Category: Roscoe Plowboys

by Evan Ren

Evan Ren’s 2026 Gym Rat Team: The hardest-working players in the Big Country!

Scoring and rebounding is only part of the story when it comes to basketball. Behind the scenes and beyond the view of the public, is where character is often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps Gym Rat Team that we salute the individuals who exude the most of it. 

This team isn’t about who the best players are, though some of the area’s top players are on this list. 

The Gym Rat team is about effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches love above all else and that championship foundations are built upon.

It is for that reason that our Gym Rat team is selected entirely by area coaches, described in their own words. And Big Country Preps is absolutely honored to present these individuals to you — the best “team players” (boys and girls) that the area had to offer during the 2025-26 season.

Players are listed in no particular order. 

Enjoy.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: New Home slips past Roscoe 66-61 to end Plowboys season in regional semis

SNYDER — After narrowly escaping their first matchup against New Home with a  65-59 win in a tournament game in December, Roscoe coach Russell Best and his Plowboys knew they’d be in for a fight in Tuesday’s Region I-2A Division II semifinal.

The second meeting proved no less competitive than its predecessor, but this time it was the Leopards who prevailed, ending Roscoe’s campaign with a thrilling 66-61 victory in front of a packed and boisterous crowd at Tiger Gym.

The Plowboys erased a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to tie the game at 58 with 4:25 to play, but Zack Armes’ last of eight 3-pointers kicked off 8-2 run in the final 2:12 to lift New Home to the win in a contest that saw four ties and seven lead changes over its duration.

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Hoops
by Evan Ren

FINAL Big Country Boys Basketball Statistical Leaders for 2026: Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 19.  With the end of the regular season, this will be the FINAL boys basketball leaders we post this year. 

This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Sterling City attacks the glass to overcome Roscoe

COLORADO CITY — For the better part of three quarters, the Roscoe girls were able to use their quickness to maintain a slim lead over Sterling City in Tuesday’s Region I-2A DI bi-district game at Colorado City High School. 

There was just one problem: The much-larger Lady Eagles were continually pounding the offensive glass and gradually erased a nine-point second-half deficit to come away with a 51-46 win. 

Avery Clark scored 16 points, Charley Jo Wilson had 14 points and nine boards and Christina Geary had 13 points and nine boards to lead Sterling City (23-9), which trailed 31-22 with 4:15 left in the third quarter.

The Lady Eagles now advance to face Smyer in the area round. 

Roscoe finished its season at 21-11, led by Ava Burrell with 19 points and Chasity Rangel with 12. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Jayton overcomes determined Roscoe team, noisy crowd to get tough nondistrict road win

Roscoe’s Jace Arnwine looks for an open teammate in the second half of Friday’s game with Jayton with JHS’ Tucker Scott applying defensive pressure.

ROSCOE — With two-time defending Class 1A state champion Jayton coming to town to face 18th-ranked 2A Roscoe, Friday’s non-district boys game was bound to create a special atmosphere. 

And it did just that, as the Jaybirds slipped past the Plowboys 58-54 in front of a raucous crowd at the Roscoe Collegiate Special Events Center.

Colt Gentry scored 21 points, Bode Ham had 13 and Sean Stanaland added 12 more to lead the top-ranked Jaybirds (18-3), who never trailed and maintained a shaky lead from the 4:33 mark of the first quarter until the final horn. 

Roscoe (31-2), which remained within striking distance throughout the game, was led by Jarrell Best with 22 points and Aiden Brown with 18.

Both clubs walked away from the matchup feeling as though they had benefitted from it — especially with postseason play set to start on Feb. 23. 

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by Evan Ren

FINAL Big Country Girls Basketball Statistical Leaders for 2026 (Scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, FT Pct., pass deflections and blocks)

Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country girls basketball through Feb. 12. This will be our FINAL girls stat leaders for 2026.

This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.

Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his or her email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

THIS WEEK IN BOYS BASKETBALL: District title, playoff races continue to take shape as regular season nears its end

The boys basketball regular season is nearing its end, and district championship and playoff pictures across the area are coming into view.

Most leagues now have clear favorites in both their title and playoff races, but several remain unresolved with just two or three games left to play. 

With just a couple of weeks of games remaining, let’s dive in and take a look at this week’s biggest games and last week’s most significant developments.

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by Evan Ren

THIS WEEK IN GIRLS BASKETBALL: A look at the top games for this week and last week

With the regular season concluding this week, we take a final look around the area, both the top games of last week and those coming up. 

Keep an eye out for the postseason pairings for both girls and boys basketball on BigCountryPreps.com — both of which will be posted in the near future. 

Lets dive in, shall we? 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Tolar sophomore takes this week’s spotlight

With weather postponements forcing Tolar to play three games last week, there was positive in an otherwise hectic week: It gave one of THS’ athletes the opportunity to showcase a remarkable run of consistency. 

Tolar sophomore Atley Kolb takes our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for the Week ending Jan. 31, after posting three straight double-doubles in as many days to help the Lady Rattlers in wins over Millsap (57-25), Eastland (59-25) and Breckenridge (74-19).

Kolb posted 10 points and 13 rebounds against Millsap; 21 points and 11 boards against Eastland and 12 points and 10 boards in the Breckenridge win. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

UIL REALIGNMENT: Area football landscape experiences major changes in biennial district reshuffling

Surprised — and in some cases, stressed out — faces could be seen in abundance Monday morning at Abilene’s Region 14 Education Services Center, where coaches from throughout the area and beyond gathered to learn their new district homes as part of the University Interscholastic League’s biennial realignment.

In what can best be described as a seismic shift in the Big Country football landscape, a majority of area schools were placed in unfamiliar environs — be that a new district with new foes or even a new region entirely.

The now venerated process by which the UIL releases the packet containing the new district alignments for football, basketball and volleyball is frequently compared by coaches to waking up on Christmas morning to find what presents await under the three. And on this day, in particular, few found the gifts they were expecting.

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by Evan Ren

THIS WEEK IN GIRLS BASKETBALL: It’s nail-biting time in Big Country hoops with playoff spots on the line

With January’s schedule-jumbling weather behind us, we now look forward to multiple games with playoff implications around the Big Country Preps coverage area. 

There were no shortage of big matchups last week and as usual, there are several more in the days ahead.

So let’s take a quick look at the menu for Feb. 2-6. 

It should be fun, I’ll see you on the road. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 18 Roscoe boys run away from Bangs to take firm control of District 8-2A title race

ROSCOE — Entering Friday’s matchup with Bangs just a game up on the Dragons for the District 8-2A lead, the 18th-ranked Roscoe boys basketball team all but settled the league’s championship race, blasting BHS 71-33 at home to take a two-game lead with four more to play.

The thorough victory was the Plowboys’ second of the year over Bangs, improving coach Russell Best’s team to 27-1 overall and 8-0 in district play. With the tiebreaker over BHS (14-13, 6-2) and a three-game edge over Coleman (15-13, 5-3) and Ballinger (16-11, 5-3), the Plowboys can officially clinch their second consecutive district title next week, when they travel to Ballinger on Tuesday and host Miles on Friday.

Roscoe put itself in that position with a dominant effort against the Dragons, wrapping up a doubleheader sweep after watching its girls team cruise to a 53-16 win in Friday’s early game. The Plowboys never trailed, opening the game on an 8-0 run before closing the first half with a 20-4 spurt to increase a 21-15 lead with 6:47 to play in the second quarter to 41-19 by the halftime break.

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by Daniel Youngblood

THIS WEEK IN BOYS BASKETBALL: Big games in full supply despite weather-related schedule changes

Mother Nature did her best to bring the high school basketball season to a standstill, sending a winter storm that put most Big Country teams on the shelf for a week. But the action around that unexpected break gives us plenty to talk about in this week’s look at the area boys basketball scene.

With a number of excellent (and meaningful) games last week and some big matchups slated for the next few days, the area district races remain as intriguing as ever.

Let’s go ahead now and take a look at the biggest games the area slate has to offer this week and some of the outcomes last week that helped shape the weeks to come.

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by Daniel Youngblood

THIS WEEK IN GIRLS BASKETBALL: Chilly weather, schedule changes can’t cool red-hot district races

The winter storm that blew across most of the state over the weekend wreaked havoc on the area basketball schedule, forcing most of last Friday’s games to be pushed up a day and the bulk of this week’s early games to postponed all the way to Thursday. 

But icy weather — and the bevy of schedule changes that came with it — have done little to cool the area’s rapidly heating district races. 

We still had a number of thrilling and significant results last week and have a bunch of intriguing games to look forward to over the next few days. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the biggest of those in our weekly look at the Big Country girls basketball scene.

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN’S 2025 TRUE GRIT TEAM: The toughest, hardest-working players in the Big Country!

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. 

Know someone like that? Here is where they are honored. 

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by Evan Ren

2025 BIG COUNTRY PREPS RISING STARS TEAM: The top underclassmen in the Big Country

Here are our selections for the 2024 All-Big Country Preps Rising Stars Team — an honor reserved for the area’s top freshman and sophomore football players. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A Div. II WEEK 11 REPORT: Albany, Roscoe, Cross Plains score wins in Week 11


Albany 33, Hamlin 0
Clay Chapman threw for 172 yards, rushed for 72 and accounted for two TDs as Albany clinched the district title. Albany’s defense was nothing short of dominant, holding Hamlin to only 28 yards in total offense.
The Lions improved to 8-0 and 5-0 with the win.  Hamlin fell to 8-2 and 

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 10 REPORT: Hamlin, Albany, Miles notch wins as regular season end approaches.

Hamlin 43, Cross Plains 18 — Luke White rushed for 171 yards and one TD and Isaiah Hutchings rushed for 62 yards and three TDs as Hamlin dominated Cross Plains. 

The Buffaloes were led by Landry Savell, who rushed for 57 yards and one score. 

Hamlin improved to 8-1 and 4-0 with the win; Cross Plains fell to 3-6 and 1-3.  

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Roscoe, Hamlin, Albany all earn wins in Week 9

Roscoe 42, Winters 0 — The Plowboys (2-6, 2-1) pounded out 208 yards as a team and limited Winters to 38 yards in total offense to score a district win.

Jace Arnwine topped the stat sheet with 64 yards passing and 72 yards rushing.

Winters, which fell to 2-6 and 0-3, was limited to only six yards rushing as a team.

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 8 REPORT: Hamlin, Cross Plains, Albany victorious

Hamlin 21, Roscoe 14 (OT) — Hamlin rushed for 239 yards via committee in a tough overtime win on the road. Reece Rainey led the Pied Pipers (6-1, 2-0) with 85 yards rushing on four carries and one TD.

It was the sixth straight win for Hamlin since a season-opening loss to Anson. 

Roscoe (1-6, 1-1) was led by Jace Arnwine, who threw for 136 yards, rushed for 19 and accounted for two scores. 

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 7 REPORT: Hamlin, Roscoe, Albany take district openers

Hamlin 49, Winters 0 — Javier Ramos threw for 117 yards and two scores while Isaiah Hutchings and Cade Jones both added rushing TDs to lead Hamlin (5-1) to its fifth straight win since a season-opening loss to Anson. 

Winters, which had won two of its last three starts, fell to 2-4. 

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 5 REPORT: Pied Pipers chalk up fourth straight win; Cross Plains, Winters also victorious

Hamlin 36, Quanah 6 — Javier Ramos threw for 313 yards and two scores and Hudson Smith rushed for 105 yards and two more TDs to lift Hamlin to a lopsided win over Quanah. 

It was the fourth-straight win for Hamlin (4-1) since a season-opening loss to still-unbeaten Anson. 

Quanah dropped to 3-2 with the loss. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wylie junior takes the top spot

Wylie junior Haddie Mock was at her very best against difficult competition last week, helping the Lady Bulldogs to wins over seventh-ranked 3A Bushland (25-8) and 21st-ranked 4A Stephenville last week. 

Mock finished a whopping combined total of 19 blocks in the two matches to help the Lady Bulldogs improve to 24-7. She also had 16 combined kills. 

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 4 REPORT: Hamlin carries district torch in an otherwise tough week

Hamlin 48, Munday 14 — The Pied Pipers improved to 3-1 with a convincing win over Munday. 

Isaiah Hutchings threw for 222 yards and two scores to lead Hamlin. Reece Rainey led Hamlin on the ground with 116 yards and two scores on only eight carries. 

The Moguls fell to 3-1.

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Albany coach Denney Faith
by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 3 REPORT: Albany, Winters and Hamlin notch Week 3 wins

Albany 69, Seymour 6 — The Lions rushed or 399 yards as a team, led by Bennett Neece’s 155 yards and three TDs on only six carries. 

Lyle Wheeler led the Lion passing game with 101 yards and three scores to help push Albany to 3-0. 

Trailing 62-0 with seven minutes to play, Seymour notched its only score of the evening on a 45-yard rushing TD by Slade Tucker. 

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by Evan Ren

DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 2 REPORT: Hamlin, Coahoma, Cross Plains, Miles and Albany all chalk up wins in Week 2

Hamlin 35, Seymour 21 — Isaiah Hutchings threw for 190 yards and two scores and rushed for 127 yards to lead the Pied Pipers (1-1) to their first win of the year.

Kyson McGee rushed for 107 yards and one TD and Reece Rainey rushed for 68 yards and another score to bolster the Hamlin offense. 

The Pied Pipers will travel to Crosbyton next Friday; Seymour (1-1) will play host to Albany (2-0) on the same evening. 

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: Top games worth traveling for during the 2025 football season

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

ROSCOE FEATURE: Big senior class out to make their swan song, Loyd’s debut a success

Tabbed to replace a successful coach who was let go in the offseason despite broad support by the Roscoe community, first-year Plowboys coach Daniel Loyd knew when he was hired that his first task would be earning buy-in from his players.

And in inheriting a large senior class that had just helped RHS to its fifth consecutive playoff appearance, Loyd knew winning over that group would be a big step toward accomplishing that goal.

Now in his fifth month as the Plowboys head man, Loyd has a unified Roscoe squad rowing in one common direction as the season nears its start.  And the former Seymour coach credits those seniors for the leadership they provided through what turned out to be a surprisingly seamless transition.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 ROSCOE FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Loyd excited to build on strong foundation

When it comes to the philosophy he’s taking into his first year as the Roscoe football coach, former Seymour head man Daniel Loyd is keeping things simple.

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

Inheriting a program that reached the playoffs nine times in 12 years under former coach Jake Freeman, including each of the past five seasons, Loyd has made it his job to the keep the ship on an already proven course. And with a the bulk of last year’s roster back for the Plowboys, including a large and talented senior class, he feels like his first Roscoe squad could be headed for a pretty desirable location.

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by Evan Ren

Evan Ren’s 2025 Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team (the hardest-working baseball and softball players in the area)

OTHER 2025 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS

  • ALL BIG COUNTRY PREPS BASEBALL Superlative Awards (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc)
  • ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS BASEBALL: First-Team Selections
  • ALL BIG COUNTRY PREPS BASEBALL: Second-Team Selections (plus honorable mention)
  • ALL BIG COUNTRY PREPS SOFTBALL: Superlative Awards (Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, etc)
  • ALL BIG COUNTRY PREPS SOFTBALL: First-Team Selections
  • ALL BIG COUNTRY PREPS SOFTBALL: Second-Team Selections (plus honorable mention)

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. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: First-Team Roster

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Baseball Team: Second-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

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.

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by Evan Ren

2025 Big Country Preps Rising Stars Baseball Team

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Softball Team: First-team Roster

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.

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by Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Softball Team: Second-team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

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.

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by Evan Ren

2025 Big Country Preps Rising Stars Softball Team

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.

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by Evan Ren

2025 COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: Roscoe Plowboys … 40 days to two-a-days

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 Roscoe Plowboys.