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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Wichita Falls Hirschi football (77 images)”
FRISCO — Through much of the 2021 season, the Stephenville Yellow Jackets have created a cushion for themselves — nearly eliminating pressure situations with an average victory margin of 41-13 through their first 14 games.
Friday night at the Star, however, the Jackets were forced to answer the bell time and time again in a 38-35 win over Wichita Falls Hirschi in the Class 4A Division I state semifinals.
Ryder Lambert threw for 220 yards and two scores and rushed for a third touchdown to lift Stephenville, which battled through six lead changes to reach the state championship game. There, the Jackets (15-0) will meet either Tyler Chapel Hill (11-3) or Austin LBJ (14-0) next week in Arlington.
LAST WEEK: 7-0, 1.000
SEASON TOTAL: 506-106, .826
As Week 16 arrives, Big Country Preps still has an astonishing seven teams still active — Stephenville, Brock, Hawley, Albany, Westbrook, May and Strawn — the last three of which will be playing for the Class 1A Division I and Division II titles next week.
In the meantime, we have four 11-man state semifinal games involving teams in our coverage area to discuss this week, including three Thursday dates.
The column remains red hot at the moment, going 7-0 on picks last week and 19-1 over the last two weeks.
Here’s this week’s playoff forecast:
Matt Stepp of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine joins the show to offer his opinions of Stephenville, Brock, Hawley and Albany.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Melissa football (111 images)”
BEDFORD — The second-ranked Stephenville Yellow Jackets needed a late rally to beat defending state champion Argyle in last week’s regional semifinal, but with a berth in the final four on the line, coach Sterling Doty’s squad left no doubt in Friday’s Region II-4A semifinal matchup with No. 4 Melissa.
Behind quarterback Ryder Lambert and wide receiver Coy Eakin, the Yellow Jackets punched their ticket to the state semifinals with a thrilling 24-21 win over the Cardinals at Pennington Field.
Eakin had three second-half catches for 173 yards and a pair of scores to help the Yellow Jackets turn a 7-0 halftime deficit into a 24-7 lead by the fourth quarter as SHS advanced to the state semifinals for the first time in four years.
LAST WEEK: 12-1, .923
SEASON TOTAL: 499-106, .825
Alright, we’re getting down to the nitty gritty — football in December with seven Big Country teams still fighting for a trip to Arlington. If I’m correct, we’ll have quite a few area survivors to congratulate by Sunday.
The column connected on 92 percent of its picks last week, so we’ll see if I can keep the hot streak going.
Here’s this week’s forecast:
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stephenville-Argyle football (80 images)”
MANSFIELD — During its 12-0 run to the Region II-4A semifinals, the Stephenville football team didn’t have to play from behind very often.
But facing a tough Argyle squad Friday at Vernon Newsom Stadium, the Yellow Jackets proved they’re more than capable of rallying if need be.
Trailing 14-0 less than 10 minutes into the game and 17-14 midway through the fourth quarter, SHS came from behind on a pair of occasions to score a 21-17 win over the Eagles and earn a date with top-ranked Melissa in the Region I-4A championship game next week.
LAST WEEK: 17-4, .809
SEASON TOTAL: 487-105, .823
Some areas have quantity. Others have quality. The Big Country has both — at least, this year it does.
Entering Week 14 there are no fewer than 16 area teams with a shot at reaching December. And with six of them paired off against each other, the Big Country is guaranteed to have at least three survivors a week from now.
I have a strong feeling we’re going to see more area survivors than that. But we will have some casualties this time around. There’s no avoiding it with the level of competition our teams are facing.
With 11-man teams reaching the regional semifinal round and six-man teams playing for regional titles, there are nothing but monsters remaining to block the path to Arlington.
Who will make it through?
Here’s this week’s forecast:
Stephenville 28, Paris 10 — Stephenville (12-0) rolled up 480 yards in total offense, despite Paris’ efforts to kill as much clock as possible.
The Yellow Jackets rushed for 228 yards and threw for 252 while limiting PHS to 149 yards in total offense (138 on the ground).
Big numbers will generally get one strong consideration for our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week award. But when those numbers come against a team from a much larger classification, it quickly makes us take notice.
Class 2A Hico’s Grace Booth did exactly that last week in a 61-57 win over Class 4A Mineral Wells, dominating both ends of the floor to lead the Lady Tigers in their season opener.
Aside from the 40 points she poured in, Booth snagged 10 rebounds to chart a double-double. She also forced multiple turnovers (viewable on the video above), including three steals.
Stephenville 49, Fort Worth Dunbar 21 — Ryder Lambert was a perfect 20 of 20 through the air for 373 yards and five scores to lift the Yellow Jackets to a bi-district win over Dunbar.
Lambert, who rushed for 14 yards and an additional touchdown, connected with Coy Eakin seven times for 213 yards and two TDs.
The Jackets (11-0) finished with 505 yards in total offense, with 108 coming on the ground.
With boys basketball season beginning this week, it’s time to shine a spotlight on some of the players you’ll be reading about throughout the 2021-22 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions on the area boys basketball scene, we’ll be taking a look at the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this winter.
We hope you enjoy reading through our list.
Stephenville 63, Brownwood 7 — The No. 2 Yellow Jackets completed a perfect run through district play and an undefeated regular season with a blowout win over the Lions.
After allowing a touchdown to Brownwood on its opening possession, Stephenville (10-0, 5-0) responded with nine consecutive touchdown drives to put the game out of reach quickly.
The Yellow Jackets finished the game with 633 yards, piling up 493 by halftime. Quarterback Ryder Lambert was at the heart of that, hitting 13 of 17 passes for 376 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 53 yards and two more scores. Coy Eakin had four receptions for 148 yards and two TDs and added a third score rushing.
With the girls basketball season upon us, it’s time to take a look at the local and area players who will be making the biggest impact for their teams during the 2021-22 season.
For the first installment in a three-part series that will cover all positions, we’ll be focusing on the Big Country’s top guards, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this season.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through our selections.
Stephenville’s prolific offense garners much regional and statewide attention.
While the headlines are deserved, another crucial reason why the No. 2 Yellow Jackets are one game away from a perfect regular season has to do with the guys on the other side of the ball.
Linebacker Reese Young and his defensive brethren have made a stark improvement from a year ago.
Stephenville 38, Midlothian Heritage — The Jaguars bottled up the explosive Yellow Jackets’ offense, holding SHS to just 253 total yards. But coach Sterling Doty’s squad scored a pair of defensive touchdowns to survive a challenge from Heritage.
The Jaguars (6-3, 2-2) led 14-0 after the first quarter, but No. 2 Stephenville (9-0, 4-0) scored 31 unanswered points to take control of the game by the final period.
Quarterback Ryder Lambert passed for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the win, hitting Reece Elston (7-65 receiving) and Coy Eakin (4-18) with scoring passes. Tate Maruska led the Yellow Jacket rushing attack, going for 64 yards and a score on 10 carries.
It’s never a surprise to see Sweetwater senior quarterback Leo Holsey among the top performers in our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week column.
Since his freshman year, the four-year starter has topped our weekly list multiple times, including this week after helping Sweetwater to a 61-37 win over Pecos on Friday.
Holsey only threw 15 passes, but he connected on 12 of them for 364 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 75 yards and two more scores, giving him a direct hand in 439 yards and seven TDs.
Brownwood 56, Alvarado 35 — The Lions picked up a huge victory for their playoff hopes, outscoring the Indians 14-7 in each of the final three quarters to turn a 14-all tie after one period into a three-touchdown win.
Running back Konlyn Anderson fueled the effort for Brownwood (3-5, 1-2), rushing for 230 yards and five touchdowns, while quarterback Chance Jones went 8-of-10 passing for 113 yards and two scores.
The Lions were outgained 492-423, but they forced three turnovers and turned each into touchdowns to snap a three-three game losing streak and pull into a fourth-place tie with Alvarado (2-6, 1-2) in the district standings.
LAST WEEK: 35-11, .760
SEASON TOTAL: 322-74, .813
This week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week will send me south to historic Hufford Field in Coleman, where the Bluecats (6-0) will play host to perennial power Cisco (6-1) in what is essentially the District 4-2A Division I championship.
Opened way back in 1934, Hufford is one of the Big Country’s oldest and most unique venues and if you are looking for a game to go to on Friday, this one will not only offer some good football, but some nostalgia as well.
The immense rock wall surrounding the field was built in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration or WPA as the nation battled its way out of The Great Depression.
Hope to see you there.
Here are this week’s picks:
It’s one thing to rush for more than 300 yards and three scores against a struggling program. We see that all the time from the area’s top running backs.
But it’s an entirely different thing when those yards come against a solid team with a sturdy defense. That’s earning it the hard way.
Jim Ned’s Xavier Wishert, our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week, took that route on Friday night when he charted 313 yards rushing and three scores on just 20 carries in a 37-20 road win over the Wall Hawks.
Stephenville 56, Alvarado 0 — The second-ranked Yellow Jackets had no trouble with the Indians, piling up 542 yards of offense and taking advantage of three Alvarado turnovers in a shutout victory.
Stephenville (2-0 in district) led 35-0 by halftime and cruised from there to its seventh straight win to open the season. Alvarado, meanwhile, dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Ryder Lambert passed for 277 yards and four touchdowns in the victory, while Tate Maruska rushed for 143 yards and two TDs on just seven carries and Coy Eakin had 135 yards and three scores receiving on four catches.
LAST WEEK: 40-7, .851
SEASON TOTAL: 287-63, .820
Week 8? Are you kidding?
I ask the same question, or some variant of it virtually every year. We just finished with two-a-days. How can we possibly be this deep in the season so quickly?
Yet hear we are. A cold weather snap approaching. Thanksgiving right around the corner —as are the playoffs.
This week’s Game of the Week will see me traveling north to Ralls where the surprising Roscoe Plowboys, off to their best start in years, will be in a showdown for the district lead.
The column hit at 85 percent accuracy last week and is now up to 82 percent on the year. So we’ll see if we can keep the momentum going through the home stretch.
Let’s have a look at this week’s picks:
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of Evan Ren’s Twitter polls for each matchup.
For those interested in voting, polls go up on Monday night each week and close Thursday morning.
Disagree with our picks or the Twitter consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.