Here are the Big Country’s receiving leaders through Week 8:
Category: Stephenville Yellow Jackets
MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Former Big Country stars helped McMurry’s record 13-touchdown performance
Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.
McMurry set a school record by scoring 13 touchdowns during Saturday’s 93-20 win over Westgate Christian, and many of the War Hawks’ contributors on both sides of the football are from the Big Country.
McMurry reserve quarterback Chris Teten, a junior from Dublin, completed 5 of 7 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 26 yards and a TD on three carries. Teten hadn’t attempted a pass this season prior to Saturday’s game, and in 2025, he passed for 95 yards in six games for the War Hawks.
Brayden Loyd, a freshman from Seymour, was the fifth McMurry quarterback to appear in Saturday’s game, and he finished 5-of-7 passing for 113 yards and one score. Loyd’s dad, Dan, is the head football coach at Roscoe.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Tolar QB’s record-setting performance takes the top spot
It’s one thing to put up school-record numbers. It’s an entirely different thing to do it in only one half.
With his team handing Eastland a 70-12 loss last week, Tolar quarterback Briton Rice put up a performance that the THS faithful may recollect years from now.
Aside from hitting 11 of 18 passes for 282 yards, he connected on a school-record six TD passes. He also rushed for 17 yards and a seventh score to help the Rattlers improve to 4-3 and 3-1.
“Briton connected on big plays for six passing touchdowns in the 1st half and a rushing TD on the first drive of the second half,” coach Blake Mouser said. He has 17 TDs to just two interceptions on the year while averaging over 200 yards passing a game.”
And get this: Rice’s entire performance was finished after the first drive of the second half. Beyond that, Mouser began playing his reserves.
DISTRICT 12-4A DI WEEK 8 REPORT: Stephenville, Jarrell set to collide after Week 8 wins
Stephenville 55, China Spring 21 — Trot Jordan threw for 390 yards and four scores and Caleb Gleason rushed for 89 yards and two more TDs to lead top-ranked Stephenville (7-0, 2-0) to a lopsided win.
This sets up a huge game at Jarrell for the district lead next week.
MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Munday’s L.J. Collier marks 8th season as an NFL defensive lineman
Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.
Munday’s L.J. Collier is continuing his journey from a small town in Texas through a multiyear career in the NFL.
Collier has made his way from growing up in a Big Country town of 1,200 residents to playing Division I college football at TCU to the Arizona Cardinals, where he’s in his eighth NFL season as a backup defensive tackle.
Collier has played in all five Arizona games this season and made a season-high three tackles last week in a 45-21 loss to the Detroit Lions. He has seven tackles for the season and is listed as the No. 2 right defensive tackle on the Cardinals’ depth chart.
The 31-year-old Collier was a first-round draft choice of Seattle in 2019 and played four seasons with the Seahawks. Collier played in 44 games with the Seahawks, including 16 starts in 2020, when he logged 22 tackles, three sacks and two pass breakups.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Haskell’s Pinkerton takes the trifecta
After only seven weeks of football this season, Haskell senior quarterback Haegan Pinkerton has put his stamp on our Big Country Preps Player of the Week award for a third time.
Believe me, we’d prefer to share the love. But with Pinkerton’s numbers, the teen has begun to turn this thing into a game of Monopoly, and he’s wearing the top hat.
Pinkerton, who led the Indians to a 92-48 win over Munday, hit 13 of 14 passes for 264 yards and five touchdowns on Friday. But that’s only the beginning.
DISTRICT 12-4A DI WEEK 7 REPORT: Stephenville, Burnet and Jayton win openers
Stephenville 35, Lampasas 14 — Trot Jordan threw for 291 yards and three scores and rushed for 23 yards and two more TDs as the Yellow Jackets defeated Lampasas.
The ‘Jackets improved to 6-0 and 1-0; Lampasas dropped to 2-4 and 0-1.
MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Hardin-Simmons ‘Player of the Week’ trio all from Big Country
Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.
The Hardin-Simmons Cowboys swept the American Southwest Conference Player of the Week honors in football this week — and all three selections were former Big Country Preps athletes.
During HSU’s 58-0 win over the University of Fort Lauderdale last Saturday, Cowboys quarterback Ty Thompson, a sophomore from Graham, passed for 183 yards and three touchdowns. He was named the ASC Offensive Player of the Week after completing scoring passes of 40 yards and 5 yards to Jairdyn Anderson and 15 yards to Harison Brockway, who is also from Graham.
Thompson’s three touchdown passes came in the first quarter and staked HSU to a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
Thompson also rushed for 101 yards on eight carries, including a 51-yard touchdown run.
Through three official games this season, Thompson leads the Cowboys in rushing with 221 yards and three TDs. He also leads the team in passing with 694 yards and six TDs against one interception.
Stephenville (5-0) — The top-ranked Yellow Jackets were idle Friday night.
MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Keenum makes major comeback as NFL quarterback at age 38
Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.
Most athletes covered in this column are former Big Country athletes that moved on to college sports. The average sports fan lost track and finds out what happened to them. Hence, the name “Where Are They Now.”
If you’re a sports fan, you likely know where Case Keenum is now. The former Wylie quarterback was the talk of the entire NFL after elevating from Chicago’s No. 3 quarterback to the starter and leading the Bears to a 27-7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football.
The question fans may have about Keenum is “How did he get to where he is now?”
The 38-year-old Keenum hadn’t played in an NFL game since 2023 — a span of 1,009 days. But he showed no rust, completing 24 of 34 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles. He also scored on a 1-yard run — his first NFL rushing touchdown since 2019.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Graham QB Corley takes this week’s top honor
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.”
DISTRICT 12-4A DI WEEK 5 REPORT: Stephenville, Jarrell chart wins in Week 5
Stephenville 35, Canyon West Plains 17 — The top-ranked Yellow Jackets forced three fumbles (recovering two) and picked off a pass to hand West Plains a loss.
Stephenville (5-0) will now enjoy a week off before opening district play with Lampasas on Oct. 9 at home.
MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Former Stephenville kickers making their mark in college
Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.
Two former Stephenville High School kickers — Diego Chavarria and Cade Whitehead — are handling the main kicking duties for the respective college football teams this season.
Chavarria is in his second season at the University of Texas-Permian Basin, a member of the NCAA Division II and the Lone Star Conference. The Falcons began playing football in 2016. Although the main campus is in Odessa, the Falcons play their home games at Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland.
Whitehead is kicking for Nelson University, a member of the NAIA and the Sooner Athletic Conference. Nelson, located in Waxahachie, was formerly known as Southwestern Assemblies of God, or SAGU.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Goldthwaite safety takes the top spot
Who says defensive players can’t win Big Country Preps Player of the Week?
Goldthwaite’s Owen Campbell silenced that opinion with an extraordinary effort against previously unbeaten De Leon last week after charting an eyebrow-raising 22 tackles in a 24-13 win.
DISTRICT 12-4A DI WEEK 4 REPORT: Jarrell, Stephenville, Marble Falls chart wins
Jarrell 49, Austin Eastside Memorial 6 — JHS had an easy time with Eastside, blowing the game open with a 35-6 first half before coasting the rest of the way.
The Cougars (4-0) remain unbeaten, but their opposition thus far is a combined 1-14.
Eastside fell to 0-4.
GAME STORY: Stephenville answers every challenge in 42-23 win over Wylie
The Stephenville football team trailed Wylie midway through the second quarter and led by just five (21-16) after three quarters of play on Friday at Hugh Sandifer Stadium. But strong finishes to both halves allowed the Yellow Jackets to pull away for a 42-23 win in front of a packed homecoming crowd.
The Yellow Jackets scored 14 points in the last five minutes of the second quarter to go to halftime up 21-10 and outscored the Bulldogs 21-7 in the final period to turn a one-score game into a three-touchdown win.
Wylie passed for 301 yards on its way to 400 yards of total offense. But the Stephenville defense allowed just 16 points on five trips inside its own 25-yard line, stopping a fake field goal attempt late in the first half and intercepting a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter to allow the offense to create some separation with an efficient, workmanlike effort.
MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Stephenville’s Eakin helps Tech rally past Oregon State
Note: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.
Coy Eakin led Texas Tech in receiving and scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter last Saturday as the nationally ranked Red Raiders rallied past the Oregon State Beavers 35-24 in Corvallis, Oregon.
Eakin, a fifth-year receiver from Stephenville, caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Will Hammond that rallied Texas Tech to a 28-24 lead with 6:31 left in the game. The Red Raiders eventually won 35-24.
Nine Tech players caught passes last week, and the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Eakin led the Red Raiders in receiving with six catches for 79 yards.
Tech, 2-0 and ranked No. 13 in this week’s Associated Press poll, hosts No. 22 Houston (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday — yes, Friday — on FOX.
DISTRICT 12-4A DI WEEK 3 REPORT: Stephenville, Jarrell, Lampasas all score wins
Stephenville 48, Lubbock Cooper 7 — Trot Jordan threw for 248 yards and three scores and Zyler McClendon rushed for 65 yards and two more scores to keep Stephenville (3-0) unbeaten.
Lubbock-Cooper dropped to 0-3.
MIKE LEE’S WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Rigdon still making plays in college for Arizona State
NOTE: If you know of a former Big Country Prep athlete now performing in college or professional sports, contact Mike Lee at michaellee7@att.net.
Grayson Rigdon is listed as the No. 3 running back on the Arizona State football depth chart, but the former Strawn-Benjamin High School player scored two long-distance touchdowns in the Sun Devils’ 70-7 season-opening win over Morgan State last Saturday.
The 5-foot-11 sophomore scored on receptions of 54 and 56 yards. On both touchdowns, quarterback Cutter Boley threw to Rigdon coming out of the backfield, and he used his running skills to turn the short receptions into long touchdowns.
Rigdon’s first touchdown extended ASU’s lead to 35-7 early in the second quarter. His second score made it 56-7 early in the third quarter.
In addition to the two receptions for 110 yards, Rigdon finished Saturday’s game with four carries for 22 yards rushing and one kickoff return for 18 yards.
The Sun Devils play at No. 10-ranked Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC-TV.
As an ASU freshman last season, Rigdon played on special teams in six games. He also had two carries and one reception in the Sun Devils’ Sun Bowl loss to Duke.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Pinkerton takes his second award in as many weeks
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.
DISTRICT 12-4A DI WEEK 2 REPORT: Stephenville, Jarrell, Marble Falls notch Week 2 victories
Waco University 29, China Spring 23 — Ray Brown Jr. rushed for 225 yards and three scores and Cameron Holleman threw for 146 yards and another TD to lift University to a difficult win over an improved China Spring club.
The Trojans improved to 2-0 with the win; China Spring fell to 1-1.
GAME STORY: No. 1 Jackets survive four turnovers, rally past Brownwood 28-24
BROWNWOOD – When Brownwood’s Trent Buffington broke a 27-yard touchdown run that gave the Lions a 24-21 lead over Stephenville with 1:29 left in Friday night’s football game, Yellow Jackets quarterback Trot Jordan, along with receivers Adan Jergins and Caden Monk, said the Lions left too much time on the clock.
Several Brownwood fans were wondering the same thing.
Turns out they were right.
Jordan, who had thrown two interceptions and had passed for a modest 88 yards to that point, was facing a third-and-15 from the Jackets’ 25-yard line with one minute to play.
The all-state quarterback regrouped and threw a strike across the middle to Monk, his sophomore receiver. Monk eluded one defender and outran another on the way to a 75-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds left that gave the Jackets a 28-24 win.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Haskell QB takes the first award of the school year with an insane effort
Before Haskell senior quarterback Haegen Pinkerton arrived at HHS as a freshman, the name of Pinkerton was something I associated with the famous detective agency.
I now associate it with statistical insanity, and you should associate it with the Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
Pinkerton, who was behind center in Haskell’s 80-62 loss to Stamford, had one of the biggest nights I can recollect in a losing effort, accounting for seven touchdowns on Friday.
Hitting 15 of 22 throws for 193 yards, three of Pinkerton’s deliveries went for scores. But it was on the ground where he did most of his damage, rushing 29 times for 290 yards and four touchdowns to help keep the Indians competitive.
DISTRICT 12-4A DI WEEK 1 REPORT: Stephenville, China Spring, Jarrell and Lampasas all open the season with wins
Stephenville 44, Midlothian Heritage 21 — Trot Jordan threw for 378 yards and three scores and Caden Monk caught 11 passes for 242 yards and one score to lead the Yellow Jackets to a win over 5A Heritage.
Leading 24-21 at the break, Stephenville turned up the defensive heat after the break and scored 20 unanswered points to put the game away.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Quarterbacks
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.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Running Backs
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.
Big Country Preps Preseason Football Position Rankings: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
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.