances seen last week.

We hope you enjoy this look back in our weekly  “Big Country Rewind” column and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page when you’ve finished reading for more information on your favorite team(s).

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