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Evan Ren’s 2023 Gym Rat Team: The hardest-working players in the Big Country!

Following a basketball program on the surface can only provide one with so much insight. Behind the scenes, however, is where character is often measured. And it is with our Gym Rat Team that we wish to tip our caps to those individuals who exuded the most of it. 

This team isn’t about who the best players are, though some of the area’s top players did make this list. 

The Gym Rat team is about effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches love above all else and that championship foundations are built upon.

It is for that reason that our Gym Rat team is selected entirely by area coaches, described in their own words. And Big Country Preps is absolutely honored to present these individuals to you — the best “team players” (boys and girls) that the area had to offer during the 2022-23 season.

Players are listed in no particular order. 

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GAME STORY: Hamlin holds off Haskell with homers, big defensive plays

HAMLIN — In the aftermath of Hamlin’s 10-6 win over area rival Haskell in Friday’s District 7-2A softball opener, dissecting what had just taken place was an exercise in answering a key question. 

Yes, the Lady Pipers won, propelled by an eight-run second inning, a solid pitching effort from Zoe Moore and home runs by Samantha Gonzalez and Roxanne Rivera. But what if Haskell (11-8-1, 0-1) doesn’t hit into four inning-killing double plays? 

The answer is that Friday’s matchup could have taken a much different turn at several key points, but Hamlin (14-4, 1-0) was the club that executed at every one of them.

“It’s frustrating, but I think they realize where we can improve and the things we need to work on in order to win a game like this,” Haskell coach Emily Dyes said. “We’ve got some good hitters, but we’ve got to get better defensively and minimize our errors every game.” 

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GAME STORY: Jayton relies on defense to stop Lorenzo in Region I-1A Championship

lORENZOLEVELLAND — With Lorenzo breathing down their necks for 32 straight minutes, the Jayton Jaybirds turned to an old friend to punch their ticket to San Antonio in Saturday’s Region I-1A championship game.

Defense, both timely and consistent, remained in the Jaybirds’ corner, lifting them to a 56-47 win at South Plains College. 

Nathaniel Williams scored a game-high 26 points while Sean Stanaland and Griff Reel added seven apiece to lead Jayton (37-2) which will face Tilden McMullen County (37-2) at 10 a.m. on Thursday in the Class 1A State Semifinals in the Alamodome. The winner will face either Benjamin (21-1) or Graford (35-3) in Saturday’s state championship game at 8:30 a.m. 

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GAME STORY: Jim Ned eliminates Idalou, advances to Region I-3A title game

WOLFFORTH — A slow start, a hostile crowd and regional semifinal pressure were all in a day’s work for the Jim Ned Lady Indians, who overcame all three handicaps to eliminate Idalou 47-33 on Friday at Frenship High School’s Tiger Pit. 

Lexi Wishert had 17 points, including three 3-pointers and Ashlynn Galvin added 10 more to lead Jim Ned (32-1), which now advances to face Holliday (31-3) in the Region I-3A title game on Saturday at 1 p.m.  

Idalou was led by Logan Heard with 15 points and Maddie Holmes with seven. The Lady Cats finished their season at 25-13.

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FEATURE: Brock leaning on Lewis’ experience heading into postseason play

Zach Lewis is ready to leave everything on the court these next couple weeks. 

The Brock senior point guard’s competitive basketball days are numbered as he’ll be attending business school at Texas A&M next fall. 

After playing a crucial role on the Eagles’ state-qualifying team two years ago and nearly leading Brock back to San Antonio last year, Lewis is well-versed in high-stakes postseason games. 

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FEATURE: Albany’s Hill not just a standout football player

Adam Hill was a key member of Albany’s state championship football team last fall. 

The junior lined up at running back, played tight end in certain sets and even was occasionally a fullback. Hill was also a defensive end for the Lions after playing strong safety the previous year. 

Hill’s versatility can also be seen on the basketball court. He’s a bigger guy who can handle the ball well. Hill pounds the glass with his 6-foot-2 frame and has worked hard to improve his outside shooting. 

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DISTRICT 6-2A DII WEEK 8 REPORT: Albany, Roscoe remain unbeaten in district, Hamlin falls to Miles

Albany 56, Cross Plains 0 — London Fuentes threw for 182 yards and three scores and Coy Lefevre rushed for 127 yards and two more touchdowns as Albany (5-2, 2-0) shut out Cross Plains. 

Albany built a 42-0 lead by the break before coasting to the finish line. 

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DISTRICT 4-3A DIV. II WEEK 8 REPORT: Coahoma falls at Idalou, Abernathy takes league lead, Littlefield routs Stanton

Idalou 28, Coahoma 16 — Idalou held off a strong challenge from Coahoma, forcing four Bulldog turnovers to get the win. 

 Tate Hendley threw for 158 yards and one score and Tyler Jack rushed for 108 yards and two scores to lead Idalou (4-3, 1-1).

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DISTRICT 3-3A DIV. I WEEK 8 REPORT: Doran leads Jim Ned past Clyde, Vernon upsets Breckenridge, Iowa Park clips Bowie in OT

Jim Ned 28, Clyde 21 — Troy Doran rushed for 190 yards and three scores and threw for 79 yards and another TD to lift Jim Ned (4-3, 2-0) to its fourth straight win.

Leading 21-14 with 7:21 left in the game, Doran scored what proved to be the game-winner on a 5-yard keeper

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DISTRICT 5-4A DI WEEK 8 REPORT: Jackets roll as Lambert returns, China Spring routs La Vega

Stephenville 63, Waxahachie Life 20 —  Ryan Gafford threw for 207 yards and four scores and Ryder Lambert returned from an injury to thew for 120 yards and two more TDs to lead Stephenville (7-0, 1-0) in its league opener.

The Yellow Jackets quickly built a 42-14 halftime lead before coasting to the finish.

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GAME STORY: Comanche in district driver’s seat following big win at Jacksboro

JACKSBORO — Comanche staked its claim as the District 5-3A Division II favorite Friday night against Jacksboro.  

The Indians did it in multiple ways as sophomore tailback Sawyer Wilkerson shredded the Tiger defense for 269 rushing yards and four touchdowns.  

Comanche also got an efficient performance from quarterback Layden Welch, who threw for 215 yards and had a hand in more touchdowns (three) than incomplete passes (two). 

It was yet another reminder that this year’s Indians (6-1, 2-0) are a much different team than last season when they only won once.  

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GAME STORY: Cisco wins fifth straight while handing Stamford its first loss of the year

STAMFORD — A week after rushing for more than 300 yards and five scores in a win over Olney, Cisco quarterback Hunter Long demonstrated another part of his game on Friday in a 47-14 win over Stamford: an accurate deep passing game. 

Long was 9 of 13 for 243 yards and three scores to lead Cisco (7-1, 4-0 District 4-2A DI), which is now in a firm position to challenge Hawley for the league title.  Long connected with passes of 77, 52 and 40 yards along the way and rushed for 145 yards and three scores to help the Loboes to their fifth straight win.

Limited to 201 yards in total offense, Stamford (6-1, 2-1) suffered its first loss of the year. Hayden Henager led the Bulldogs with 71 yards rushing on 14 carries. 

“We put ourselves in some third-and-long situations when we had to throw the ball,” said Cisco coach Kevin Stennett, whose club finished with 540 total yards (297 rushing). “We finally proved that we’ve got some receivers who will go up and get it and we got it to several different receivers. 

“We wanted to show that we can throw the ball and mix it up and I’ve very pleased about how balanced we were.” 

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FEATURE: Stephenville’s Maruska could find a spot in the SHS history books

Tate Maruska is well on his way to rewriting Stephenville’s rushing records.  

With 16 touchdowns in six games, the junior is on pace to break the Yellow Jackets’ mark of 29 scores set by Kason Phillips in 2020.  

Coach Sterling Doty wasn’t sure what Stephenville’s single-season rushing record was off the top of his head, but with Maruska already having 1,290 yards, it’s not a stretch to say that total is in danger of falling too.  

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FEATURE: Senior Madilyn Loper enjoying leadership role in her final season

Photos courtesy of The Dublin Citizen

Madilyn Loper isn’t ready for her time as a Dublin volleyball player to end.  

Loper has been on varsity since the early stages of her freshman season. Now she’s a senior standout who knows her playing days at Dublin are numbered. 

“Volleyball is going to be incredibly hard to say goodbye to,” Loper said. “It’s been so much fun, and I have made some of the best memories I could possibly imagine. I have put all my time and effort into this sport, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”  

Loper has been a stalwart in Arin Knight’s first year as Dublin’s head coach. She leads the Lady Lions with 2.2 kills per set and 23 aces while also ranking second in digs.  

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DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 7 REPORT: Haskell dominates Munday, Windthorst survives scare, Archer City wins

Haskell 58, Munday 6 — The Indians rolled up 438 yards in total offense to win their district opener. 

Grady Vasquez threw for 140 yards and two scores and Trevor Henry rushed for 80 yards and two more TDs to lead Haskell (4-3, 2-1) which remains in the hunt for a high playoff seed. 

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DISTRICT 6-2A DIV. II WEEK 7 REPORT: Roscoe, Albany and Hamlin win their district openers

Roscoe 28, Cross Plains 6 — Jax Watts threw for 214 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 33 yards and another score to lead the Plowboys to a win over previously unbeaten Cross Plains. 

Outgained 317-167, Cross Plains fell to 6-1 and 0-1.  Noah Moses led the Buffaloes with 40 yards rushing and one TD to go with 14 solo tackles and a fumble recovery.

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DISTRICT 4-2A DIV. I WEEK 7 REPORT: Cisco, Anson, Hawley all notch important district wins

Cisco 34, Olney 15 — Hunter Long accounted for 355 of Cisco’s 399 yards in total offense, rushing for 338 yards and throwing for 17 in an important win over Olney.

Long found the end zone five times, scoring on runs of 11, 83, 64, 2 and 7 yards to help the Loboes improve to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in District 4-2A DI. 

 Olney was led by Gatlin Guy who rushed for 122 yards and one TD and Jovani Rockmore, who rushed for 116 and another TD.

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DISTRICT 4-3A DIV. II WEEK 7 REPORT: Coahoma wins fifth straight; Abernathy and Roosevelt chart wins.

Coahoma 35, Littlefield 28 — Boyd Cox threw for 261 yards and three scores and Tristan Guerrero hauled in four catches for 113 yards and one TD to lead Coahoma (5-1, 1-0) to an important district win. 

The Bulldogs have now won five straight games since falling to archrival Forsan in their season opener. 

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DISTRICT 2-3A DIV. II WEEK 7 REPORT: Early, Brady and Wall all win their district openers

Early 36, Ballinger 0 — The Longhorns rushed for 200 yards and four scores and Jaxyn Price threw for 161 yards and another TD in a win at Ballinger. 

Griffin Cheslock rushed for 130 yards and one touchdown and Caleb Ozuna rushed for 50 yards and two more scores as Early improved to 3-3 and 1-0. 

Limited to just minus-35 yards in total offense, Ballinger dropped to 0-6 and 0-1.

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DISTRICT 3-3A DIV. I WEEK 7 REPORT: Jim Ned wins third straight, Breck stays unbeaten, Clyde falls to Vernon

Jim Ned 48, Bowie 18 — Brayden Shipman rushed for 124 yards and two scores and Troy Doran threw for 114 yards and two more TDs and Jim Ned won its district opener. 

Leading 27-12 heading into the final quarter, the Indians put the game away with three touchdowns over the final 12 minutes. 

It was Jim Ned’s third straight win following an injury-plagued 0-3 start. 

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DISTRICT 5-4A DIV. I WEEK 7 REPORT: China Spring routs Alvarado; La Vega has easy time with Waxahachi Life

China Spring 59, Alvarado 17 — Cash McCollum threw for 201 yards and three scores as China Spring (6-1, 1-0) grabbed an early piece of the district lead. 

Leading 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Cougars blew the game open with a 42-0 run through the second. 

Kyle Barton led all rushers with 120 yards and three scores. 

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BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Tolar defense, bruising sophomore running back lead Rattlers past Coleman

COLEMAN — It didn’t clinch anything. It was too early in the district schedule to do that. But Tolar’s 16-6 win over Coleman in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week was important enough to put the Rattlers in the District 5-2A DI driver’s seat. 

A lot of defense and a lot of bruising sophomore running back Peyton Brown carried Tolar (6-0, 2-0), which gradually built a modest 16-0 lead before hanging on for the win at Hufford Field. 

Brown (6-2, 208) rushed for 143 yards and two scores on 27 carries and the Rattler defense limited Coleman (5-2, 2-1) to 197 total yards in a game that lived up to its billing as a physical trench war. 

Jadin Jackson led the Bluecats with 112 yards passing, 36 yards rushing and Coleman’s only TD.

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FEATURE: Trent’s lone senior providing leadership in Lady Gorilla’s return to volleyball

Photo courtesy of Jacob Brenem, Brenem Productions

Gracie Dearing feels like the rewards for playing volleyball at Trent are constant.  

The senior captain hadn’t ever competed in the sport before it was brought back last year after a hiatus dating back to the 1950s.  

But Dearing became interested when she saw a video of a men’s volleyball match. Getting an opportunity to represent her school and help start a program from scratch was too good of a chance to pass up.  

“It’s been very rewarding, not only as an individual but as a team,” Dearing said. “This team has worked really hard to keep this program going. It’s been hard with how little players we have.”  

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DISTRICT 6-2A DIV. II WEEK 6 REPORT: Plowboys fall to Sunray while the rest of the league takes a night off

Sunray 47, Roscoe 17 — The Plowboys (2-2) were the lone team in District 6-2A DII to take the field

on Friday and came up on losing side of a 30-point spread at Lubbock Cooper. 

Sunray finished with 631 yards in total offense, including 472 on the ground to improve to 5-1.

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BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Santo rallies with two late scores to top Muenster

rioSANTO — The Santo Wildcats had every opportunity to fold the tent in their district opener on Friday night, trailing traditional power Muenster 17-7 with 11:19 to play. 

Santo however, used a couple of big plays, a big night from Hut Thornton and two fourth-quarter scores to rally with a 21-17 win in the Big Country Preps Game of the week.

Thornton rushed 20 times for 183 yards and a score and Jamie Sandoval scored the game-winner from 41 yards out to lead the Wildcats (5-0, 1-0 District 8-2A DII), who are now in the district driver’s seat after knocking off the league favorite. 

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DISTRICT 10-2A DIV. II WEEK 5 REPORT: Hico snaps three-game losing skid

Hico 51, Frost 20 — Price Mullin rushed for 71 yards and two scores and Carson Keller rushed for 50 yards and two more touchdowns as Hico routed Frost in the district opener for both clubs. 

Keller also completed four of six passes for 148 yards an another TD as the Tigers (2-3) snapped a three-game losing streak. 

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DISTRICT 4-3A DIV. II WEEK 5 REPORT: Coahoma, Roosevelt, Stanton chalk up victories

Coahoma 21, Merkel 0 — Coahoma (4-1) extended its winning streak to four games behind 259 yards passing and three TDs from Boyd Cox. 

Austin Perkins was his favorite target, charting five catches for 121 yards and two scores. 

Coahoma limited Merkel to 260 yards in total offense while forcing three turnovers. 

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