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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Stamford-Sundown softball region semifinal playoff (65 images)”
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 24.
Statistics are from throughout the Big Country Preps circulation area as submitted by coaches. These lists will be continually updated as we receive more submissions.
If your favorite team is missing, please give your head coach a friendly reminder to check his email for our weekly stat request or send Evan Ren a note at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com.
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: Evan Ren’s top 100 basketball photos for 2024-25”
AZLE — Fueled by sophomore point guard Court Gaylor and junior post Darius Steed, who combined for 46 points on the night, the Lipan boys basketball team locked up its 16th trip to the state semifinals Friday with a 71-52 win over Lindsay in the Region II-2A Division II title game at the Azle High School Competition Gym.
Gaylor poured in a game-high 28 points while Steed ruled the paint with 18 of his own to lead the Indians, who closed the first quarter on a 15-6 run and opened the second with a 19-5 spurt to turn an early one-point deficit into a 42-18 lead by the two minute mark of the first half.
From there, it was academic as LHS cruised to its fifth consecutive state appearance and seventh since 2017 — a stretch that has seen the Indians claim four state championships, including each of the past two in Class 2A.
Below are the current season statistical leaders for Big Country boys basketball through Feb. 20.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the regular season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
Is your favorite team missing? If so, please pass along a friendly reminder to your coach to check his email for our weekly stats request. We’ll be happy to add them to our database after they arrive.
BROCK — A hot shooting second half and a nasty case of the flu were enough to help Brock secure a District 6-4A sweep of Brownwood in the Brock High School Gym on Friday.
The Brock girls opened the twin bill with a 64-41 win that saw the Lady Eagles close with a 41-21 second half. The Brock boys took the nightcap, overpowering a Brownwood club that had nearly half of its roster returning from and one player still missing with the flu. The Lions were simply no match for Brock on Friday, falling 82-38.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-man matchups, in addition to the results of our weekly fan polls for each matchup.
Here are the final predictions of the season, covering all 12 state championship games:
Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 17)”
Landon York hit 17 of 24 passes for 348 yards and five scores and Wall rushed for 162 yards via committee as the Hawks routed Canadian 49-3 to take the Region I-3A DII title.
After Canadian opened the scoring with an early field goal, the Hawks reeled off 49 unanswered points to improve to 13-1. They led 28-3 at the break and continued to dominate throughout the second half.
“We just played really sharp in all phases from the outset,” Wall coach Craigh Slaughter said. “The past two years we had really fallen behind early (against Canadian) and right away we were playing catch up.
“This year, they did go out and get three points, but we went right down the field and scored. And from that moment, I thought the kids played with the perfect amount of confidence and moxie. It was an impressive performance for sure and they really played lights-out.”
Continue reading “GAME REPORT: Wall destroys Canadian to advance to 3A DII state semifinals”
Gracie Caperton scored 18 points and Madeline Underwood added 12 over her own to lead the Clyde girls basketball team to a 58-18 win over Cooper in a nondistrict matchup Tuesday at Cougar Gym.
In all, eight Lady Bulldogs scored as the visitors dominated the Lady Cougars on both ends of the floor.
Fueled by that balanced attack that saw five players score at least five points and an active zone on defense, Clyde raced out to a 13-2 first-quarter lead and only added to its advantage the rest of the way in improving to 7-3 on the season.
Continue reading “GAME STORY: Clyde girls dominant on both ends of court in 58-18 win over Cooper”
GRAHAM – No. 2 Albany has a likely date circled with No. 1 Muenster next week.
But Denney Faith’s Lions weren’t going to overlook Archer City Thursday night at Newton Field.
Four touchdowns in an eight-minute span during the second quarter put the Lions in complete control as they eliminated the Wildcats 48-14.
Albany (10-2) will either face Muenster or Wheeler next week in the Region II-2A Division II semifinals, while Archer City finishes its season at 8-4.
“We weren’t going to look past Archer City. We needed to make sure we took care of this one,” Faith said. “They’re a little beat up, but so are we. We told our kids all week long, there’s no excuses now.”
LAST WEEK: 46-9, .836
SEASON TOTAL: 510-131, .796
I’ll be the first to admit that there’s some merit to having four teams per district making the playoffs each year. First, gives allows teams riddled with injuries a chance to come back late in the year. And secondly, it gives strong teams stuck in very tough districts a chance to show what they can do regionally.
There is, however, an annual downside to our generosity and it manifests itself each year in the first round — blowouts. And when I say blowouts, I mean blowouts on the order of 50 or 60 points and sometimes worse when a very weak No. 4 seed faces a very strong No. 1.
It just goes with the turf and this year will be no different, so brace yourselves for it.
In the meantime, it’s my task to pick the winners among all of the playoff games involving teams in our coverage area, highlighting the top games of interest. There is no Game of the Week beyond this point. From now on, there all the Game of the Week.
With that, let’s dive in to our Week 12 Playoff Forecast.
I’ll see you on the road.
Here are the final district standings for all Class 2A-5A volleyball districts involving Big Country schools:
LAST WEEK: 52-6 .897
SEASON TOTAL: 419-114, .786
With two Friday nights left in the regular season, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week moves north for a game that was circled on our calendars back in August.
Unbeaten, second-ranked Brock will pay a visit to No. 5 Graham this Friday, with the winner locking down the District 4-4A DII championship.
Tonight, Big Country Preps publishes our final area volleyball statistical leaders for the 2024 regular season.
This database has been continually updated for our subscribers using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
LAST WEEK: 41-10 .803
SEASON TOTAL: 367-108, .772
Football season doesn’t feel complete without at least one visit to Chesley Field in Cisco. And Friday night, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week will stop by for a crucial District 4-2A DI matchup between the Loboes (5-2, 1-1) and Hawley (7-0, 2-0).
For Hawley, a win here will keep open the possibility of an unbeaten regular season. For Cisco, a victory would signal the beginning of a climb back into area prominence.
Hamilton 40, San Saba 21
The Bulldogs improved to 5-0 by blowing open a 26-21 game with two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Luke Tharp led the Armadillos (3-2) with 110 yards rushing, 56 yards passing and two scores.
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: Brady-Ballinger football (20 images)”
Albany 62, Merkel 21 — The Lions amassed 321 yards rushing, including 87 yards and five scores from Branson Beal to level their record 2-2.
Merkel (0-4) was led by Bronson Lloyd, who threw for 172 yards and two scores.
Waco Robinson 49, Glen Rose 42 — Evan Moreno rushed for 294 yards and five TDs as Robinson handed Glen Rose its first loss of the year.
Canyon Evans led Glen Rose with 269 yards passing and four scores. Keltyn Raymond led the Tigers (3-1) on the ground with 102 yards rushing on only five carries.
Robinson improved to 3-1 with the win.
Waco La Vega 43, Brownwood 0
Bryson Roland rushed for 142 yards and three scores as La Vega took down Brownwood in Gordon Wood Stadium.
The Pirates outgained the Lions 436-139 to improve to 2-2 on the year.
Glen Rose 44, Brownwood 16
For a complete report on this game, please read Evan Ren’s game story here.
Glen Rose improved to 3-0 on the year. Brownwood slipped to 1-1.
Stephenville 45, Godley, 0
Ryan Gafford threw for 296 yards and three scores to lead Stephenville to an easy win over Godley.
Stephenville 45, Godley, 0
Ryan Gafford threw for 296 yards and three scores to lead Stephenville to an easy win over Godley.
The Yellow Jackets raced out to a 35-0 halftime lead before putting it into cruise control.
Sawyer Wilkerson led the Yellow Jackets’ (3-0) on the ground with 80 yards rushing and three scores.
Continue reading “DISTRICT 4-4A DIV. I WEEK 3 REPORT: Stephenville dominates Godley to improve 3-0”
Mason 47, Brady 19 —Coming off a lopsided loss to Wall in its season opener, Mason used a dominating defensive effort to level its record off at 1-1.
In dropping Brady to 1-1, the Punchers limited Brady to only 177 total yards.
Glen Rose 28, Gatesville 12 — Normally explosive Glen Rose is also playing some serious defense, allowing only 26 points to date and limiting Gatesville to 12 in Friday’s road win.
Lineman Keltyn Raymond led the effort on Friday with 10 tackles, including six solos. Caden Marrs wasn’t far behind, finishing with nine total stops.
Hawley 21, Albany 0 — Both clubs had 58 plays with possession times of 24 minutes. But the similarities ended there.
Keagan Ables threw for 314 yards and one TD and Allyn Barker rushed for 39 yards and another score to keep Hawley (2-0) unbeaten.
Photos courtesy of Kael Duncan
ARCHER CITY – Anson’s start was definitely rough Friday night against Archer City.
The Tigers allowed two touchdowns in less than four minutes and were about to be punting from deep inside their territory.
That’s when Anson quarterback Corey Layne made a play, scrambling out of the Wildcats’ pass rush to convert a third-and-27.
BROCK — Since beginning their football program in 2012, the Brock Eagles have posted a 138-24 overall record. This includes a 41-9 mark in the playoffs, a Class 3A DI state title in 2015, and 3A DI state title game appearances in 2017, 2021 and 2022.
The numbers don’t end there.
The Eagles are currently on a 10-year streak of double-digit wins, during which time they’ve taken eight district championships. Their lowest season victory total in that span: 11.
So needless to say, when word came down on Snapshot Day back in October that Brock had turned in an enrollment figure of 629 to push the Eagles up to Class 4A DII, nobody in 3A shed a tear. On the contrary, those in 3A DI who had been on the receiving end of one loss to Brock after another, were about to get some welcomed relief.
With BCP and our Wednesday night podcast taking a short holiday break, we present this short video to pose an interesting sports-related question.
Big numbers are one thing. But when they come in the clutch in a multitude of areas, that’s difficult to top for our weekly Big Country Preps Player of the Week award.
This time around, it’s Sweetwater junior running back-linebacker Korda Moore taking the top spot for the week ending Oct. 14.
Moore had a big night in last week’s dramatic 45-41 win over Midland Greenwood, with 25 carries for 187 yards and four TDs. He also caught three passes for 65 yards and two more scores.
But he wasn’t finished there. He also completed a 23-yard pass and scored on two two-point conversion runs to finish with 40 total points on the night.
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Tuesday at 7 p.m. roughout the regular season.
This database will be continually updated for our subscribers throughout the remainder of the season, using only those statistics submitted by area coaches.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Merkel coach Will Kates joins the show
BEST OF BIG COUNTRY PREPS WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Wall baseball coach Jason Schniers joins the show
Original air date: April 12, 2023
BIG COUNTRY PREPS WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Hermleigh softball coach Sammy Winters joins the show.
BEST OF BCP WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Former Hermleigh coach Duane Hopper talks about taking Wylie job (originally aired 5-11-22)
BCP WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Stephenville’s Justin Swenson visits; Cisco/McCamey incident examined.
BEST OF BCP WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: DCTF’s Matt Stepp joins the show.
Original air date: April 14, 2021
BEST OF BCP WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: DCTF’s Matt Stepp joins the show.
Original air date: Dec. 8, 2021
Due to illness (Evan’s got a bad cold), we were unable to publish a new podcast this week. We therefore present The Best of the BCP Wednesday Night podcast, with this episode, released on March 16 of last year.
With Evan and Dan taking a brief holiday break from the Podcast, Big Country Preps will be rereleasing three of its more interesting shows from tonight through Wednesday. The BCP Wednesday Night Podcast will return with a new show on Jan. 12.
TONIGHT: Area sports official Rob Durham joins the show. ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE: 10-26-22.
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.”