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.
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.”
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 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.
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.
Photos by Mike Lee
DE LEON – There were a couple of explanations for why De Leon junior Lane Couch basically sprinted untouched four times on long-distance touchdown runs of 46, 76, 78 and 62 yards during the Bearcats’ 40-7 season-opening football win over the San Saba Armadillos on Friday night.
One was obvious, and Couch – who finished with an eye-opening 348 yards on a modest 14 carries – explained.
“It didn’t matter if we ran left or right, the O-line was opening holes that you could drive a truck through. I mean every time,” Couch said. “Our O-line did a great job of preparing. They work their tails off, and they don’t get much recognition.”
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!
When San Saba coach Andreas Aguirre looks at running back Jason Everett, he immediately thinks of former Tampa Bay Buccaneer bulldozer Mike Alstott.
“Except Jason plays both ways. Offense, defense and special teams,” Aguirre said. “He’s an all-around football player for us. We put a lot on him.”
Not only is Everett the Armadillos’ leading returning rusher, but he’s the quarterback of San Saba’s defense at middle linebacker, racking up 95 tackles and three sacks as a junior.
“We are all very proud of Jason and the leader he is becoming,” Aguirre said. “Jason goes above and beyond in the classroom, and that along with his athletic ability, directly correlates with his ability to play football at a high level.”
Here’s what Everett had to say about San Saba’s defense, the Armadillos’ large senior group and his future with the sport:
When San Saba opens its season next week against De Leon, Andreas Aguirre’s squad will have already been battle-tested.
The senior-heavy Armadillos narrowly lost against a state champion (Hamilton) last year and played a couple state quarterfinalists (Junction and Mason) respectably.
The result – a 6-5 record that wasn’t indicative of how good San Saba really was. But it’s also got the Armadillos prepared for battle when the 2026 season kicks off.
“Those are tough opponents, and we were in a dogfight with a lot of those teams,” Aguirre said. “It’s really good for our experience. And there’s no cupcakes on our schedule this season, either.”
Here are our second-team selections for the 2026 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 2026 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 2026 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 2026 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 2026 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 2026 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.