WYLIE (4-4, 2-2) AT LUBBOCK COOPER (5-4, 2-3)
7 p.m. Friday, Pirate Stadium, Lubbock
SIX-MAN LOOKAHEAD: Hermleigh-Ira, Aspermont-Jayton headline spooky slate of six-man action
With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the stakes are rising across the state for many high school football teams, and that increased urgency makes for some excellent matchups this time of year.
That’s certainly the case on the area six-man scene, where Halloween night will feature a number of intriguing contests, headlined by co-Games of the Week between Hermleigh and Ira in Division I and Aspermont and Jayton in Division II.
It’s time now to talk about those matchups — and more — in this week’s “Six-Man Lookahead” column. We hope you enjoy this preview of Week 10 action and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).
REALIGNMENT CENTRAL: Snapshot Day numbers coming in for area schools
In order to account for new schools opening and in keeping the different classifications as balanced and competitive as possible, the University Interscholastic League goes through a realignment every other year.
It’s one of the highlights of what’s typically a slow football offseason, but it gets started before the current season has drawn to a close.
A multi-step process, realignment got under way on Friday with Snapshot Day. All UIL schools are required to turn in their enrollments on the day for the governing body to determine cutoff numbers for each classification and start drawing up the new districts.
GAME STORY: Turnovers doom Santo in 55-34 loss to Lindsay
SANTO — The Santo football team entered Thursday night’s District 8-2A Division II matchup at W.A. Lewis Field with Lindsay knowing that it was already headed to the playoffs, but the Wildcats needed to beat the Knights to secure the No. 3 seed.
A rough six minute stretch between the end of the second quarter and start of the third put SHS in a hole it couldn’t dig out of in a 55-34 loss in the penultimate game of the regular season.
Santo will now close out the regular season with a road game at No. 7 Collinsville — which is tied for the district lead with No. 2 Muenster ahead of their Friday night showdown.
FEATURE: Sophomore signal caller McIlroy making major impact for 7-1 Cisco Loboes
When the 2025 season opened, most fervent followers of District 4-2A Division I football likely took a look at the Cisco starting lineup, noticed that a sophomore was pencilled in as the starting quarterback, and pegged the Loboes as a potential playoff team.
The “potential playoff team” part of the equation was a given, considering that, since 2020, the Loboes have made four postseason appearances and have twice earned 11 wins. In fact, Cisco playing quality football has become routine under coach Kevin Stennett and his predecessor and mentor Brent West.
But the “sophomore quarterback” aspect … Well, in a district that also includes perennial powers Hawley and Stamford, having to play a youngster in the most important position generally represents a big red flag — especially if you hope to win the league championship.
Fast forward to this Friday, when the Loboes will play host to Anson (6-2 overall, 1-2 in district) at 7 p.m. Cisco isn’t just hoping to hoist a big trophy; the Loboes can assure themselves of that achievement with a win. With victories already in hand over Hawley and Stamford, Cisco can clinch the title this week.
FEATURE: Senior quarterback Jobe, strong supporting cast have De Leon in position for special season
With senior quarterback Heston Jobe leading the way, the De Leon offense is averaging 47 points a game this fall. So it’s not surprising that the Bearcats have raced to a 6-2 start overall and are 3-0 in District 5-2A Division I play and in a battle with Hamilton for the league title.
What is a slight, but very pleasant, revelation for first-year coach Brennan Whitaker and the Bearcat faithful is how well the four-year starter at QB has transformed from a gunslinger into a surgeon in very short order.
“Heston played very well his freshman, sophomore and junior years, but he was running an offense that did a lot of hurry-up and put a lot of emphasis on the vertical passing game,” Whitaker said. “There weren’t a lot of reads for him to make. He would just try to hit whatever receiver was streaking down the field. This year, we’ve installed something a little different, and he has taken great strides in really learning the quarterback position.”
Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 10)
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of our weekly fan polls for each matchup.
For those interested in voting, polls go up on Sunday night each week and close Thursday evening.
Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Red-hot Brownwood plays host to top-ranked Stephenville
LAST WEEK: 48-9, .842
SEASON TOTAL: 424-97, .810
Every so often, a game is so high-profile, it qualifies for the Big Country Preps Game of the Week, regardless of what people generally think will happen once the teams take the field.
This week’s matchup between age-old rivals Stephenville (8-0, 2-0 District 4-4A DI) at Brownwood (5-3, 2-0) falls into that category, with the two clubs essentially playing for a league title, though most people believe top-ranked SHS will win handily.
Keep in mind, there are a few extra factors worth taking note of, not the least of which is the fact that Brownwood has followed a 1-3 start with four straight wins. And if you want to stretch that out a bit, the Lions have followed an 0-2 start with five wins in their last six contests, including wins over good teams from Glen Rose, Lampasas and Burnet.
Brownwood is a home at Gordon Wood Stadium, and it’s held three of its last four opponents to 10 points or less.
Does that mean I’m leaning toward the red-hot Lions here?
No.
2025 VOLLEYBALL STAT LEADERS: Our final stat leaders list for the 2025 regular season
Big Country Preps is publishing area volleyball statistical leaders each Wednesday at 7 p.m. throughout 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 volleyball playoff pairings, results (Final)
Here are the final Big Country volleyball playoff pairings and results:
Continue reading “Big Country volleyball playoff pairings, results (Final)”
SIX-MAN REWIND: District races continue to take shape as regular season nears its end
Week 9 yielded several big results as area district races continue to take shape. Chief among those were Water Valley’s win over Robert Lee and Zephyr’s victory over Blanket in our Games of the Week.
Those two outcomes headlined an exciting week of action that set the stage for more pivotal matchups in the final two weeks of the regular season.
As we do every Monday, it’s time to take a look at the best and most meaningful of games from last week in our “Big Country Rewind.” We hope you enjoy this look back at the week that was and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for up-to-date standings, results and upcoming matchups.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Wall quarterback Landon York snags this week’s accolade
What more can be said about the performance of Wall senior Landon York last week other than it was a model of efficiency?
Our Big Country Preps Player of the Week shredded Grape Creek in a 48-0 district win to clinch the District 4-3A DII championship.
Along the way, York connected on 18 of 21 throws for 246 yards and get this: seven touchdowns. That means one out of every three throws resulted in points.
How good of a night did he have? How about a ridiculous quarterback rating of 294.1?
WEEK 10 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we offer fans the chance to pick the winners of all games involving our local and area football teams. The results of these weekly polls, which will close at 5 p.m. each Thursday, will be included in our weekly Pick ‘Em Panel.
Here are the games for Week 10:
Continue reading “WEEK 10 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
PHOTO GALLERY: Sweetwater-Clyde football (46 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: Sweetwater-Clyde football (46 images)”
PHOTO GALLERY: Graham-Mineral Wells football (62 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: Graham-Mineral Wells football (62 images)”
DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. I WEEK 9 REPORT: Abilene High takes down Tascosa; Amarillo High, Caprock cruise to wins
Photo by Carter Pirtle, PressPassSports.com
Abilene High 24, Amarillo Tascosa 6 — The Eagles made three red-zone stops in the first half to take a 10-0 lead into halftime and scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns pull away for a three-score win over the Rebels to clinch at least a share of the district title.
Ethan Joyner ran for 94 yards and received for 33, while M’Aujehl Aboso received for 160 yards and two touchdowns to fuel Abilene High (7-2, 5-0), which also got a solid game from Brayden Henry (14-67 rushing, 5-6-0—86, 1 TD passing) in the win.
DISTRICT 2-5A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Abilene Cooper, Palo Duro separate selves from pack; LCP picks up key win
Abilene Cooper 53, Wichita Falls Legacy 24 — The Cougars ran for 287 yards as a team, getting 102 yards and two touchdowns rushing and 27 yards receiving from Peyton Ewing in a thorough win over the Leopards.
Cooper (6-3, 4-1), which also got productive days from Jaden Carrillo (10-15-0—106, 1 TD passing; 4-51, 1 TD rushing) and Markquel Sims (11-87, 1 TD rushing), raced out to a 22-0 second-quarter lead and closed the third quarter with three unanswered touchdowns to increase a 29-17 lead to 50-17 by the start of the fourth quarter.
DISTRICT 8-2A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Muenster blanks Santo; Collinsville, Lindsay cruise to wins
Muenster 28, Santo 0 — Casen Carney threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to lead the Hornets to a shutout win over the Wildcats in a game that was called at halftime due to weather.
Carney had passing touchdowns to Dustyn Croft and Maverick Bayer to stake Muenster to a 14-0 first-quarter lead, before running for scores of 43 and 56 yards to cap the scoring in the second quarter.
DISTRICT 6-2A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Windthorst pulls away from Haskell; Petrolia rolls through Munday
Windthorst 52, Haskell 14 — Brock Belcher ran for 129 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 116 yards and three more scores to lead the Trojans to a convincing win over the Indians.
Adam Barton added 139 yards and one TD on the ground, and Jaxon Stark had 68 yards and two TDs receiving for Windthorst (6-2, 4-0), which increased a 24-8 halftime lead lead to 38-8 by the start of the fourth quarter.
DISTRICT 3-2A DIV. I WEEK 9 REPORT: Bowlin leads Forsan past Christoval, Ozona routs C-City
Forsan 21, Christoval 7 — Hayden Bowlin ran for 183 yards and all three FHS touchdowns to lead the Buffaloes to a two-score win over the Cougars.
Forsan (3-5, 2-1), which also got 56 yards passing and eight yards receiving from Bowlin, limited Christoval to just 150 total yards in stretching a 7-0 halftime lead to two touchdowns by the start of the final period.
DISTRICT 5-3A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Brady wins OT thriller over Early; Dublin blasts Eastland for first win
Brady 17, Early 15 (OT) — The Bulldogs needed four overtime periods to outlast the Longhorns, getting a two-point conversion run from Ashton Taylor to break a 15-all deadlock and secure a thrilling win.
Taylor also had a touchdown run in the second overtime period after neither team could score in the first. Brady (6-2, 3-0) led 7-0 at halftime thanks to a first-quarter TD run by Johnny Roque, but Early answered with a scoring pass from Caden Wilson to Andrew Reedy to tie the game at 7-all and eventually force overtime.
DISTRICT 5-2A DIV. I WEEK 9 REPORT: Hico slips past Coleman; De Leon, Hamilton stay unbeaten with lopsided wins
Hico 28, Coleman 27 — Cole Heutzenroeder ran for 226 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a thrilling win over the Bluecats in a key game in the 5-2A DI playoff race.
The senior running back helped Hico (5-3, 1-2) rally from 21-7 halftime deficit that remained two scores (27-14) into the fourth quarter.
DISTRICT 3-4A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Brock blasts Burkburnett; Graham, Eagle Mountain earn shutout wins
Brock 66, Burkburnett 7 — Bryer McDonald ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns and Holt Frazier threw for 259 yards and four scores to lead the Eagles to a runaway win over the Bulldogs.
Colt Matlock also went over the century mark receiving, finishing with three catches for 107 yards and two TDs for Brock (8-0, 3-0), which won the turnover battle 3-0 in a dominating effort.
DISTRICT 14-2A DIV. I WEEK 9 REPORT: San Saba still chasing possible district title; Thorndale, Mason both win
San Saba 42, Harper 7 — 
Luke Tharp rushed for 219 yards and two scores and Jason Everett rushed for 112 yards and two more TDs to lift San Saba to an important district win over Harper.
The Armadillos (5-3, 2-1) still have a shot at the District title if they can sweep Holland and Mason to close the season and force a three-way tiebreaker with Thorndale.
Or, hope either Harper or struggling Holland can upset Thorndale to open the door for an outright title.
DISTRICT 10-2A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Goldthwaite stays in the hunt, Bremond, Mart, Frost all win
Goldthwaite 54, Wortham 0 — The Eagles (5-3, 3-2) are still in the thick of the playoff hunt courtesy of this rout of Wortham (1-7, 1-4).
Blake Howard threw for 150 yards and four scores and rushed for 55 yards and another TD to lift the Eagles, who close the regular season with Meridian and Mart respectively.
DISTRICT 1-4A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Seminole too strong for Snyder; Greenwood dominates Fort Stockton
Seminole 81, Snyder 14 — The Indians passed for 456 yards, ran for 242 more and scored 12 total touchdowns in a lopsided win over the Tigers.
Dominick Higgins passed for 233 yards and three TDs, while Jacob Gonzales added 223 yards and three scores through the air for Seminole (6-2, 2-0), which also got a big rushing day from Caton Cramer (11-141, 5 TDs) and a standout receiving effort from Landen Guerra (6-229, 3 TDs).
DISTRICT 4-3A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Merkel rips Stanton, York has unbelievable night for Wall
Merkel 48, Stanton 9 — Easton Malone threw for 253 yards and four scores and CJ Guadarrama rushed for 93 yards and three more TDs to lift Merkel to a rout of Stanton.
The Badgers (6-2, 1-1) will next face Grape Creek on the road next Friday.
DISTRICT 3-3A DIV. I WEEK 9 REPORT: Bucks now the frontrunner for No. 4 seed; Jim Ned, Clyde both win
Breckenridge 26, Comanche 22 — Breckenridge used a solid defensive effort to get past Comanche in a vitally important game for both clubs.
Limiting Comanche to 239 yards, the Buckaroos snagged sole possession of fourth place and the potential No. 4 playoff seed with two games left.
Breckenridge improved to 3-5 and 1-2 in league play; Comanche fell to 3-5 and 0-3.
DISTRICT 3-4A DIV. I WEEK 9 REPORT: Andrews holds off Big Spring; Lake View blasts Pecos
Andrews 28, Big Spring 20 — JaeSean DeBouse ran for two touchdowns, while Beau Hudson and Casey Mendoza added one apiece to lift the the Mustangs to a hard-fought win over the Steers in the district opener for both teams.
Fueled by that prolific rushing attack, Andrews (3-5, 1-0) an early 7-0 lead to 21-7 in the second and held off a Big Spring rally from there to snap a two-game losing streak.
DISTRICT 4-2A DIV. I WEEK 9 REPORT: Anson snaps losing skid, Cisco rallies to stop Hawley, Stamford tops TLCA
Anson 54, Olney 15 — 
The Tigers snapped a two-game losing streak with a lopsided win at home over the Cubs.
Hunter Teichelman threw for 334 yards and five scores and added one rushing touchdown to pace Anson (6-2, 1-2) which put itself in an excellent position to earn a playoff spot with the win.
Alex Lozano (four catches, 136 yards, two TDs) and Malachi St. John (seven catches, 114 yards, two TDs) were Teichelman’s targets of choice.
DISTRICT 4-4A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Godley, Benbrook both win to set up district title matchup
Glen Rose 70, Venus 0 — The Tigers (3-5, 3-0) won their third straight game after an 0-5 start while keeping Venus (0-8, 0-3) winless.
Judd Connally threw for 155 yards and four touchdowns and Tyson Sullivan rushed for 91 yards and two more scores to lead the Tigers, who will host Fort Worth
Benbrook (5-3, 3-0) for the district title next Friday.
DISTRICT 4-4A DIV. I WEEK 9 REPORT: Brownwood, Stephenville both win to set up district showdown
Brownwood 38, Burnet 7 — Judson Coalson threw for 116 yards and two scores and Levi Pearson rushed for 63 yards and another TD to lead Brownwood to an easy win on the road.
Leading 24-7 at the break, the Lions (5-3, 2-0) put the game away with two unanswered second-half scores.
It was the fourth straight win for Brownwood as Burnet dropped to 3-6 and 1-2.
DISTRICT 7-2A DIV. II WEEK 9 REPORT: Roscoe, Hamlin, Albany all earn wins in Week 9
Roscoe 42, Winters 0 — 
The Plowboys (2-6, 2-1) pounded out 208 yards as a team and limited Winters to 38 yards in total offense to score a district win.
Jace Arnwine topped the stat sheet with 64 yards passing and 72 yards rushing.
Winters, which fell to 2-6 and 0-3, was limited to only six yards rushing as a team.
GAME REPORT: Abilene High rides clutch stops, timely offense to gritty win at Amarillo Tascosa
Photos by Carter Pirtle, PressPassSports.com
AMARILLO — The Abilene High football team hit the road on a mission Friday, looking to clinch at least a share of the District 2-5A Division I title and lock up a home playoff game with a win over a tough Amarillo Tascosa team that came in riding a three-game district winning streak itself.
After waiting out a lightning delay that pushed the start the game back more than an hour and a half, the Eagles accomplished all of those things, grinding out a 24-6 win at Dick Bivins Stadium to improve to 7-2 overall and 4-0 in 2-5A DI action.
Leading 10-0 at halftime after holding the Rebels to zero points on three red zone trips in the first half and 10-6 after three quarters following Tascosa’s only touchdown of the game, Abilene High put together a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives to seal the victory and set up a big regular-season finale at home against Lubbock Monterey next week.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Cisco rallies for thrilling win over Hawley in key District 4-2A DI matchup
ABILENE — While a venue change and an extended lightning delay forced the Cisco Loboes and Hawley Bearcats to make adjustments on their adjustments Friday at Wylie’s Hugh Sandifer Stadium, the Big Country Preps Game of the Week between the two squads lived up to the pregame hype surrounding the key District 4-2A Division I matchup.
After watching Hawley score 20 unanswered points to turn a 14-6 second-quarter deficit into a two-score lead heading into the fourth quarter, Cisco rallied with two touchdowns in the final period to claim a 29-26 win and take sole possession of the district lead in the process.
The victory, which improved CHS’ season record to 7-1, pushed the Loboes’ to 3-0 in league play — a game ahead of Hawley (5-3, 2-1) and Stamford (5-3, 2-1) with wins over both in their pocket.
GAME STORY: Clyde holds off furious Sweetwater rally for crucial win
CLYDE — When the Clyde football team hosts Sweetwater, it’s almost guaranteed the game is going to be in doubt until the final whistle.
The Bulldogs took the 2022 meeting between the two programs 29-28 in overtime before hitting the road in each of the last two years.
Friday night at Bulldog Stadium, the hosts claimed a crucial 27-20 District 3-3A Division I win as they stopped a Caiden Ortiz scramble in the middle of the field on the final play of the game. It was a thrilling end to a game that saw a ho-hum first half played in a driving rain give way to a second half full of momentum swings and stunning turns of events.
SIX-MAN LOOKAHEAD: Robert Lee-Water Valley, Zephyr-Blanket headline strong area slate in Week 9
Week 9 is here, and with it come two of the most highly anticipated matchups of the year, as Robert Lee and Water Valley are set to clash in a battle of ranked unbeatens in District 8-1A Division I and Zephyr and Blanket are scheduled to meet with District 13-1A Division II supremacy on the line.
The threat of inclement weather pushed several of the area’s other high-profile matchups to Thursday — the scores from which can be found on our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page — but there’s still plenty of upcoming action to talk about in this week’s “Six-Man Lookahead.”
Let’s stop wasting time and do that now as we dive into the best games Friday’s slate has to offer.
FEATURE: Brady running game at the forefront of the Bulldogs’ success in 2025
Photos contributed by Melissa Regeon
BRADY — From Day 1 of his tenure at Brady, third-year coach Jeron Roberts has made a commitment to building a consistent running game and the 2025 season is witnessing the payoff for those efforts.
Entering this Friday’s matchup with Early, the Bulldogs are 5-2 overall, and 2-0 in District 5-3A DII. They’ve rushed for 2,546 yards and 34 touchdowns behind one of the area’s top offensive lines and have two of the Big Country’s top rushers in Ashton Taylor and Sean Jacoby.
GAME STORY: Fast start, strong third quarter fuel Cooper to blowout win over Wichita Falls Legacy
The Cooper football team didn’t start the week expecting to play a Thursday night game, but you wouldn’t have known that by the way the Cougars executed in a 53-24 home win over Wichita Legacy.
Playing a night earlier than scheduled due to thunderstorms forecasted for the area on Friday, the Cougars raced out to a 22-0 second-quarter lead and never let up in a thorough victory at Shotwell Stadium.
The win improved coach Aaron Roan’s squad to 6-3 on the year and 4-1 in District 2-5A Division II play, setting up a showdown with Amarillo Palo Duro (7-1, 4-0) for the league’s top playoff seed on Nov. 6, following the Cougars’ open date in Week 10.
GAME STORY: Sophomore Cox, stout defensive effort lead Graham to shutout win over Mineral Wells
MINERAL WELLS — After moving their District 3-4A Division II game up 24 hours anticipating bad weather on Friday, the Graham and Mineral Wells football teams were less than 10 minutes from kickoff at Ram Stadium on Thursday when Mother Nature showed up anyways.
Following the 32-minute lightning delay, Graham forced a three-and-out and scored in the first 1:57 as the Steers rolled to a 42-0 win, setting up a showdown with Brock on Halloween for the expected district championship.
Graham coach Clay McChristian was proud of how his team dealt with the unexpected shift in schedules this week.
Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 9)
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games, in addition to the results of our weekly fan polls for each matchup.
For those interested in voting, polls go up on Sunday night each week and close Thursday evening.
Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Loboes, Bearcats square off with district lead on the line
LAST WEEK: 41-9, .805
SEASON TOTAL: 376-88, .810
Week 9 has arrived and with it, our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, with Cisco (6-1, 2-0 District 4-2A DI) visiting Hawley (5-2, 2-0).
And yes, there is plenty at stake.
The winner will be in sole possession of first place in the District 4-2A DI race and will be the odds-on favorite to take the No. 1 seed.
The starting time of this matchup has been bumped to 6 p.m. due to a storm expected to move into the area, with the possibility of it being shifted to Wylie if conditions at Hawley become too sloppy.
