After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.
For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top-10 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2022.
We hope you enjoy our list.
After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen on Saturday, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2022.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 10 linebackers to watch this fall, as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2022.
For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.
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: Merkel-Sweetwater scrimmage (54 images)”
Without further ado, it is time for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
This is the culmination of several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor, so we’re more than ready to post it.
SWEETWATER — Noel Mekogue’s confidence has done nothing but grow in the past year.
A stellar junior season as Sweetwater’s nose guard is one reason for that. Another is the two new sports Mekogue succeeded in last year.
Now that Mekogue is one of just a few Mustangs with starting experience, even greater things are expected of him in 2022. It’s a challenge he has prepped for.
SWEETWATER — It’s staggering how much Sweetwater lost to graduation after coach Russell Lucas’ first year.
Twenty-seven seniors walked across the stage last May, leaving the Mustangs with only three returning starters from an 8-4 squad that won a district title and advanced to the second round.
Lucas is aware of his team’s youth, but he doesn’t want that to define his 2022 squad, either.
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. 17. 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. 1, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2022 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
We stay in Class 4A Division II with the Sweetwater Mustangs. On Friday we will take a look at the Big Spring Steers followed by the Brownwood Lions on Saturday.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: Sweetwater Mustangs”
OTHER 2022 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Character, grit and work ethic aren’t seen in a box score. And it is with our Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team that we wish to honor those players (male and female) who exemplify those qualities.
The All-Hustle team isn’t about who the best baseball and softball players were. It honors the best teammates.
It is here where effort, discipline and coachability — traits that coaches wish they had in every player and upon which championships are built — are honored.
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 Big Country had to offer during the 2022 baseball and softball seasons.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
The Stephenville girls and Big Spring boys both finished third in their respective team competitions over the weekend at the Region I-4A track meet to headline a strong effort for area teams and athletes.
The Honeybees amassed 94 points to finish behind only team champion Canyon (122) and runner-up Argyle (106) while the Steers finished with 52 points — 10 behind second-place Decatur and 51 behind boys champion Argyle.
In all, Big Country relay teams and athletes accounted for 21 total medals — 10 on the boys side and 11 on the girls 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: Big Spring-Sweetwater softball (40 images)”
SWEETWATER — It couldn’t have been a more intense homecoming for Big Spring’s Elliana Perez, considering that Friday’s matchup at Sweetwater was a winner-take-all showdown with her former teammates.
That intensity reached its peak in the bottom of the seventh when she was shifted to the pitching circle to close out an 11-5 win.
Even in high school baseball, perfect games are rare. Two perfect games in one week in the same league are extremely uncommon.
Two perfect games in one week, thrown by a pair of teammates are about as elusive as a Lochness Monster sighting.
And coincidentally, that’s about how often Big Country Preps names two players for the Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Abilene Invitational baseball tournament (65 images)”
Here are the updated Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results through March 5:
Continue reading “Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results (March 5)”
Below are the final regular season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball in 2022.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers throughout the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
With big numbers spaced over three games, Wall senior guard Jacob Richardson claims the Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week award for the week ending Feb. 12.
Helping the Hawks to clinch a District 6-3A title with a 3-0 mark, Richardson poured in an average of 26.7 points in wins over Clyde, Ballinger and San Angelo TLCA.
When Harrison Foster’s basketball days are over, he’ll be able to say he left Sweetwater’s program better than he found it.
That could be as early as Tuesday because the Mustangs must knock off Levelland to have a chance at a play-in game against Snyder for the final 3-4A playoff berth.
Regardless of how it plays out, there’s no denying the impact Foster has made on a young team that’s won 17 games this year.
Here are the updated Big Country girls basketball playoff pairings, results through March 5
Continue reading “Big Country girls basketball playoff pairings, results (March 5)”
Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
While icy road conditions may have changed the UIL’s method of delivering the news, the results of its biennial realignment still offered the usual mix of surprises on Thursday.
Held via live feed over the internet, area coaches learned their fate on the web.
Topping the list of stunners for area teams would be the shift of Brownwood from its centralized home in District 5-4A DI to the far west in District 2. There, the Lions will join Big Spring, Lubbock Estacado, San Angelo Lake View and Andrews — the last of which will produce a 480-mile round trip.
What appeared to be a slow year for the Big Country on the signing front quickly blossomed into something memorable in 2022.
With National Signing Day taking place on Wednesday, the Big Country Preps coverage area finished with multiple Division I signees, including several on the gridiron.
CAPITAL FARM CREDIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Area coaches join the show to talk realignment.
When selecting our Capital Farm Credit/BCP Player of the Week, it’s not entirely about numbers, though that’s certainly a part of it. The
quality of the competition counts, as does the importance of the game itself.
And when factoring in all of the above, nobody had a better overall week than Merkel senior Alyssa O’Malley, who has been among the area’s most consistent performers all season.
Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Each Thursday night, Big Country Preps will publish area boys and girls basketball statistical leaders.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Teams that do not submit their statistics in a given week will not be listed when our stats are posted, but will be added to the lists below as they are received in the coming days.
Evan and Dan go over the 2021 All-Big Country Preps Football Team, plus Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive MVPs, Coach of the Year and more!
Most high school football teams have that one player acknowledged by the coaching staff as the prime example of what a teammate should be.
He’s the guy who seldom misses any practice time and is a regular in the weight room. He’s early to arrive. He’s late to leave, takes pride in being coachable but seldom needs direction.
He always sets the right example for younger players. He doesn’t gripe and, above all else, he’s tough enough to make all the aforementioned traits possible.
Know someone like that? Here is where they are honored.
Welcome to Big Country Preps’ “True Grit” team — a collection of area players nominated by their head coaches, who exemplify the character traits football mentors want throughout their roster.
Not all of them are great players. In fact, many of them will never play a down of college football. But every single one of them is making the most of their high school football experience and has helped those around them do the same.
We are absolutely honored to present these young men to you — the toughest, hardest-working football players the Big Country had to offer in 2021.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below a selected photo. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cooper-Sweetwater boys basketball (42 images)”
SWEETWATER — The Cooper boys basketball team outscored Sweetwater 40-20 over the middle two quarters Friday to overcome a slow start and pull away for a 70-49 nondistrict win over the Mustangs.
Playing an SHS team that was coming off a tournament championship in Anson, the Cougars led their Class 4A foe by just two points (15-13) after one quarter. But coach Bryan Conover’s squad used a 24-6 run through the second period to take a 20-point lead into halftime and was never threatened after that.
The victory moved Cooper to 11-7 on the year and improved the Coogs to 3-1 since returning from the Christmas break. CHS went 2-1 at the Snyder tournament earlier this week, defeating Snyder (45-36) and Fabens (59-32) before falling by seven to Amarillo Caprock.
While our All-Big Country Preps Volleyball team is in place to honor those who achieved the most on-court success, our “Max Effort” team is something much more uncommon.
This is a special accolade, which has nothing to do with talent or stats.
It is here where character, grit and work ethic — traits that coaches wish every player had — are recognized. It is here where we honor the best teammates and best citizens that area volleyball has to offer.
It is for that reason that this team is selected by area coaches and described in their own words.
Big Country Preps is now honored to present these individuals to you — the hardest-working, toughest volleyball players in the Big Country. Ladies and gentlemen: Our 2021 Big Country Preps Max Effort Team.
With a huge passing game in Dublin’s 41-35 area-round win over Palmer, junior Chris Teten put up numbers worthy of our Capital Farm Credit/Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
But it’s only once you grasp the historical significance of the Lions’ win over the Bulldogs on Friday that you gain a full appreciation for the junior’s performance.
In hitting 19 of 26 passes for 406 yards and six touchdowns — all of which were needed to escape Joshua’s Owl Stadium with a victory — Teten was objectively excellent behind center for the Lions. Now for the kicker: the win over Palmer marked the first area-round victory in the history of the Dublin program, which is significant considering the school has been playing football for more than a century.
Digital photos, prints and keepsakes may be purchased by clicking on the “Buy on SmugMug” link below a selected photo. The “BigCountryPreps.com” watermark will be removed from all purchased photos.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Sweetwater-Aubrey football (55 images)”
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).
STEPHENVILLE — Friday night’s Region I-4A Division II area championship could not have started any better for the Sweetwater Mustangs at Tarleton Memorial Stadium against Aubrey.
The Mustangs recovered a surprise onside kick to open the game and scored five plays later but after that it was all Chaparrals as Aubrey rolled to a 42-7 win.
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 2021-22.
We hope you enjoy our list.