Snyder 56, Big Spring 13 — Easton Stewart completed 22 of 26 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns, and Daenin Smith rushed for 128 yards and two TDs and received for 63 yards and another score to lead the Tigers to a blowout win over the Steers.
Ethan Rios added 51 yards and two touchdowns rushing and a nine-yard touchdown catch for Snyder (3-2), which also got TD receptions from Hayden Foster and Chon Vasquez.
SWEETWATER — Both clubs may have entered Friday at 4-0. But at the end of the night, it was a senior-laden Clyde team dominating a Sweetwater club filled with underclassmen, 41-7 in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Blake Carr rushed for 121 yards and two scores and threw for 88 yards and two more TDs to life Clyde (5-0), which spoiled Sweetwater’s homecoming in the Mustang Bowl to remain unbeaten.
Sweetwater (4-1), which lost starting quarterback Caiden Ortiz to a hand-wrist injury in the second quarter, was led by Uriah Aguilar-Rivera with 143 yards rushing and one score.
“This is a pillar win for our program,” Clyde coach Danny Dudgeon said. ” We’ve been on the up and up, but for us to get over the hump against a good Sweetwater team is a very big win for us.”
LAST WEEK: 44-11, .800
SEASON TOTAL: 183-49, .788
Some weeks are just loaded with competitive area games and Week 5 of the 2023 season falls squarely into that category.
This week’s menu features six or seven games that under normal circumstances, would qualify for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week. This forces us to push some great matchups aside to select our spotlight game.
This week, we go with a battle of unbeatens — Class 3A Division I Clyde (4-0) at Class 4A Div. II Sweetwater (4-0) — at the famed Mustang Bowl at SHS.
There are big games and then there are those that border on insanity.
Moran running back Ellis Hise, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Sept. 16, fell squarely into the latter category on Saturday with a performance that was absolutely nuts.
Helping the Bulldogs to a thrilling 68-67 win over Mullin in one of the top six-man games the Big Country has seen this year, Hise rushed for 287 yards and six touchdowns on only 26 carries. But that’s just the beginning.
Sweetwater 56, Big Spring 30 — The Mustangs offense was too much for the Steers defense, piling up 586 yards of total offense in a thorough victory.
Sweetwater (4-0), which rushed for 368 of those yards, got big games from quarterback Caiden Ortiz (10-17-1—218, 3 TDs passing), running backs Korda Moore (13-183, 3 TDs rushing; 2-30, 1 TD receiving) and Uriah Martinez (9-122, 2 TDs rushing; 1-19, 1 TD receiving) and receiver Jadyn Forbes (5-146, 1 TD receiving).
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.
Sweetwater 53, Pecos 40 — Korda Moore rushed for 128 yards and three scores and Caiden Ortiz passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns to lift the Mustangs to their third consecutive win to open the season.
Behind those two and Amare Arevalo, who caught eight passes for 114 yards and a TD, Sweetwater built a 31-26 halftime lead before outscoring the Eagles 22-14 in the second half.
Photos contributed by Michael Harbour
CJ Cox had always wanted to try playing football, but she’d never really had an opportunity.
That changed last spring when Cox was finishing up her sophomore year at Sweetwater. That’s when she surprised head football coach Russell Lucas by asking if she could kick for the Mustangs.
“I’ve never had a girl on our football team, but I laid out the expectations. Show up all the time and work really hard,” Lucas said. “If you do those things, you’ll have the same chance as everybody. I’m not going to give preferential treatment or discriminate against you because you’re a female.”
After two weeks, few teams are grabbing the attention of Big Country football fans more than the Clyde Bulldogs (2-0), who have opened with consecutive wins over Cisco and Eastland.
And topping the list of last week’s area performers is Clyde senior quarterback Blake Carr, who posted some eye-popping numbers in last week’s 34-21 win at EHS.
Snyder 30, Levelland 0 — Quarterback Easton Stewart had another big game for the Tigers, following last week’s Big Country Preps Player of the Week-worthy effort with 308 yards and two touchdowns passing to lead the Tigers another lopsided win.
Stewart also rushed for 15 yards and another score as Snyder raced out to a 23-0 halftime lead over the Lobos. In addition to the quarterback’s efforts, Snyder also got 82 yards rushing and a touchdown from Daenin Smith and productive receiving performances from Jay Castillo (3-126, 1 TD), Dom Dominguez (4-78) and Jacob James (6-61, 1 TD).
After a summer-long effort to produce our football preview, it is good to be back in our school year routine — a big part of which is our Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
That said, we are proud to hand our first accolade for 2023-24 to Snyder senior quarterback Easton Stewart, who led the Tigers to a 42-0 season-opening win over Slaton last week.
COMANCHE — Strong straight-line winds or a small tornado?
Nothing is verified just yet, but one thing is for certain: Comanche High School has some work to do on both its concession stand and press box after being hit by high winds over the weekend.
The damage sustained was serious enough to force athletic director Jake Escobar to make contingency plans for home dates until further notice.
“The roof of the concession stand flew off about 100 yards,” Escobar said. “Part of the press box roof fell off and our ag building, which is a big tin building —its roof broke open and it was pretty bad.”
Sweetwater 42, Idalou 20 — Caiden Ortiz completed 11 of 16 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Mustangs to a blowout win over the Wildcats in their season opener.
Korda Moore added 89 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while Jadyn Forbes caught three passes for 80 yards and two scores to help Sweetwater to a 25-7 halftime lead.
SWEETWATER — If anyone understands how to cultivate team unity and accountability, it is Sweetwater football coach Russell Lucas, who took over a struggling Hamlin program and guided it to 12 straight playoff appearances between 2009 and 2020.
Now entering his third season at Class 4A Sweetwater, Lucas is adapting to the challenge of uniting a much larger program and he’s doing it by way of a committee — officially named the Leadership Council.
A council of nine players selected by the Sweetwater coaching staff now oversees the task of holding everyone on the roster accountable for their actions. This emphasizes the wide-spread belief that player-led teams are better than coach-led teams, and buys Lucas more time to do his primary task: coaching football.
SWEETWATER — The good news for Sweetwater football fans, is that their beloved Mustangs should field a better product in 2023.
The bad news is, so will everyone else in District 3-4A DII and that’s no exaggeration.
An already tough district will be even more difficult this year. But third-year coach Russell Lucas will have more material to work with across the board in order to face the challenge.
Day 1 of Big Country Preps’ 2023 Photo Tour is now in the books, with seven more days of shooting yet to come from practice fields throughout the area.
Here are but a few of the images collected Monday:
Continue reading “Scenes from Big Country Preps Photo Tour Day 1”
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 II with the Sweetwater Mustangs. On Tuesday we will take a look at the Big Spring Steers, followed by the Brownwood Lions on Wednesday.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Sweetwater Mustangs … seven days to two-a days”
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.
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.
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: 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.
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: Districts 5/6-4A area track meet (104 images)”
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.”
“Damarrius Walker is a very talented young man,” Sweetwater coach Brian Hodnett said. “There isn’t much in track and field that he can’t do!
“We as a staff are excited to see how far he can go this year.”
So is the rest of the area as our Big Country Preps Player of the Week collects the award after scoring 44 points individually at the Hamlin Pied Piper Relays last week.
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: Abilene Icebreaker Softball Tournament (241 images)”
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking the link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
CISCO — After having swept through District 6-4A with an 8-0 mark, few who follow area basketball were expecting Glen Rose to struggle in its Region I-4A bi-district matchup with fourth-seeded Sweetwater on Monday night.
Nonetheless, the Tigers got all they wanted from a Mustang team that finished 5-5 in District 5. By night’s end, Glen Rose prevailed 49-40, but not before a boisterous crowd got its money’s worth at Ray Saunders Gym.
Sitting at 0-4 in District 5-4A play on Jan. 25, the Sweetwater boys basketball team found itself at a crossroads.
The Mustangs’ campaign, which began with a promising 17-6 run through nondistrict play, was headed toward a disappointing end without some necessary course correction.
Coach Evan Grantham’s squad needed to right the ship and quickly if it hoped to finish its season in the playoffs. Fortunately, it did just that.
Eula’s Clayton Gray, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week for the week ending Feb. 4, earned the accolade on two fronts. Not only did he post big numbers in consecutive wins over Moran and Rising Star, but he also reached an impressive milestone in the process.
To begin with, the junior guard chalked up 29 points, six boards and four blocks in a win over Moran. He also tallied 43 points, eight boards and four steals in a win over Rising Star.
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: Sweetwater-Snyder basketball doubleheader (100 images)”
SNYDER — With both the Snyder and Sweetwater boys basketball teams riding waves of momentum into Friday’s District 5-4A showdown, fans packed the Snyder gymnasium expecting to see a thrilling encore to the first matchup between the teams, which saw the Tigers take a 40-38 win on a layup at the buzzer.
Unfortunately for those on the home side of the gym, the Mustangs had different plans.
Coming in on a two-game winning streak after an 0-4 district start, including a 61-60 victory over Levelland on Thursday, Sweetwater stifled Snyder for four full quarters, building a 23-point third-quarter lead on their way to a 40-27 win over their rival.
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: Jayton-Sweetwater boys basketball (50 images)”
SWEETWATER — The Jayton boys basketball team entered Friday’s game at Sweetwater ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 1A and sporting one of only a couple of undefeated records in the state.
After the Mustangs used a big third quarter fueled by the hot shooting hand of Stason Hernandez to get a 51-38 win at Mustang Gym, Jayton coach Ryan Bleiker felt a sense of relief.
The relief didn’t come from losing, but rather that his squad didn’t have to carry the burden of being undefeated anymore.
With the Wylie football team’s season on the line, facing a 40-30 deficit with less than six minutes remaining, the Bulldogs needed an epic comeback to rally past Colleyville Heritage on Friday at Grapevine’s Mustang-Panther Stadium.
Fortunately for coach Clay Martin’s squad, their senior quarterback has made a habit of leading those this year.
After throwing just his sixth interception on a fourth-down play midway through the final quarter, KJ Long was given new life when his defense forced and recovered a quick fumble. He made the most of it by leading a pair of quick scoring drives — the last to put the Bulldogs 43-40 with three seconds left on the clock — to fuel his team to a wild 50-40 area-round win and earn this week’s Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
After highlighting the Big Country’s top guards and forwards the past two nights, we now take a look at the area’s best big men.
For the final installment in our three-part boys basketball position rankings series, we rank the Big Country’s top 10 post players.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading through our rankings, and make sure to check back for all our boys and girls basketball coverage this season.
After kicking off our boys basketball position rankings series on Tuesday with the guards, we now shift our attention to the forwards.
For the second installment in our three-part series, we rank the area’s top-10 players at that position for 2022-23.
We hope you enjoy our list.
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 2022-23 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.
Snyder 28, Sweetwater 0 — The Tigers outgained the Mustangs 312-177 and and forced four turnovers to lock up a playoff spot with a four-touchdown win over the Mustangs.
Snyder (4-6, 2-2), which got three rushing scores from Esteban Cabrera (15-85 rushing), raced out to a 21-0 lead by halftime and completed the shutout in the second half, finishing with three sacks and four interceptions in the process.