San Saba 7, Coleman 6 — Jason Everett ran for 104 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown in the first quarter, to lift the Armadillos to a one-point win over the Bluecats.
Down 7-0 after Everett’s TD run, Coleman (5-3, 1-2) answered with a 49-yard fumble return touchdown, but a failed two-point conversion attempt kept the score 7-6 at the end of one quarter. Both defenses pitched shutouts the rest of the way, allowing San Saba (5-3, 2-1) to escape with the win.
It’s one thing to put up school-record numbers. It’s an entirely different thing to do it in only one half.
With his team handing Eastland a 70-12 loss last week, Tolar quarterback Briton Rice put up a performance that the THS faithful may recollect years from now.
Aside from hitting 11 of 18 passes for 282 yards, he connected on a school-record six TD passes. He also rushed for 17 yards and a seventh score to help the Rattlers improve to 4-3 and 3-1.
“Briton connected on big plays for six passing touchdowns in the 1st half and a rushing TD on the first drive of the second half,” coach Blake Mouser said. He has 17 TDs to just two interceptions on the year while averaging over 200 yards passing a game.”
And get this: Rice’s entire performance was finished after the first drive of the second half. Beyond that, Mouser began playing his reserves.
Mason 47, San Saba 0 — The Punchers dominated the Armadillos from start to finish, building a 33-0 halftime lead on their way to a thorough victory.
Mason (2-0 in district) followed a 14-point first quarter with 19 points in the second to take control by the break on the way to its seventh straight win to open the season.
San Saba 22, Johnson City 14 — Jason Everett ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns and Graden Lebow added 94 yards and a score as the Armadillos ran for all 300 of their yards in a big district win over the Eagles.
San Saba (4-2, 1-0), which didn’t attempt a pass in the victory, raced out to a 13-0 first-quarter lead and carried it into halftime, before holding off a Johnson City rally in the second half.
Llano 45, Brady 13 — Luke Davis passed for 200 yards and three touchdowns while adding 33 yards rushing on five carries to fuel the Yellowjackets to a comfortable win over the Bulldogs.
Cole Landers ran for 92 yards and a touchdown and Cash Lynch received for 94 yards and a score as Llano increased a 24-13 halftime lead to 38-13 by the end of the third quarter.
Coleman 52, Eldorado 20 — Hunter Edington passed for 241 yards and three touchdowns, and Chantz Adams ran for 184 yards and four scores to lead the Bluecats to a blowout win over the Eagles.
Jayden Smith was Coleman’s leading receiver with 70 yards and a TD as the Bluecats () increased a 28-14 halftime lead to 40-20 by the start of the fourth quarter.
MASON — In this era of pass-happy offenses, the smashmouth run-oriented Mason Punchers are a throwback to when Texas schoolboy football teams were measured by how well they ran the football.
The throwbacks … or the Punchers, ran very well on Friday night.
Mason seniors Luke Tharp and Slade Buell combined for 585 yards and eight touchdowns rushing as the Class 2A Division I No. 2-ranked Punchers beat the previously undefeated Class 3A DI Ingram Moore Warriors 55-34 at the Puncherdome.
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.
Two former Stephenville High School kickers — Diego Chavarria and Cade Whitehead — are handling the main kicking duties for the respective college football teams this season.
Chavarria is in his second season at the University of Texas-Permian Basin, a member of the NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference. The Falcons began playing football in 2016. Although the main campus is in Odessa, the Falcons play their home games at Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland.
Whitehead is kicking for Nelson University, a member of the NAIA and the Sooner Athletic Conference. Nelson, located in Waxahachie, was formerly known as Southwestern Assemblies of God, or SAGU.
Who says defensive players can’t win Big Country Preps Player of the Week?
Goldthwaite’s Owen Campbell silenced that opinion with an extraordinary effort against previously unbeaten De Leon last week after charting an eyebrow-raising 22 tackles in a 24-13 win.
Mason 62, Junction 8 — The Punchers stayed unbeaten with a blowout win over the Eagles, dominating a quality junction squad from start to finish.
Mason cruised to a 41-0 lead by halftime and coasted from there, tacking three more touchdowns before the clock hit zero.
Bangs 51, Cross Plains 12 — Ryder Duncan passed for 195 yards and three touchdowns and added a fourth TD rushing to lead the Dragons to a blowout win over the Buffaloes.
Connor Bible just missed 100 yards rushing, finishing with 98 and a score on 15 carries, while Jayton Byler was Bangs’ leading receiver with two catches for 59 yards and a TD.
We prefer to not have the same athlete win our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award in successive weeks, given that it is our aim to share the love. But every now and then, the numbers simply make that impossible.
So here we have it: Haskell’s Haegen Pinkerton has won our accolade twice in as many weeks, and deservedly so after leading the Indians to a 62-44 win at Bangs on Friday.
San Saba 34, Eastland 19 — Enrique Mendoza ran for 182 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 438-yard rushing effort for the Armadillos in a two-touchdown win.
Jason Everett added 167 yards and two TDs of his own to help San Saba, which finished with 460 total yards in the win.
HAMILTON — With two of Big Country Preps’ newcomers going head-to-head in their first BCP Game of the Week, the Mason Punchers and Hamilton Bulldogs put together a legitimate classic on Friday at Kooken Field.
San Saba move-in Luke Tharp rushed for 139 yards and four scores to lead Mason to a 46-44 win in a game that saw four lead changes and two ties before the issue was finally settled after 10 p.m. Tharp added two fourth-quarter TDs to provide the Punchers with the winning edge, improving sixth-ranked 2A DI Mason to 2-0.
Hamilton (0-2), which carried a 37-30 edge into the fourth quarter, was led by Oliver Summers with 352 yards passing and four scores. Madden Weaver was his top target, hauling in nine passes for 235 yards and two TDs.
“We told our kids that we play games like this to see where we’re at,” Mason coach Wade Griffin said. “We play games like this to challenge ourselves and we were definitely challenged tonight by an amazing football team and I’m just glad we found one more play than they did.”
LAST WEEK: 55-19, .743
SEASON TOTAL: 55-19, .743
Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week is as much a welcoming as it is a top matchup.
With 2A DI state champion Hamilton (now in 3A DII) playing host to fourth-ranked 2A DI Mason, much of the state will be interested in the results this produces.
But, with both schools now entering their first season under the Big Country Preps coverage banner, it quickly became an opportunity to roll out the red carpet for both clubs as well.
Hamilton, which is coming off a 26-21 loss to 2A superpower Bremond, will be fired up with the home crowd behind it.
Coleman 16, San Angelo Grape Creek 12 — Post-touchdown conversions were the difference in this matchup, which saw the Bluecats cash in two-point conversions after both of their touchdowns while the Eagles failed to convert after either of their two scores.
Grape Creek, which trailed 8-6 at halftime, led 12-8 in the third quarter after following a first-half defensive touchdown with a rushing score. But Coleman closed out the scoring with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Hunter Edington to Jayden Smith for what proved to be the winning points.
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 15 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2026.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off 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 earlier today, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 15 with a list of others to watch in 2026. Don’t forget to check in tomorrow when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.
We hope you enjoy this 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 with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 15 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2026.
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 15 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2026.
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 2026 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 15 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2026.
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 2026.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 15 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 2026.
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 15 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.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Defensive Linemen”
The time has arrived for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
Several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor have gone into this, so we’re more than ready to post it.
With that please dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today. Enjoy! We’ll see you on the road!
MASON — Football coaches love players who can play several different roles when called upon. And why shouldn’t they? Any player who can lend a significant amount of depth and flexibility all by themselves are keepers in any sport — so much so, that the term “Swiss Army Knife” is now a common way to describe them.
The latest area player to earn that moniker is Mason senior linebacker Slade Buell, a 6-2, 205-pound utility man extraordinaire, who is not only an all-state linebacker, but a 1,400-yard rusher as well.
It doesn’t stop there.
Buell, who is already getting Division II collegiate attention, has also seen time at quarterback and in some defensive sets, will slide back into the Punchers’ secondary.