Category: Six-man/Class 1A

by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Top-ranked Jayton rallies from early hole to knock off Whitharral, earn fourth straight state trip

LUBBOCK — The top-ranked Jayton boys basketball team had its mettle tested by Whitharral in its Class 1A Division II state semifinal matchup against the Panthers on Monday at Frenship Memorial’s Panther Pit.

But the Jaybirds showed the type of resolve you’d expect out of a two-time defending state champion, rallying from eight points down in the second quarter to grind out a 41-36 win and earn their fourth straight trip to the state title game in San Antonio.

In a game that saw four ties and 10 lead changes, coach Ryan Bleiker’s squad pulled ahead for good in the final two minutes of the third quarter, before holding off WHS in the fourth to improve to 28-3 on the year. The Jaybirds will now await the result of Tuesday’s matchup between Milford and Kennard to see who they will play for the championship at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Alamodome.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: And yet another Gaylor takes our weekly accolade

A week after Lipan’s Court Gaylor took our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award, yet another Lipan player has done the same thing. 

And by sheer coincidence, her last name is Gaylor as well. 

This time around it is freshman guard Sydni Gaylor, Court’s Younger sister, who has taken the accolade after leading the LHS girls to a Class 2A Division II state title in San Antonio on Thursday. 

Helping the Lady Indians to a 42-35 over perennial power Martin’s Mill, Sydni finished with 23 points and was voted by attending media as the game’s MVP. 

And the good news (at least for Lipan) is, this kid is only a freshman. 

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by Evan Ren

CLASS 1A DI GIRLS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Eula falls to Broaddus in rematch of last year’s title game (box score included)

SAN ANTONIO — Entering Thursday’s Class 1A Division I girls basketball state championship game with Broaddus, Eula coach Josh Fostel was concerned with two key areas — turnovers and rebounding.

As it turned out, the Lady Pirates performed reasonably well in both areas (minus-2 in turnovers and minus-5 in rebounding). Unfortunately for Eula, an unforeseen disparity at the foul line proved fatal, as the Lady Pirates were just 4 of 11 at the stripe in a 52-42 loss in the Alamodome. Broaddus, by comparison, was 15 of 29 while winning its second straight state title, both of which have come against Eula.

Kaylynn Quinney scored a game-high 22 points and Jaila Mitchell added 12 more to lead Broaddus (36-5), which overcame an early 10-4 deficit to get the win. Eula (36-3) got 18 points from Emma Damron and nine from Kamryn Franklin.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

GAME STORY: Luft, Preston power Ira past Robert Lee into showdown with top-ranked Jayton

ABILENE — Ira and Robert Lee entered Tuesday night’s Region II-1A Division II semifinal at Abilene Christian University’s Moody Coliseum unranked and knowing that the winner would have a tall task with top-ranked Jayton waiting for them in the regional final.

Robert Lee entered the game having won its first two playoff games this season by a combined 100 points, while the Bulldogs followed an 18-point win over Strawn to open the playoffs with a 74-72 win over Benjamin in overtime on Friday.

Tuesday night, it was Ira who jumped out to a fast start and cruised to a 51-30 win as Hudson Luft scored 29 points and Noah Preston added 16 more to send the Bulldogs to the regional championship game for the first time since 2011, when they lost to Bronte. Ira has never made it to a state semifinal.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Nazareth holds off furious Gordon rally to advance to state championship game (box score included)

SNYDER — With Nazareth leading Gordon 16-5 after one quarter and seeing that lead expand to 28-13 late in the second, it wasn’t difficult to think that the Swiftettes were on the verge of dominating Monday’s Class 1A DII girls state semifinal. 

Nazareth coach Eric Schilling, however, knew better. He fully expected the top-ranked, unbeaten Lady Longhorns to make a run and that’s exactly what happened as the Swiftettes escaped the Western Texas College Coliseum with a 48-46 win. 

Kambri Cleavinger scored 20 points and Lexi Ramaekers added 14 more to lead Nazareth (32-6), which advances to the state championship game where it will meet either Saltillo or Nueces Canyon on Thursday at 1 p.m. in San Antonio’s Alamodome. 

Gordon finished its campaign at 34-1, led by Faith Garnett with a game-high 23 points. Marley Jackson and Stoney Bauer added nine and eight points respectively. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Lipan PG Gaylor nabs honor with pair of strong playoff performances

Entering the week at 35-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, the Lipan Indians have won 33 straight games since suffering their only loss of the year to Class 4A Dallas Roosevelt in mid-November.

At the heart of that success has been standout point guard Court Gaylor, who performed at a high enough level in LHS’ first two playoff games to claim our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Stanaland’s block, overtime run lift No. 1 Jayton to epic win over second-ranked Gordon

ABILENE — In what felt in both environment and quality of play like a state championship game, the top-ranked Jayton Jaybirds outlasted the No. 2 Gordon Longhorns for a 47-42 win in overtime Friday night at Abilene Christian University’s Moody Coliseum.

The matchup, which was being played for the second straight year in the Region II-1A Division II area round, was tight throughout with eight ties and 10 lead changes — six of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

But a key defensive play at the end of regulation and a 7-0 run in the extra period were enough to lift two-time defending state champion Jayton to a thrilling victory in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd of partisans for both squads.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: Top-ranked Gordon girls ride second-quarter run to 46-36 win over Jayton, earn trip to state semis

ABILENE — A 13-0 run spanning the final 6:45 of the second quarter and and first 30 seconds of the third provided the difference for the top-ranked and undefeated Gordon Lady Longhorns in a 46-36 win over No. 14 Jayton in the Region II-1A Division II championship game Friday night at Abilene Christian University’s Moody Coliseum.

The first game of a highly anticipated and strongly attended doubleheader between the two schools’ basketball programs, Friday’s matchup was tied on four occasions in the first 10 minutes — the last at 14-all with 6:45 to play in the opening half. But Gordon went into halftime on a 10-0 run and opened the second half with a 3-pointer to take a game-high 13-point lead that it would defend the rest of the way.

The victory improved coach Matt Garnett’s squad to 34-0 and earned the Lady Longhorns a trip to the state semifinals, where they’ll take on 24-time state champion Nazareth early next week at a time, date and site to be announced.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco junior earns this week’s award

When Cisco junior guard Carter Toof is on his game, there is little one can do to stop him. He’s going to get his point, whether you like it or not. 

That was the case last week when Toof helped Cisco to a win over Abilene TLCA with 43 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. He followed that with 20 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals in a playoff warmup loss to Benjamin. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Gordon uses aggressive defense to eliminate troublesome Aspermont

ABILENE — Call it a tale of two halves. 

For 16 minutes — two full quarters, — 17th-ranked Aspermont went toe-to-toe with top-ranked, undefeated Gordon and trailed by two at the break. Then it happened: The game did a virtual about-face with Gordon stymying the Lady Hornets in the third quarter en route to a 53-37 win in a Region II-1A DII area round game at Hardin-Simmons University. 

Grace Garnett scored a game-high 18 points with five 3-pointers to lead Gordon (32-0), which now advances to face either Robert Lee or Grandfalls-Royalty in the regional semifinals. 

Aspermont (32-5) was led by Emilee Silva with 12 points. Maleah Hecht and Matti Polk had seven each. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 3 Eula girls use big second quarter to down Westbrook for second straight year

MERKEL — In a game that saw a number of extended runs both ways, the No. 3 Eula girls basketball team had the biggest and most pivotal one Monday at Badger Gym, using a 20-5 surge through the second quarter to nab the lead for good in a 52-38 bi-district win over Westbrook.

The Lady Cats had a 13-0 run in the first quarter and an 8-0 spurt spanning the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth. But coach Jeff Bontrager’s team never got closer to the lead than nine points after halftime thanks to the Lady Pirates’ big second period.

The win, which saw Eula stretch a 15-point halftime lead to a game-high 19 points with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, advanced the Lady Pirates (34-2) to the area round of the Region II-1A Division I playoffs, where they’ll take on Hamlin (15-18) later this week.

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by Daniel Youngblood

GAME STORY: No. 4 Hermleigh girls run away from Baird for 34-point bi-district win

MERKEL — The fourth-ranked Hermleigh girls basketball team kicked off its playoff run in dominant fashion Monday, cruising past Baird 73-39 in a Region II-1A Division I bi-district game at Merkel High School.

The Lady Cardinals outscored the Lady Bears 26-12 in the opening quarter and spent the next three periods adding to that advantage to earn an area-round matchup with the winner of Tuesday’s bi-district game between Munday and Rotan.

Hermeigh, which had four players reach double figures scoring in the victory, knocked down nine 3-pointers as a team in improving to 32-2 on the year.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Clyde freshman captures this week’s award

Aside from being a traditional area area power in softball, the Clyde Lady Bulldogs are known for getting off to fast starts every spring and quickly establishing the fact that they’re a team to be reckoned with. 

But this year, with freshman pitcher Brynli Reynolds making a major splash, Clyde is not only good, it’s scary good.

At this point, the Lady Bulldogs are 3-0, with wins over good teams from Hawley (8-1), Littlefield (10-0) and most recently, over three-time defending 3A state champion Coahoma (7-0). 

Reynolds, who has taken our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, tossed a no-hitter in the Hawley win. And in 21 innings of work last week, she allowed only one earned run on seven hits with — get this — 51 strikeouts. Yes, you read that correctly. 

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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

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Comanche senior takes this week’s award

Comanche senior J’Lee Salinas is no stranger to BCP accolades, having already won our Player of the Week award as well as being named to our All-Big Country Preps team. 

Well, she’s done it again after helping Comanche sweep district mates Millsap and Peaster — taking our Player of the Week award for the week ending Feb. 7.

Salinas had a solid week with a double-double in a win against Millsap (83-27), finishing with 24 points,10 rebounds, four assists and six steals.

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by Evan Ren

SIGNING DAY: Gordon seniors headline area signees for 2025-26

Of all the Big Country area collegiate signees in the 2025-26 school year, what would the odds be for two of them to be from a tiny school from the six-man ranks? And what would the odds be that both would sign to participate in two sports?

What are the odds that they would have the same last name yet be of no relation? And what would the odds be that both would play in the prestigeous Military Appreciation Bowl in Frisco on Dec. 21 (featuring several of the top players in the country)?

Would the planets have to be aligned for both of them to be among the top academic athletes in the Big Country? Or for them both to sign with separate military academies to participate as two-sport athletes at the DI level? 

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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 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

BIG COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco junior earns this week’s accolade

You have to appreciate a player who can contribute big numbers in several different ways. And in the case of our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, such players have an advantage when it comes to taking down our weekly award. 

This time around, it’s Cisco junior Owen Kilpatrick, who posted a triple-double in a 74-38 win over Abilene TLCA, finishing with 18 points, 21 rebounds and 12 assists. 

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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 Daniel Youngblood

2025 All-Big Country Preps Six-Man Football Team: Superlative Awards and First-Team Roster

Here are our first-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football 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 Six-Man Football Team: Second-Team Roster

Here are our second-team selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football 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 Six-Man Football Team: Third-Team Roster (w/ honorable mention)

Here are our third-team and honorable mention selections for the 2025 All-Big Country Preps six-man football team. For the rest of this year’s selections, click the links below.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: French foreign exchange student takes this week’s accolade with quadruple-double

Ysée Le Borgne may feel like a fish out of water living in Ballinger, Texas. After all, the 16-year-old foreign exchange student and native of Lille, France is more than 5,000 miles and (needless to say), a major cultural shift away from her hometown. 

On the basketball court, however, the 6-foot sophomore guard is right at home — so much so that she earned our Big Country Preps Player of Week for the week ending Jan. 17 with a rare quadruple double. 

Le Borgne, who opened the week with a 24-point, 14-rebound double-double in a loss to Colorado City, showed the potential for a “quad” that night with seven steals, six pass deflections and four blocks. 

Three days later it happened in a 43-32 win over Coleman that saw Le Borne finish with 23 points, 12 boards, 10 steals and 10 pass deflections. 

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by Daniel Youngblood

THIS WEEK IN BOYS BASKETBALL: District races taking shape as title, playoff favorites begin to emerge

District races are heating up throughout the Big Country and the cream is quickly rising to the top in our area leagues.

Last week and helped provide some clarity in a number of district’s throughout the BCP coverage area, and this week will, no doubt, do the same.

Without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive into this week’s column and take a look at the biggest games on this week’s slate and some of the top results last week had to offer.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: No. 2 Gordon girls top No. 1 Eula in classic battle of unbeatens

EULA — Yes, it lived up to the hype. In fact, Tuesday’s showdown between the top-ranked Eula girls and No. 2 Gordon may have exceeded the expectations of some. 

Faith Garnett scored 17 points and sister Grace Garnett added 16 more to lead Gordon (22-0, 1-0 District 13-1A) to a thrilling 47-43 win in a battle of unbeatens at Mary Mosley Gymnasium.

In a game that featured 21 combined 3-pointers between the two clubs, seven lead changes and five ties, Gordon used a 7-3 spurt in the final 3:51 to walk away with the win. 

While suffering its first loss of the year, Eula (25-1, 1-1) was led by Kamryn Franklin with 12 and Emma Damron with 11. 

“With the respect we have for Eula and the job coach Fostel does with them, we knew coming in that it would be two teams that are well-prepared and that would land punches,” Gordon coach Matt Garnett said. “Our whole goal was to be able to take some of those punches and we felt like we could throw some. 

“But we know how good they are and I was just really proud.” 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sipe takes our weekly award with unbelievable shooting night

There are memorable shooting nights. Then there are shooting nights one is unlikely to ever forget.

Wylie senior guard Swade Sipe had one of the latter on Friday night, with a 33-point effort in a 74-62 win over Brock. 

During the course of this performance, Sipe was 11 of 11 from the field, 6 of 6 from 3-point range, 5 of 5 from two-point range and 5 of 6 from the foul line.

This explosive, nearly perfect effort against a very good 4A Brock team earns Sipe our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award, during a week when several players posted numbers good enough to claim the accolade.

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wall big man takes our first award of 2026

Nobody played a tougher schedule over the holidays than the Wall boys. And nobody had a bigger impact on their successful run through a brutal five-game stretch than 6-foot-7 big man Paxton Brake who takes our first Big Country Preps Player of the Week for 2026.

Brake, a junior, scored a combined 70 points through the break, averaging 14 points, 9.2 boards and 3.2 assists to help the Hawks go 4-1 over the break with wins over Decatur, Lorena, Ponder and Sweetwater, along with a close loss to perennial power Brock.

Wall enters this week at 17-5 overall.

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by Daniel Youngblood

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Holliday tops Jim Ned boys for title; Graford routs Christoval in third-place game

EULA — The Jim Ned boys basketball team fell just short of the Eula Holiday Classic championship on Wednesday, dropping a hard-fought game to a familiar foil in the event’s title game at Mary Mosley Gymnasium.

The Indians got off to a fast start against region rival Holliday, building an early 17-9 lead, but they couldn’t maintain that momentum in a 42-36 loss to the Eagles.

That matchup capped a strong boys tournament for area teams, as Graford placed third with a 64-33 win over Christoval and Clyde took fifth with a 45-36 win over Andrews. Other noteworthy results involving area squads included a 36-34 loss by Tolar to Bells in the seventh-place game and 69-64 loss by Eula to New Deal in the consolation third-place game.

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by Daniel Youngblood

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Late 3 fuels Eula girls past Jim Ned, to second straight Eula Holiday Classic title

EULA — Before last year, Eula coach Josh Fostel had never won a Eula Holiday Classic championship in the tournament’s long and illustrious history. On Wednesday, he and his Lady Pirates won their second straight.

After racing out to a double-digit lead in the first half of Wednesday’s championship game, EHS saw Jim Ned rally to take its first lead of the contest on a Lily Bryant 3-pointer with just over 17 seconds remaining. But Reagan Barr answered with a clutch 3 of her own with five seconds to play to lift the Lady Pirates to a thrilling 49-47 win at Mary Mosley Gymnasium.

That action-packed title game capped a strong overall tournament for area squads, as Tolar topped Hermleigh 54-46 to take the third-place game and Clyde defeated Spur 53-44 to win the consolation title. Hico also finished sixth in the 16-team girls field, falling to Nazareth 44-27 in the fifth-place game after knocking off Holliday 50-40 in its third-round game on Tuesday.

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by Daniel Youngblood

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Eula, Jim Ned girls lock up spots in championship game of Eula Holiday Classic

EULA — The Eula and Jim Ned girls basketball teams played their way into the championship game of the Eula Holiday Classic on Tuesday, scoring semifinal wins over Tolar and Hermleigh, respectively, to set up a clash of Big Country powers for the tournament title on Wednesday. 

The Lady Pirates rallied from a 12-9 first-quarter deficit to pull away for a 37-27 win over the Lady Rattlers, while the Lady Indians pulled off the comeback of the tournament, digging out of a 30-11 second-quarter hole to slip past the Lady Cardinals 51-50 in a thriller.

Eula and Jim Ned will tip off at 2:40 p.m. at the Mary Mosley Gymnasium for the championship following a noon third-place game between Tolar and Hermleigh. At Eula Middle School, meanwhile, Clyde will play Spur for the tournament’s consolation title after defeating New Deal 55-47 in the consolation semifinals.

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by Daniel Youngblood

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Tolar, Eula girls earn way to semifinals on first day of Eula Holiday Classic

EULA — The Tolar and Eula girls basketball teams were the first to punch their tickets to the semifinals on the opening day of the Eula Holiday Classic, earning a pair of wins on Monday to earn a matchup against each other on Tuesday for a spot in Wednesday’s championship game.

Tolar followed a 54-42 win over Clyde in its opener with a 49-41 victory over Hico in the quarterfinals, while Eula picked up double-digit wins over larger programs from New Deal (36-24) and Holliday (52-38).

The other semifinal qualifiers on the girls side of the tournament will be determined Tuesday morning, following quarterfinals matchups between Nazareth and Jim Ned (9:20 a.m.) and Springtown and Hermleigh (10:40 a.m.). Jim Ned defeated Strawn 49-37 in its opener, while Hermleigh routed Andrews 89-56.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SIDEBAR: Ham’s performance for Jayton goes down as the greatest in championship game history

ARLINGTON — Jayton senior running back Bode Ham admitted that he was cramping up in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s Class 1A Division II state championship game at AT&T Stadium.

When he found out that he was on the precipice of history, however, he fought through the cramps and made sure that he would be back on the field for the final time in a storied high school career.

The gutsy effort saw him run for 430 yards on 28 carries, throw for 118 yards and account for a UIL record 13 total touchdowns — including a record-breaking 10 rushing — as the Jaybirds took a 99-54 win over Richland Springs to cap off a perfect 15-0 year.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Ham’s historic performance helps Jaybirds beat Richland Springs, repeat as champions

ARLINGTON — Richland Springs coach Harley Ethridge opened his postgame press conference by simply stating: “Jayton is good, and I think I underestimated them. I hate to admit that.”

Behind a record-breaking performance from senior Bode Ham, Jayton was able to repeat as Class 1A Division II state champions with a resounding 99-54 win over the Coyotes on Wednesday at AT&T Stadium. 

Ham set UIL records for rushing touchdowns (10) and total touchdowns (13) in a state championship game. The Jayton senior also narrowly missed setting a record for most rushing yards in the title game after finishing with 430 yards on just 28 carries.

Jayton’s star added 118 yards and three touchdowns passing while earning Offensive and Defensive MVP honors in the game. He had eight tackles, including three for a loss, and one pass breakup.

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by Brandon McAuliffe

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Gordon cements legacy among best six-man teams of all time with third straight title

ARLINGTON — The Gordon Longhorns cemented their place in the conversation for the greatest six-man dynasty of all time with a 69-22 win over Rankin in the Class 1A Division I state championship game on Wednesday morning at AT&T Stadium.

The Longhorns held the ball for just 3:56 and scored nine touchdowns on just 16 plays in securing their third straight state championship.

After the game, Gordon coach Mike Reed didn’t shy away from that conversation.

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by Zach Duncan, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Undefeated Gordon, Jayton squads look to defend Class 1A titles

Gordon is one victory away from history.

Winners of 43 straight games, the Longhorns can capture their third consecutive state championship when they play at 11 a.m. Wednesday against Rankin at AT&T Stadium.

Gordon coach Mike Reed remembers the last time a Big Country team was attempting a three-peat at the Class 1A Division I level. Westbrook had a chance to pull off that feat in 2023, but instead a sophomore-heavy Longhorns squad overwhelmed the Wildcats 70-20.

Gordon hasn’t been tested in the two years since, but Reed cautioned that Rankin shouldn’t be overlooked now.

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by Daniel Youngblood

SIX-MAN LOOKAHEAD: Three area teams ready for state championship action

We’ve reached the final week of the season, and as expected, teams from the Big Country Preps coverage area will play a significant role in deciding both six-man state championships.

In Division I, the two-time defending state champion Gordon Longhorns will try to further cement their legacy as one of the most impressive dynasties in six-man football history when they take on Rankin for a third consecutive title at 11 a.m. Wednesday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

And in Division II, it’s an all-area matchup between the defending state champion Jayton Jaybirds and perennial power Richland Springs immediately following the Division I game.

The culmination of another outstanding year of six-man action, these two contests should provide a fun celebration of the sport for both longtime fans and those newer to the six-man game. Without further ado, let’s dive in and take a look at both matchups in our final “Six-Man Lookahead” column of 2025.

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Carter Toof
by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cisco guard captures award with amazing week

If you were told that the Big Country had a possible boys basketball star in the making, where would you guess he was from? 
Jim Ned? Eula? San Saba? 

While those choices often make sense, there is a rising star on the block from an area that is seldom attached with basketball greatness. His name: Carter Toof, a junior from Cisco where pigskin has served as the athletic identity of the school for more than two decades. 

Named as our Big Country Player of the Week for the week ending Dec. 13, Toof, a gifted guard, earned our accolade with a performance that bordered on scary. 

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