LAST WEEK: 32-12, .809
SEASON TOTAL: 279-91, .757
Now it’s time to get down to business.
With most of the Big Country taking an open date last Friday as a prelude to district play, we now dive headfirst into the games that count the most.
District play opens tomorrow for most leagues in the area, the intensity of which is already tangible.
Can you feel it?
We’ll see you on the road.
Here’s this week’s area picks:
Levelland 55, Snyder 21 — Leading just 28-21 after a competitive first half, the Loboes pulled away after halftime for a comfortable win over the Tigers.
Levelland put up 14 points in the third quarter and tacked on 13 more in the fourth while shutting out Snyder over the final 24 minutes to earn its third consecutive win.
Big Spring 43, Snyder 36 — Marcus Rios passed for 268 yards and four touchdowns and added 101 yards on the ground to fuel to the Steers to thrilling win over the Tigers.
After racing out to a 15-0 first-quarter lead, the Big Spring found itself down 28-22 early in the third quarter and trailing 36-29 early in the fourth. But the Steers rallied to tie the game with about two minutes to play before turning a late interception into the game-winning score with less than a minute remaining.
Clyde 46, Snyder 13 — Devan Wright passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the Bulldogs to a comfortable win over the Tigers.
Behind its talented quarterback, Clyde extended a 26-0 halftime lead to 33-0 before Snyder (1-3) finally got on the scoreboard with its first of two second-half touchdowns.
LAST WEEK: 47-11, .810
SEASON TOTAL: 141-59, .705
After nosediving in Week 2 with one of the worst pick records I’ve ever had, the column rebounded in Week 3 with an .810 percentage to push my overall tally over .700 again.
As for this week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, Mr. Yale Youngblood will be on hand in Tolar to cover Comanche’s road game with the Rattlers in what should be a fun one.
I’ll be heading to Ballinger, where the Bearcats (3-0) will play host to Brady (2-1) in a battle of upstarts.
Let’s dive into this week’s picks:
Lubbock High 27, Snyder 26 — The Tigers rushed out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter, but they couldn’t maintain that momentum in a tough one-point loss to the Westerners.
Lubbock High, which got 120 yards and two touchdowns passing from Hector Torrez and 259 yards and one TD rushing from Braiden Dunkerson, scored 21 second-quarter points to take a one-point lead into halftime. And after Snyder scored a third-quarter touchdown to go up 26-21, the Westerners answered with the game-winning score with about eight minutes remaining in the game.
LAST WEEK: 46-28, .621
SEASON TOTAL: 94-48, .661
Abysmal.
That’s about the only adjective that comes to mind when trying to describe my Big Country football picks, which are off to the single worst start through two weeks that I’ve ever experienced in 18 years of covering area football.
A percentage of .621 after two weeks of play is beatable by throwing darts, flipping coins, or even consulting with your local horoscope page. Yet here I sit, trying to dig myself out of the hole I’ve created. But enough of that, Glen Rose at Brownwood is our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, in a week filled with interesting matchups.
Let’s have a look at them:
Snyder 40, San Angelo Lake View 34 — Aedyn Claxton threw for 209 yards and three scores as Snyder (1-1) earned the first win for new coach Anthony Gonzales.
The Tigers were stout on the ground as well, rolling up 175 yards as a team, lead by Daenin Smith with 155 yards on 31 carries and two scores.
Pecos 41, Snyder 7 — A 43-yard touchdown pass from Seth Cooper to Jacob James gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, but the Eagles responded with 41 unanswered points to pull away for a lopsided win.
Pecos took a 28-7 lead into halftime, taking advantage of a pair of Snyder turnovers and three touchdown hookups between quarterback Colt Salgado and receiver Jesus Navarro.
LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000
SEASON TOTAL: 00-00, .000
Week 1 is often loaded with difficult picks and 2024 is no exception.
Our first slate of games this year has a number of contests that could have qualified for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week. But we finally settled on Albany at Stamford for the spotlight.
The two-time defending state 2A DII state champions, minus several key players lost to graduation, facing a Stamford club bringing back most of its skill and a ton of speed.
SNYDER — Texas is notoriously difficult for out-of-state coaches to find head coaching jobs, and Lovington, New Mexico’s Anthony Gonzales knew it.
Call it a respect thing.
Texans generally believe (and with some validity) that their high school football is the best in the country. They think their players are the best, their fan support is the best and it only stands to reason that their coaching is the best as well. So why give some upstart from out of state a shot at a Texas job?
SNYDER —After an eight-year stint as the head football coach in Lovington, N.M., Anthony Gonzales arrives at Snyder with a major rebuilding task in front of him.
With only five starters back on both sides of the football among only eight returning lettermen from a 3-7 team, Gonzales is tasked with setting a foundation and reestablishing a winning culture at a program that lost 24 lettermen to graduation.
On the plus side for Snyder, 2024 presents a solid opportunity for Gonzales to start virtually from scratch. And he has no shortage of enthusiasm while approaching the task.
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. 21. 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. 5, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2024 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
Today, we take a look at the Snyder Tigers.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO A DAYS: The Snyder Tigers … nine days to two-a-days”
OTHER 2024 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2024. 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 the Big Country had to offer during the 2024 season.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
ABILENE — For five innings Thursday, the Snyder Lady Tigers struggled to figure out Burkburnett pitcher Natalee Gray in the opener of their Region I-4A quarterfinal series with the Lady Bulldogs.
But trailing 3-2 in the home half of the sixth after Gray had broken a tie with a solo homer in the top of the inning, coach Regina Cummings’ team finally found a successful formula against the talented right-hander.
Utilizing a patient approach at the plate, the Lady Tigers loaded the bases with a leadoff single and a pair of two-out walks and then applied pressure to the Lady Bulldogs defense simply by putting the ball in play, taking advantage of a pair of run-scoring errors in a five-run inning to key a 7-3 come-from-behind win at Abilene Cooper’s Cougar Diamond.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Area softball playoff games in Clyde (41 images)”
Here are the recaps of the Big Country softball playoff results in the second round of the postseason: Continue reading “SOFTBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Despite weather, 12 area teams advance to third round with Bangs-Stamford outcome still pending”
ABILENE — After coming from behind for a 3-2 win over Glen Rose on Friday to force a deciding third game in its Region I-4A bi-district series, the Snyder baseball team put itself in position to repeat the feat Saturday morning at Abilene Christian High School’s Hudson Wade Memorial Field.
Trailing 2-0 after an inning, SHS responded with three runs in the third to take a familiar 3-2 lead all the way to the sixth inning.
But unlike the day before, which saw coach Shane Stewart’s club rally for two runs in the seventh to claim a thrilling walk-off win, it was Glen Rose that was left celebrating Saturday, scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh innings — the last on a walk-off wild pitch — to escape with a dramatic 4-3 victory.
CLYDE — With 15 wins this year by a run-rule heading into their best-of-three series with Decatur, the Snyder Lady Tigers had not faced much adversity.
A 13-2 win in the opening game of the series on Thursday had it feeling like the Lady Tigers would roll into the third round of the Region I-4A postseason.
After storms interrupted Game 2 of the series, the Lady Eagles walked off Snyder with an Abby Steele home run for a 6-5 win on Saturday morning. Snyder, meanwhile, answered the bell with a 6-2 win in the series finale to advance to the next round.
AUSTIN — The UIL Track & Field State Meet kicked off Thursday with Classes 3A and 4A competing at Mike Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, and Big Country athletes made their presence felt to start to the three-day affair.
Area competitors didn’t quite match the 14 medals accrued on the opening day of the 2023 state meet, but they still made a solid showing with 10 combined medals.
Headlining the list of medalists were Brock’s Dylan Foster (300-meter hurdles), Stephenville’s Creece Brister (shot put) and Brownwood’s Ike Hall (triple jump), who all left Austin with gold medals. Continue reading “STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Stephenville’s Brister, Brownwood’s Hall and Brock’s Foster claim gold medals at 3A/4A meet”
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Snyder-Brownwood bi-district softball (52 images)”
ABILENE — With a .911 winning percentage on the season, the No. 10-ranked Snyder softball team entered the postseason on an eight-game winning streak heading into its Region I-4A bi-district series with Brownwood.
The Lady Tigers also owned 9-0 and 7-1 wins over the Lady Lions during nondistrict play.
Friday afternoon at Cooper’s Cougar Diamond, Snyder made it 3 for 3 against Brownwood with an 11-1 win to take a 1-0 series lead.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 25.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Big Spring-Snyder baseball (33 images)”
SNYDER — It wasn’t a flawless performance, by any stretch, but at the end of the day, it didn’t have to be.
Snyder’s gutsy 5-4 win over Big Spring at Moffett Field on Tuesday night was more about battling through enough tough situations to earn its second straight District 5-4A championship.
Kyler Groves delivered six solid innings on the mound and Anthony Luna was 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead Snyder (13-12-1, 7-2), which grabbed an early 3-0 lead and held off a Big Spring rally to get the win.
Big Spring (14-13-1, 6-3) was led by RJ Gomez, who was 1 for 2 with a solo homer and two walks.
“Kyler is a story this year,” coach Shane Stewart said. “He has pitched so well for us. He ran through every team in our district and is 5-0 in district. He competed for us. It wasn’t always pretty, but he always gave us a chance.
“He’s thrown so many strikes and has been ahead of the hitters. They got to him a little bit and hit him (tonight) a couple of times, but we were able to weather the storm.”
LUBBOCK — Big Country athletes made a strong showing at the Region I-4A track meet Friday and Saturday at Lowrey Field, combining to earn 19 medals and 12 automatic bids to the state meet May 2 in Austin.
Between the boys and girls competitions, area entries accounted for eight gold medals, four silvers and seven bronzes, while the Stephenville boys did enough to edge Canyon by two points for the team title.
The Yellow Jackets finished with 59 points, headlined by double gold medalist Creece Brister, who won both throwing events. Brownwood, meanwhile, had the highest girls finish, taking third with 48 points, led by gold medals from Kaya Phillips in the 200 and its 800-meter relay team.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 18.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 18.
With the end of the regular season, this will be our FINAL softball leaders posting for 2024.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
It took a little over a month, but Merkel ISD has found its man to lead the Badgers football program and athletic department as a whole.
In a move announced Monday that causes dominoes to fall across the Big Country, MISD tabbed Snyder’s Wes Wood to the post, replacing Will Kates, who resigned in March to move closer to his family.
While it may come as a surprise that Wood would leave a Class 4A Division II program to move to a Class 3A Division II squad, Wood said it was his experiences and family that led to the decision.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 11.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
While we normally try to share the love in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column, five district titles in one week isn’t easy to sidestep.
And while Wall’s Briggs Jones has already pulled down our award once this year, he earned a second with his showing at the District 6-3A meet in Clyde last week by sweeping the long jump (23-2), the triple jump (44-10.75), the 200 meters (21.92), the 100 meters (10.72) and assisting the 800 relay team to gold with a 1:29.68 split.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 4.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 4.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through March 28.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through March 28.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
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 upon which championship foundations are built.
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 2023-24 season.
Players are listed in no particular order.
Enjoy.
Here is our 2024 All-Big Country Preps boys basketball Rising Stars team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Here is our 2024 All-Big Country Preps girls basketball Rising Stars team, comprised of the top freshmen and sophomores in the area. For the rest of this year’s boys and girls basketball selections, click the links below.
Wall junior Briggs Jones may be on the verge of a major breakout season in area track and field.
Our Big Country Player of the Week not only won five medals at the coveted Angelo State Spring Break meet, but he broke two solo school records and helped break a third. It seldom gets much better than that.
Aside from setting school marks in the long jump at 23-9.5 (for gold) and the triple jump at 45-2 (for gold), Jones was part of the 800 relay team’s silver medal performance of 1:28.49 — another Wall school mark.
Big moments attract big-time players and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, certainly made the most of his opportunity over the weekend.
After scoring nine points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing four assists in a state semifinal win over Fayetteville last Thursday, Jayton sophomore Colt Gentry, saved his best for last in a 60-53 win over Benjamin in the 1A boys state title game on Saturday.
Gentry charted a team-high 19 points to go with six boards, four assists, a steal and a block to help the Jaybirds to the state title and earn state tourney MVP honors in the process.
It was his second straight week of huge performances under pressure, the first of which helped the Jaybirds win the regional tournament.