LAST WEEK: 32-12, .809
SEASON TOTAL: 279-91, .757
Now it’s time to get down to business.
With most of the Big Country taking an open date last Friday as a prelude to district play, we now dive headfirst into the games that count the most.
District play opens tomorrow for most leagues in the area, the intensity of which is already tangible.
Can you feel it?
We’ll see you on the road.
Here’s this week’s area picks:
With the bulk of the area’s football teams taking the night off in a bye week prior to district, the question last Friday was if we could find an ample supply of top games and top performances to cover.
We actually found several — topped by a show-stopping effort by Coahoma’s Jaidyn Vineyard in an unforgettable 71-70 win over Littlefield in our Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Wall 33, Idalou 10 — Landon York hit 14 of 21 throws for 208 yards and two scores and Thomas Leanos rushed for 131 yards and one score to left Wall over Idalou.
The Hawks (5-1) piled up 456 yards in total offense, including 248 on the ground.
Idalou dropped to 4-2.
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.
Overwhelming. If there were a one-word description for last week’s performance by six-foot Graham senior Lillian Noble, that would be it.
Noble, a four-year varsity player who has already committed to Oklahoma Baptist, was far and away the most dominant player in both a 3-1 win over Wichita Falls Memorial and a 3-1 loss to Glen Rose last week.
Her combined totals: 54 kills, 23 digs and 12 blocks — making her the most effective two-way player the area saw on both sides of the net last week.
“Lillian has become a true utility player for us this season,” coach Marci Faulk said. “It’s exciting to see her embrace this new role and have so much success doing so!”
Wink 51, Coahoma 40 — 
Kemyd Faciane rushed for 292 yards and one TD and Layne Lusby threw three TD passes to lead Wink over Coahoma in a shootout.
Boyd Cox led Coahoma (3-1) with 297 yards passing for four scores.
Wink improved to 4-1 with the win.
LAST WEEK: 55-8, .873
SEASON TOTAL: 196-67, .745
How about those apples?
After a pathetic start that saw this column stagger out of the gate with a pick percentage in the low 600s after two weeks, it rebounded with two straight solid weeks, including a 55-8 record last week (.873) to bump its season tally up to .745 four weeks into the season.
Thank the maker. I was beginning to feel a little pressure.
We now move on to Week 5, with a Big Country Preps Game of the Week featuring the Wall Hawks (3-1) at Sweetwater (2-2) in SHS’ storied Mustang Bowl.
Let’s dive in shall we?
Here’s this week’s picks:
Hawley’s Keagan Ables is no stranger to the Big Country Preps Player of the Week column — appearing among our top performers multiple times over the last three years.
However, his latest effort to help HHS defeat De Leon 54-21 on Friday, may rank as one of his best.
The Hawley senior connected on 16 of 32 passes for 441 yards and six touchdowns to help Hawley improve to 4-0 on the year.
LAST WEEK: 47-11, .810
SEASON TOTAL: 141-59, .705
After nosediving in Week 2 with one of the worst pick records I’ve ever had, the column rebounded in Week 3 with an .810 percentage to push my overall tally over .700 again.
As for this week’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week, Mr. Yale Youngblood will be on hand in Tolar to cover Comanche’s road game with the Rattlers in what should be a fun one.
I’ll be heading to Ballinger, where the Bearcats (3-0) will play host to Brady (2-1) in a battle of upstarts.
Let’s dive into this week’s picks:
Versatility is a definite advantage for nominees in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column. And for Anson senior quarterback Corey Layne it was enough to put him in this week’s top spot.
Leading the Tigers (3-0) to a 49-28 over Dublin, Layne connected on 18 of 27 throws for 284 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed eight times for 65 more yards and two additional scores.
Layne was equally effective from his linebacker spot, collecting 10 tackles and one interception.
LAST WEEK: 46-28, .621
SEASON TOTAL: 94-48, .661
Abysmal.
That’s about the only adjective that comes to mind when trying to describe my Big Country football picks, which are off to the single worst start through two weeks that I’ve ever experienced in 18 years of covering area football.
A percentage of .621 after two weeks of play is beatable by throwing darts, flipping coins, or even consulting with your local horoscope page. Yet here I sit, trying to dig myself out of the hole I’ve created. But enough of that, Glen Rose at Brownwood is our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, in a week filled with interesting matchups.
Let’s have a look at them:
Coahoma 48, Roscoe 14 — For the second straight week Roscoe faced a larger school projected to be in the playoffs and for the second straight week, the Plowboys fell short.
Jaidyn Vineyard rushed for 201 yards and four TDs and Boyd Cox threw for 269 yards and two more scores to lead Class 3A DII Coahoma (2-0), which led 41-0 at the end of three quarters.
DE LEON — Entering this football it was expected that De Leon junior quarterback Heston Jobe would be among the top producers in the Big Country.
It took him all of one night to prove it in a 79-43 win over Dublin on Friday.
Jobe, who connected on 13 of 20 throws for 413 yards and four scores, also rushed for 176 yards and four more TDs.
By night’s end, the Bearcats were 1-0 and Jobe had accounted for 589 yards and five touchdowns.
Wall 28, Mason 6 — Landon York threw for 148 yards, and two scores and Hagyn Barbee rushed for 37 yards and a TD to lead Wall to a win in Craig Slaughter’s coaching debut at WHS.
Briggs Jones was the top receiving target for the Hawks (1-0), hauling in three passes for 102 yards and two scores.
LAST WEEK: 0-0, .000
SEASON TOTAL: 00-00, .000
Week 1 is often loaded with difficult picks and 2024 is no exception.
Our first slate of games this year has a number of contests that could have qualified for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week. But we finally settled on Albany at Stamford for the spotlight.
The two-time defending state 2A DII state champions, minus several key players lost to graduation, facing a Stamford club bringing back most of its skill and a ton of speed.
Fifteen years ago, Craig Slaughter was hired as Sweetwater’s head football coach, in part, to help transition the Mustangs from an old-school wishbone option attack to a more contemporary offensive scheme.
Fast forward to the present, and he’ll soon be tackling a similar challenge at Wall.
In replacing his former boss Houston Guy, who resigned over the offseason after a hyper-successful 17-year tenure as head coach, Slaughter will be tasked with moving the Hawks from a flexbone look to a more modern and balanced attack. And as he prepares to install what he’s calling “a modified spread,” he feels his past experiences will do nothing but help him in that undertaking.
After turning to defensive coordinator Craig Slaughter to replace Houston Guy as its head coach, the Wall football program will be undergoing some major changes in 2024.
Chief among those is a shift in offensive philosophy from a flexbone option attack to a pro spread look that Slaughter insists will be balanced run to pass.
But while the Hawks’ mode of operation may be changing this fall, their expectations won’t be. With 24 lettermen back, including five offensive and seven defensive starters from last year’s 11-3 squad, the WHS coaches and players expect the program to maintain the same level of success it enjoyed under Guy, who resigned after 17 years as the Wall head coach with a 167-49 record.
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. 21. 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. 5, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2024 as part of our annual “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.
Today, we remain in Class 3A Division II with the Wall Hawks.
Continue reading “COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: The Wall Hawks … 20 days to two-a-days”
OTHER 2024 ALL-BIG COUNTRY PREPS TEAMS
Our All-Big Country Preps Softball and Baseball Teams, released Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, are in place to honor those who achieved the most on-field success in 2024. It is off the field, however, where character, grit, and work ethic are often measured. And it is with our Big Country Preps All-Hustle Team that we wish to honor those players, male and female, who were (simply put) the hardest-working, best teammates in the area this spring.
This team isn’t about who the best baseball and softball players were.
The All-Hustle team honors effort, discipline, toughness, coachability and selflessness — traits that coaches wish they had in every player and upon which championships are built.
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 the Big Country had to offer during the 2024 season.
The players below are listed in no particular order.
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: Wall-Iowa Park area-round baseball game (65 images)”
“This was supposed to end differently.”
Those words from first-year Wall baseball coach Jeremy Gordon carried pain, anguish and heartbreak after his squad was upset 5-2 by Iowa Park in a Region I-3A area-round matchup Friday night at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field.
Uncharacteristic mistakes in the first inning, including twice not being able to turn what would have been an inning-ending double play, were the difference in the single-game playoff.
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: Bi-District baseball playoff games in Clyde (61 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.
Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Area softball playoff games in Clyde (41 images)”
Here are the recaps of the Big Country softball playoff results in the second round of the postseason: Continue reading “SOFTBALL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Despite weather, 12 area teams advance to third round with Bangs-Stamford outcome still pending”
AUSTIN — The UIL Track & Field State Meet kicked off Thursday with Classes 3A and 4A competing at Mike Meyers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, and Big Country athletes made their presence felt to start to the three-day affair.
Area competitors didn’t quite match the 14 medals accrued on the opening day of the 2023 state meet, but they still made a solid showing with 10 combined medals.
Headlining the list of medalists were Brock’s Dylan Foster (300-meter hurdles), Stephenville’s Creece Brister (shot put) and Brownwood’s Ike Hall (triple jump), who all left Austin with gold medals. Continue reading “STATE TRACK ROUNDUP: Stephenville’s Brister, Brownwood’s Hall and Brock’s Foster claim gold medals at 3A/4A meet”
Coming off a subpar performance in Game 1 of last week’s 2A bi-district series with Hawley, Cisco pitcher Hannah Rogers did something few expected: a complete about-face.
Rogers, who had been beaten up in an 11-4 loss on Friday afternoon that saw her allow 14 hits, quickly regained her form for Game 2 that evening. Limiting Hawley to seven hits, she led Cisco to a series-tying 5-2 win.
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: Jim Ned-Wall baseball (54 images)”
WALL — There was a time this season where first-year Wall coach Jeremy Gordon used the designated hitter in his lineup to keep second baseman Matthew Steen on the bench.
After having worked his way back into the lineup, Thursday night Steen had a massive breakout game as the Hawks completed an undefeated run through District 6-3A with a 12-3 win over Jim Ned.
Steen, a senior, had two of the Hawks’ season-high five home runs as Wall claimed its first outright district championship since 2019.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 25.
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.
ABILENE — The Brock boys track team claimed its fourth consecutive region title Monday, headlining a strong showing by area athletes at the rain-altered Region I-3A meet at Abilene Christian University’s Elmer Gray Stadium.
Led by Dylan Foster, who claimed gold medals in both hurdle events, earned bronze in the long jump and ran a leg on Brock’s gold medal-winning sprint relay team, the Eagles finished with 99 points, edging runner-up Holliday by 13 points and topping third-place Wall by 44 points.
The Brock boys scored in 10 events and claimed nine medals on their way to the team championship, capping a meet that saw athletes from the Big Country Preps coverage area combined to earn 32 medals and claim 23 automatic berths to the Class 3A state meet May 2 in Austin.
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: Region I-3A track meet Day 1 (54 images)”
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 18.
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.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 18.
With the end of the regular season, this will be our FINAL softball leaders posting for 2024.
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.
With plenty of competition for the top spot, our Big Country Preps Player of the Week goes to Clyde senior pitcher Trip Ancheta.
When in doubt, a dominating no-hitter is usually a solid choice.
Ancheta did exactly that in a 14-0 mercy rule win over Grape Creek that saw him work all five innings with 11 strikeouts — narrowly missing a perfect game by one walk.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 11.
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.
While we normally try to share the love in our Big Country Preps Player of the Week column, five district titles in one week isn’t easy to sidestep.
And while Wall’s Briggs Jones has already pulled down our award once this year, he earned a second with his showing at the District 6-3A meet in Clyde last week by sweeping the long jump (23-2), the triple jump (44-10.75), the 200 meters (21.92), the 100 meters (10.72) and assisting the 800 relay team to gold with a 1:29.68 split.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through April 4.
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.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through April 4.
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.
Here are the area’s baseball statistical leaders through March 28.
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.
Here are the area’s softball statistical leaders through March 28.
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.