Consistency and versatility always score big in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column.
Add a few extras to your stat sheet and play well over several games and you’ll generally end up at or near the top of our weekly list.
That is precisely why Comanche sophomore guard Kinsey Glasgow has earned our Player of the Week award for the Week ending December 3.
Main photo courtesy of Naomi Skinner
Grayson Rigdon makes playing six-man football look about as easy as anyone can.
While defenders labor to chase him, the Benjamin sophomore glides around the field. Rigdon even occasionally slows down before hitting the turbo button and zooming past helpless pursuers.
After leading Strawn to a state title as a freshman, Rigdon’s on track to do the same thing at Benjamin as the Mustangs are in the state semifinals for the first time in 45 years. They’ll play Whitharral at 3 p.m. Saturday with a chance to make history.
SPRINGTOWN — As Benjamin kept scoring on one-play drives Friday night, it became only a matter of time the Mustangs were going to mercy-rule Throckmorton.
But the top-ranked team in Class A Division II wanted to end things by halftime in its state quarterfinal matchup at Porcupine Stadium.
That’s why the Mustangs called timeouts on Throckmorton’s final second-quarter possession. It proved to be a savvy move as Grayson Rigdon’s 44-yard touchdown catch with five seconds left put the finishing touches on a 48-0 victory.
With some people projecting Zephr as an underdog in last week’s game with Sidney, very few people were expecting ZHS to provide us with the Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
Nonetheless, here we are.
Zephyr senior running back Jayden Millican takes the spotlight after rushing for 285 yards and six touchdowns in a 68-20 win over over Sidney. But he wasn’t finished there.
Some people in the Big Country may not even know where tiny Three Way High School is.
For the record it’s on the outskirts of Stephenville, it plays in District 11-1A DI (six-man) and if our Big Country Preps Player of the Week has any say about it, you’ll be hearing a lot more about the Braves in the near future.
Colt Berry, a senior spreadback, had an eye-popping performance last week in a 73-54 win over Aquilla, amassing 561 all-purpose yards to help the Braves (1-3) to their first win of the year.
After sweeping the 2021 Class 1A state championships with Strawn and Westbrook, the biggest question entering this year is if the Big Country can pull off the feat again.
The state titles were the first in six-man for the area since Strawn won back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.
For most, being the defending state champion puts a big enough target on their back. This year, the Wildcats enter the year as the top-ranked team in Division I, while the Greyhounds (No. 5) are one of three Big Country teams in the top five of Division II.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Eula-Hermleigh softball region championship Game 2 (86 images)”
Stepping to the plate in the top of the fourth with the bases loaded and her team leading Eula 4-1 in Game 2 of the Region I-2A championship series on Saturday, Hermleigh first baseman Hailey Minton knew she had a chance to do something special.
She’d been struggling in the postseason leading up to that at-bat, but a two-out hit would provide some much-needed cushion for pitcher Summer Smith and the rest of her teammates, who were trying to close out the Lady Pirates and earn their program’s second state tournament appearance.
As it turned out, she delivered in the biggest way possible, smoking a 3-2 pitch well over the fence in right field for a grand slam that put the Lady Cardinals up 8-1 and set the stage for a 13-6 win at Cooper High School’s Cougar Diamond.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hermleigh-Irion County boys basketball playoff (40 images)”
SNYDER — While trophies with golden basketballs on top of them are nice, the Hermleigh boys basketball team set a goal this year of a different trophy.
They wanted an “ugly brown trophy” instead.
While it’s not the state championship trophy, the Cardinals accomplished their goal despite seeing their season come to an end at the Western Texas College Coliseum with a 68-37 loss to No. 9 Irion County in the Region II-2A final on Saturday afternoon.
The UIL gives out trophies with plaques emblazoned with the organization’s logo and the team’s finish in the regional tournament to the finalists.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hermleigh-Water Valley boys basketball playoff (66 images)”
SNYDER — Playing in its first region tournament in program history, the Hermleigh Cardinals looked like a team well accustomed to deep playoff runs Friday in its Region II-1A semifinal matchup with No. 16 Water Valley.
Coach Sammy Winters’ squad, which finished the regular season unranked in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Class 1A poll, scored the game’s first eight points and never trailed after in cruising to a 45-32 win over the Wildcats at the Western Texas College Coliseum.
The Cardinals, now 28-8 on the year, led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter before holding off a late Water Valley run to extend their dream season into the II-1A championship game, where they’ll will face No. 9 Irion County (32-3) on Saturday with a state tournament berth on the line.
The Hermleigh boys basketball team gutted out a 49-44 win over area power Eula on Tuesday to claim its first-ever trip to the regional tournament.
After controlling the first half at McMurry’s Kimbrel Arena, the Cardinals found themselves down six early in the second when the Pirates opened the third quarter on a 16-3 run. But coach Sam Winters’ squad calmly regrouped and outscored Eula 22-11 the rest of of the way to earn a region semifinals date with No. 16 Water Valley on Friday at Snyder’s WTC Coliseum.
Locked in a tie game at 36-all with seven minutes remaining, Hermleigh finished off the Pirates with a 13-8 run to get past the defending state runner-up.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hermleigh-Robert Lee girls basketball playoff (50 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Santa Anna-Robert Lee girls basketball playoff (64 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cross Plains-Westbrook girls basketball playoff (41 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Ira-Eula girls basketball playoff (37 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Munday-Rotan girls basketball playoff (48 images)”
WINTERS — It took fourth-ranked Robert Lee Lady Steers a few minutes to get going in their playoff opener Tuesday against Santa Anna. But once they did, the points piled up in a hurry.
Leading just 6-4 midway through the first quarter, the District 11-1A champions closed the first half on a 34-4 run and cruised from there to a 68-22 win at Blizzard Gym.
The victory improved Robert Lee to 29-2 on the season and set up a playoff rematch with Rankin, which ended the Lady Steers’ season a year ago.
MERKEL — The Westbrook girls basketball team learned an important lesson Tuesday night at Badger Gymnasium: a return trip to the UIL state tournament is not going to be easy.
The Lady Cats had to fight and claw their way to a 37-30 win over Cross Plains in a Region II-1A bi-district playoff to start the defense of their region title.
Westbrook coach Jeff Bontranger was proud of the way his team battled in a game that was tightly contested on defense.
MERKEL — Nyellie Lee scored a game-high 19 points and the Eula girls basketball team held Ira scoreless in the first quarter in a 64-26 win in a Region II-1A bi-district game Tuesday night at Badger Gymnasium.
The win came on coach Josh Fostel’s 44th birthday, marking the second day in a row an area coach earned a playoff win on his birthday in Merkel.
Eula led 18-0 after the opening quarter and scored the first 21 points of the game in rolling to the easy win.
HAMLIN — Later this week, the Munday girls basketball team will compete in the area round of the playoffs for the fifth time since 2015. But this trip will taste just a little bit sweeter for the Mogulettes, who defeated Rotan 37-25 in the bi-district round Monday to secure their first playoff win since 2012.
MHS, which drew byes through the first round in each of its last four trips to the area round, including in 2020 and 2021, will reach that point having already tasted postseason victory this year.
And first-year Munday coach Brad Johnson expects that to be a confidence booster heading into the next game against the winner of Tuesday’s matchup between Eula and Ira.
MERKEL — The Highland girls basketball team had a simple directive from coach Kyle Johnson for its Region II-1A bi-district game against May on Monday at Merkel’s Badger Gymnasium.
Win.
The Lady Hornets listened and, after a sluggish start, dominated the Lady Tigers for a 42-18 win on Johnson’s 45th birthday.
MERKEL — The Hermleigh girls basketball team has been a perennial contender for the state tournament in Duane Hopper’s first four years at the program’s helm.
Monday night, the Lady Cardinals started their run towards a third tournament berth in Hopper’s fifth year with a 75-18 win over Baird at Merkel’s Badger Gymnasium.
During Hopper’s tenure, the Lady Cardinals have lost to Nazareth in the state semifinals twice and had two more appearances in the regional final.
With the Big Country Chevy Dealers Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star Festival entering its 23rd year, event organizers are faced with the unique dilemma of needing new coaches.
The FCA staffs in Abilene, Brownwood and San Angelo have found a creative solution for this year’s festival, which is scheduled for June 2-11: to give area assistant coaches their moment in the spotlight.
This provides a neat opportunity for both the coaches and their players, who are excited to see their assistant coaches have a chance to lead a squad.
What appeared to be a slow year for the Big Country on the signing front quickly blossomed into something memorable in 2022.
With National Signing Day taking place on Wednesday, the Big Country Preps coverage area finished with multiple Division I signees, including several on the gridiron.
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Area coaches join the show to talk realignment.
When selecting our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week, it’s not entirely about numbers, though that’s certainly a part of it. The
quality of the competition counts, as does the importance of the game itself.
And when factoring in all of the above, nobody had a better overall week than Merkel senior Alyssa O’Malley, who has been among the area’s most consistent performers all season.
More often than not, our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week has led a winning effort of some sort. But we do make exceptions, and this week’s accolade is an example of that.
In last week’s 69-68 loss to Huckabay, Strawn freshman (yes, freshman) Grayson “Chaka” Rigdon put forth an absolutely show-stopping performance, dropping 54 points on HHS to go with 14 rebounds, two assists and three steals. This came on the heels of a 24-point, 10-rebound night he had in a 64-41 loss to Lingleville.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brandon McAuliffe’s top 100 football photos for 2021”
Due to UIL regulations, photo sales from state championship events are not permitted.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Strawn-Motley County football (70 images)”
Due to UIL regulations, photo sales from state championship events are not permitted.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Westbrook-May football (109 images)”
ARLINGTON — After falling a few yards short of a state championship appearance in 2020, the Strawn Greyhounds left no doubt that they were the better team on Wednesday afternoon in a 73-28 throttling of Matador Motley County at AT&T Stadium for the Class 1A Division II championship.
The redemption tour saw Strawn win all five playoff games on the 45-point mercy rule, an absolutely dominating run through the postseason.
Strawn scored at least 61 points in all of its playoff games en route to its third title in five years and fifth in school history.
ARLINGTON — Entering Wednesday’s Class 1A Division I state championship game at AT&T Stadium, the Westbrook Wildcats had the 10th-ranked scoring defense in the state, giving up just 28.1 points per game.
On the other hand, May entered with the second-highest scoring offense in the state at 66.7 points per game.
Despite May’s offense having an average day by it’s standards, it was Westbrook’s defense that came up with the biggest play when it mattered most as the Wildcats won the first state title in school history in a 72-66 thriller.
LAST WEEK: 3-1, .750
SEASON TOTAL: 509-107, .826
What a year for area football.
Six … count’em … six teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area still have a pulse in Week 17 and will compete for state titles at five different levels.
Strawn, May, Westbrook, Hawley, Brock and Stephenville will all make their way onto the turf at AT&T Stadium this week with a shot at the history books.
The Big Country Preps staff will be on hand at Jerry World, of course, soaking it all in and sharing it with you, our subscribers.
It’s difficult to believe, but its time to make my final round of picks for 2021.
Here’s this week’s forecast:
There are 12 games left in the 2021 Texas high school football season, meaning just 24 teams have a shot at ending their season with the ultimate prize: a state championship.
Of those 24 teams, six of them are in the Big Country Preps coverage area — a pool from which five championships could be claimed.
That’s a significant shift from years past as the area has won a combined total of four titles in the past six years. Prior to that, the Big Country had a run of 10 championships from 2009-2014. The banner year during that stretch came in 2012 when Throckmorton, Stamford, Munday and Stephenville were all crowned as champions.
While scoring a lot of points is always an attention-getter, the Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week column puts a great deal of value in players who can contribute in a variety of ways. And today’s winner is a prime of example of that.
Stamford junior guard Laylonna Applin takes our accolade after helping the Lady Bulldogs to a 5-0 record on the week, with wins over Burkburnett, Christoval, Class 4A No. 13 Sanger, the San Angelo Central JV and Veribest. The last for victories came in the Ballinger tournament, at which Applin was named MVP.
Yes, she did plenty of scoring, dropping in an eye-popping 134 points through five games. But Applin did a lot more than just put the ball in the hoop.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: May-Abbott football (79 images)”