Stephenville 21, Wichita Falls Rider 20 — A missed fourth quarter extra point allowed Stephenville to leave Wichita Falls a winner on Friday.
Elijah Jackson scored on a 1-yard run with 4:07 to play to pull Rider to within a point. But an errant snap on the ensuing extra point doomed the Raiders (3-2).
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Wylie-Stephenville football (94 images)”
China Spring 61, Waco Connally 41 — The Cougars (3-1) rolled up 468 yards in total offense, including 285 passing yards to beat Connally in a shootout.
While suffering its first loss, Connally (3-1) pounded out 355 yards rushing, but was unable to keep pace with a China Spring offense that ran 23 fewer plays than the Cadets.
STEPHENVILLE — Leading Stephenville 35-10 early in the third quarter after scoring its fourth consecutive touchdown off the Yellow Jackets’ second turnover of the game, the Wylie football team seemed to be well on its way to a comfortable win Friday night at Tarleton Memorial Stadium.
In the end, though, it would take a pressure-packed touchdown drive in the final 5:50 and a victory-sealing interception in the end zone for the Bulldogs to finally breath easy with a thrilling 42-32 win.
Stephenville quarterback Ryan Gafford hooked up with Tristian Gentry for three second-half touchdown passes to trim a once-four score Wylie lead to 35-32 with just under six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But after managing just one first down on their four previous possessions, the Bulldogs marched 74 yards in 10 plays on their last to fend off the SHS rally and spoil the Yellow Jackets homecoming.
When it comes to individual performances, there are big games and there are big games.
And then there’s what Cooper junior Daniel Bray did against San Angelo Central last week in leading the Cougars to their first win of the season.
The explosive tailback, who had been limited some in the first two weeks by a nagging ankle injury and the growing pains of a young offensive line, broke out in a historic way in that 53-45 victory over the Bobcats. By the time the game was over, he had rushed for a school-record 366 yards and seven touchdowns on just 21 carries, making a case for our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award that was too compelling to pass over — even in a week with a number of other monster performances.
Stephenville 56, Decatur 55 — Stephenville got more than 550 yards in total offense to outlast Decatur in a wild one.
The Yellow Jackets improved to 2-1 behind 412 yards passing and six TD strikes from Ryan Gafford. Tate Maruska added 145 yards rushing and two more scores.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Abilene High volleyball (108 images)”
Hosting the Stephenville Honeybees in its final match before Friday’s District 4-5A opener against Wylie, the Abilene High volleyball team couldn’t keep pace with Class 4A’s seventh-ranked squad Tuesday, falling 25-16, 25-23, 25-13 at Eagle Gym.
The Lady Eagles battled and had their chances to grab some momentum in Games 1 and 2, but ultimately the talented visitors were just too much to handle in a nondistrict sweep.
The victory improved Stephenville to 21-3 on the season with three more matches to play before the start of District 6-4A play on Sept. 26, while Abilene High fell to 7-17 with its sixth consecutive loss.
Stephenville 14, Everman 7 — The Yellow Jackets charted more than 500 yards in total offense with a balanced stat sheet.
Rushing for 286 yards and passing for 232, Stephenville (1-1) overcame three costly turnovers to hold off EHS and earn its first win of 2023..
Midlothian Heritage 31, Stephenville 28 — Heritage produced 367 yards in total offense against a veteran Stephenville defense to edge the Yellow Jackets on the road.
The Jaguars stretched their lead to 31-21 with a fourth-quarter score before a 50-yard Stephenville scoring drive with seven minutes to play cut the gap to three.
STEPHENVILLE — Through seven games a year ago, Stephenville’s Camden McKinney was enjoying a productive junior season — one that may have been good enough to earn him All-Big Country Preps honors as one of the area’s top defensive ends.
Then it happened.
During a crucial district matchup with China Spring, McKinney suffered a torn ACL in his left knee, ending a promising season in an instant while forcing him to undergo surgery and a lengthy rehab process.
STEPHENVILLE — With 19 lettermen, seven defensive starters and a few key offensive returnees, the Stephenville Yellow Jackets should be able to reload in 2023.
Courtesy of an influx of young talent from a 9-1 JV team, SHS will have only one key question mark heading into this fall: its offensive line.
If the ‘Jackets succeed in rebuilding their offensive front, they will have the weapons to score points and the defense to protect them.
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. 16. 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 July 31, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2023 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
We continue in Class 4A Division I with the Stephenville Yellow Jackets. On Friday we will take a look at the Wylie Bulldogs, followed by the Cooper Cougars on Saturday.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: 2023 State LineMAN Championships (133 photos)”
MIDLAND — The Stephenville baseball team had reeled off 17 straight wins to come within one victory of reaching the Class 4A state tournament in Austin.
But on Friday in Midland, the Yellow Jackets saw their memorable run come to an end with consecutive defeats (2-0, 6-0) at the hands of third-ranked Canyon Randall in the Region I-4A title series at Christiansen Stadium.
Having already taken a 1-0 series lead with a 3-2 win over the Raiders in Game 1 on Thursday, the Yellow Jackets were poised to lock up the best-of-three regional title series and had two chances to do it.
MIDLAND — Luke Heller and Wacey Dill combined on a three-hitter while Nate Berry and Hayden Rudloff both provided RBI base hits to lift Stephenville to a 3-2 win over Canyon Randall in Game 1 of the Region I-4A championship series at Christiansen Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Berry singled home KB Bowman and Mason Weyers scored on a throwing error. They later expanded their advantage to 3-0 when Rudloff drove in Berry with a single.
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Sophomore left-hander Gabe Elms delivered a complete-game gem and his lineup gave him eight runs in the first three innings as the Stephenville baseball team cruised to a 9-2 win over Midland Greenwood in the second game of a best-of-three Region I-4A semifinal series.
That win, combined with a gritty 6-3 victory in Wednesday’s opener, completed a sweep of the Rangers, advancing the Yellow Jackets to the Region I-4A finals for the third consecutive year.
Saturday’s game, which was delayed by thunderstorms in the Abilene area, marked the 16th consecutive victory for SHS, which will take a 27-12-1 record into next week’s series against Canyon Randall (35-3).
Stephenville ace Luke Heller struggled to find a groove, and his lineup never really got comfortable at the plate against Midland Greenwood pitchers Jaxon Ramos and Ty Presley on Wednesday in Game 1 of a best-of-three Region I-4A semifinal series at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field.
But that didn’t keep the Yellow Jackets from grinding out a 6-3 victory over the Rangers to extend their win streak to 15 games.
Despite an uncharacteristically laborious start by Heller and a four-hit effort at the plate, SHS (26-12-1) scraped across four runs in the fifth inning to a spur a come-from-behind win and put itself in position to go for the sweep when the series resumes Saturday afternoon back at ACU.
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For 5½ innings Friday at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field, it looked as though the Stephenville baseball team was headed toward its first loss since early April.
Trailing District 6-4A rival Graham 5-1 in Game 2 of their Region I-4A quarterfinal series and struggling to get anything going against Steers ace Noah Jilek, the Yellow Jackets and their 13-game winning streak were in serious peril.
But after recording just three hits through the first five innings against Jilek, coach Justin Swenson’s team exploded for 10 hits during a nine-run sixth to flip the script in what would eventually be a dramatic 10-7 win. The victory, the Jackets’ 14th in a row, clinched a series sweep and earned SHS a spot in next week’s region semifinals against the winner of Canyon and Midland Greenwood.
Junior left-hander Luke Heller was on his game, and the Stephenville lineup supported their ace with plenty of offense, scoring in every inning to top District 6-4A rival Graham 10-0 in Game 1 of a best-of-three Region I-4A quarterfinal series Thursday at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field.
Heller limited the Steers to just two hits in a five-inning shutout, and the Yellow Jackets bats took care of the rest, following one-run innings in each of the first three frames with bigger numbers in the final two to end the game early by run rule.
With a steady rain falling for most of the evening, Stephenville put constant pressure on Graham, closing an 11-hit offensive effort with a four-run top of the fifth that saw Kyler Bowman triple home a pair of runs before scoring himself on an error and Nate Barry blast a two-out homer to left for the game’s 10th run.
Our final Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the 2022-23 school year could have gone any number of directions.
We finally settled on Goldthwaite junior Lainey Jernigan, who swept both the girls 2A hurdles titles at the state meet last week.
Jernigan won the 100 hurdles in 14.62 and the 300 hurdles in 44.12. And the good news for GHS fans is, she’s coming back to defend both crowns next year.
Cover photo courtesy of Stephenville coach Kolt Kittley
AUSTIN —The UIL State Track and Field meet kicked off Thursday with Classes 3A and 4A competing at Mike Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, and the Big Country had a fairly strong showing.
The closest finish determining who would be on and off the podium came in the Class 3A girls 800 meter run where Ballinger’s Addison Martin ran the race in 2 minutes, 17.522 seconds, edging Holliday freshman Kenli Atwood by a microscopic 0.007 seconds after diving through the finish line in her final event of a storied career.
Martin’s podium finish, where she was just one-tenth of a second off what had been the top qualification mark, was one of 14 medal-worthy performances for area athletes.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Levelland baseball bi-district playoff (55 images)”
The Stephenville baseball team continued its run of hot play Saturday, closing out its Region I-4A bi-district series against Levelland with its 10th consecutive win and fourth run-rule victory in its lats five games.
The Yellow Jackets trailed 2-0 after the first-half inning, but they responded immediately with seven runs in the home half of the first and cruised from there to a 13-2 win at Abilene Cooper’s Cougar Field.
The victory followed a 12-0 win over the Lobos in Friday’s Game 1, capping a series sweep and earning SHS an area-round date next week with Krum, which downed Sanger two games to one in its bi-district series.
As the Stephenville baseball team prepares for this week’s playoff opener (more on that intriguing scenario in a moment), the Yellow Jackets will be prepared for pretty much anything that could come their way.
That’s so, because … well … pretty much everything has come their way to date.
It’s always a great accomplishment to go to the state track meet in multiple events. But when it’s done in dominating fashion at the Class 4A level or above, you’re generally talking about a very special, gifted athlete.
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Victoria Cameron of Stephenville, falls directly into that category and she has the regional hardware to prove it.
Taking four gold medals at the Region I-4A meet, Cameron scored 30 individual points while clinching four berths to the state meet.
LUBBOCK — Big Country athletes combined to claim 18 medals and clinch 13 automatic berths to the state track meet at the Region I-4A meet over the weekend at Lowrey Field.
The area accounted for 11 gold medals, two silvers and five bronzes as Stephenville and Sweetwater claimed top-five team finishes on the girls side and Stephenville and Brownwood finished in the top 10 in boys competition.
Stephenville’s Victoria Cameron headlined the meet for the Big Country girls contingent, leaving Lubbock with four gold medals, while Stephenville’s Creece Brister won both throwing events on the boys side.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Sweetwater softball bi-district playoff (108 images)”
BRECKENRIDGE — The Sweetwater softball team opened the playoffs in explosive fashion Thursday, racking up 17 hits in a 13-2 run-rule victory over Stephenville in Game 1 of a best-of-three Region I-4A bi-district series.
The Lady Mustangs scored at least one run in every inning, plating four in the first and three in the second to build an early lead they’d only add to the rest of the way.
With Thursday’s victory, Sweetwater will have a chance to clinch a sweep and a spot in the area round when the series resumes with Game 2 at 5 p.m. Friday back in Breckenridge. Game 3, if necessary, would follow 30 minutes after the completion of Game 2.
A no-hitter alone is often enough to secure the Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. But when it’s backed by a solid offensive performance, it’s very difficult to get knocked off of the perch.
Brock sophomore Jesse Rusinek takes this week’s accolade after holding Eastland hitless in a 15-0 mercy rule win that saw him miss a perfect game by one walk. He fanned 12 in the process.
“He was dealin’ out there,” Brock coach Kobe Page said of the stuff Rusinek had in the Eastland game. “When he’s on, he’s pretty tough … just showing up, battling and moving the ball around the strike zone. He was ‘on.'”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Districts 5/6-4A area track meet (104 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Brownwood softball (41 images)”
BROWNWOOD — Just three days after a 4-2 home-field loss to archrival Brownwood, the Stephenville Honey Bees came to BHS on Friday seeking a little payback in a District 6-4A rematch.
Mission accomplished.
Helped by a gritty pitching performance from Presley Gaitain and a three-run third inning, the Honey Bees (15-11, 3-3) held on for a 5-3 win, keeping them in solid contention for a No. 2 playoff seed.
Making multiple switches to her batting order, Stephenville coach Kady Crow threw caution to the wind prior to gametime and the gamble paid off.
It’s difficult to trump a no-hitter, though Snyder’s Ava Aviles came close last week.
Aviles, who threw back-to-back two-hitters for Snyder softball, is our first runner-up to her classmate, Player of the Week Ty Davis and his first career no-hitter.
Davis earned a 13-2 five-inning win over Levelland last week, holding LHS hitless in the mercy rule win, finishing with five strikeouts.
“Ty has continued to improve on the mound and has given us some excellent innings this season, none bigger than last Tuesday with his no-hit performance,” Snyder coach Shane Stewart said. ” I am proud of him and looking forward to watching him mature as a pitcher and a young man.”
It’s not often that a Big Country baseball team charts two no-hitters in the same week. But when two pitchers with the same last name are charting the no-nos it’s about as common as the planets aligning.
That was the case last week with the Albany Lions, who in sweeping Haskell (15-0) and Stamford (11-1) saw Cole and Tyler Chapman (non-siblings) post back-to-back no-hitters.
Cole, a senior, blanked Haskell in four innings of work in a mercy rule win, fanning six. Three days later, Tyler got into the act in a five-inning run-rule win with 12 Ks.
They now share our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award — another rarity.
“We were very proud of our pitchers last week,” Albany coach David Fairchild said. “Both pitchers were in control and in command of their pitches.”
Bangs southpaw Abby Wolf has thrown so many no-hitters this year, that the subject barely raises an eyebrow. But in consecutive district wins over Coleman and Christoval last week, the sophomore managed to create a stir.
Missing a perfect game by one hit batsman in a 7-0 win over Coleman, she followed that with three perfect innings in a 15-0 route of Christoval.
In other words, Wolf tossed nine complete hitless innings last week, along the way walking none and fanning 13.
Softball tournaments can distort the significance of pitching accomplishments due to inning caps or time limits, rendering perfect games or no-hitters into half-versions of their true selves.
However, there is no denying that tournaments are work, especially for pitchers, and our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, Hamlin southpaw Zoe Moore, earned the accolade with a 4-0 record in the Wichita Falls Sunrise Optimist Tournament last week.
LUBBOCK — With only two seniors and two juniors surrounded by a host of sophomores and freshmen, few were expecting to see the Stephenville Honey Bees in this year’s Region I-4A semifinals.
Nonetheless, Stephenville was at Lubbock Christian University on Friday taking on No. 4 Canyon. But as fate would have it, the ‘Bees were finally toppled, 49-31 to close a remarkable 32-5 campain.
Sydnee Winfrey and Jaylee Moss dropped in 11 points apiece and Shaylin Schulte added eight more to lead Canyon (32-3), which advances to face top-ranked Glen Rose for the regional title.
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Not much separated the Snyder and Stephenville boys basketball teams in their Region I-4A bi-district matchup Tuesday at McMurry’s Kimbrell Arena.
Three points, to be exact.
In a evenly-matched game that close throughout, the Tigers escaped with a 41-38 win that wasn’t decided until the final buzzer, shortly before which Payton Poston’s game-tying 3-point attempt bounced off the rim and out, finally allowing the Snyder coaches and players to exhale and eventually celebrate.
CLYDE — Outgunned athletically, both in terms of size and quickness by Lubbock Estacado, the Stephenville Honey Bees had to fall back on an old standby to win Tuesday’s Region I-4A quarterfinal: team defense.
Though it took the better part of four quarters to achieve it, 10th-ranked Stephenville finally put the Lady Matadors in their rearview mirror, topping Estacado 55-43 at the Clyde High School gym.
Mya Wilson scored 21 points and Lillie Skiles added 11 more to lead Stephenville (32-4), which now advances to the Region I-4A semifinals at Lubbock Christian University where they will face fourth-ranked Canyon (31-3) on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
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TUSCOLA — The 10th-ranked Stephenville girls basketball team got its postseason started with a dominating performance Monday, using its patented pressure defense to fluster Snyder in a 66-30 bi-district win at Jim Ned’s Bill Thornton Arena.
The Honeybees shut the Lady Tigers out in the first quarter and built a 25-4 lead by halftime, ending the competitive phase of the game before the start of the third period.
The victory earned coach Jason Hodges’ team a highly anticipated area-round date with No. 11 Sanger (28-5), which routed Springtown 81-17 in its bi-district game on Monday. That matchup is slated for 6 p.m. Thursday in Weatherford.