Forsan 60, Colorado City 27 — Hayden Bowlin ran for 280 yards and five touchdowns and passed for 59 more yards to lift the Buffaloes to a comfortable win over the Wolves.
Ashton Ellis added 124 yards and two scores for Forsan, which ran for 425 yards as a team in improving to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in district play.
De Leon 58, Coleman 0 — Heston Jobe passed for 240 yards and four touchdowns while adding a fifth touchdown on the ground to fuel the Bearcats to a lopsided win over the Bluecats.
Adan Salinas added 67 yards and two TDs rushing, and Bryce Burkeen (4-85, 1 TD) and Jake Cooper (5-69, 2 TDs) had productive days receiving the ball as De Leon (5-2, 2-0) built a 46-0 lead by halftime.
Thorndale 28, San Saba 24 — 
The Bulldogs (4-3, 1-1) earned a surprising district win on the road as a 16-point underdog.
Luke Tharpe led the Armadillos in a losing effort with 202 yards rushing and two scores.
San Saba saw a three-game winning streak snapped with the loss, falling to 4-3 and 1-1.
Early 28, Clifton 3 — Caden Wilson passed for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and the Longhorns defense limited the Cubs to just 80 yards of offense to improve to 2-0 in league play with a dominant effort against CHS.
Early (3-4 overall) finished with just 222 total yards, but that was enough to build a 14-3 halftime lead and create separation from there for the lopsided win.
Bremond 47, Goldthwaite 0 — The Tigers rolled up 452 yards in total offense to top Goldthwaite on the road.
Tank Scott rushed for 102 yards and three scores and Sam Kasowki threw for 201 yards to lead Bremond which improved to 7-0 and 4-0.
Goldthwaite fell to 4-3 and 2-2.
Brock 55, Mineral Wells 7 — Holt Frazier passed for 334 yards and four touchdowns, and Colt Matlock received for 134 yards and two scores to lead the Eagles to a lopsided win over the Rams.
Dash Lindsey (8-85, 2 TDs rushing; 1-17, 1 TD receiving) and Bryer McDonald (8-72, 2 TDs) also had productive days for Brock (7-0, 2-0), which also got 60 yards and a TD receiving from Davis Lee.
Glen Rose 56, Hillsboro 14 — Judd Connally threw for 265 yards and one score and Tyson Sullivan rushed for 125 yards and four TDs to lead Glen Rose (2-5, 2-0) to its second straight win.
The Tigers will play host to Venus next Friday.
Stephenville 65, Marble Falls 7 — The Yellow Jackets (7-0, 2-0) raced out to a 49-0 lead by the break before coasting home for the win.
Trot Jordan threw for 161 yards and four scores at Carter VanZandt rushed for 86 yards and two TDs to lead Stephenville.
Marble Falls dropped to 3-5 and 0-2.
Fort Stockton 49, Snyder 15 — Gerry Diaz passed for 284 yards and four touchdowns, hitting jaden Sotelo three times for 150 yards and three scores, to fuel the Panthers to a blowout win over the Tigers.
Diaz also ran for 98 yards and a pair of TDs in the win, which saw Fort Stockton (5-3, 1-1) take a 21-0 lead after a quarter and increase that to 35-0 by halftime.
Big Spring (4-2), idle — Like everyone else in this league, the Steers had the week off to prepare for the start of district play next week.
Big Spring, which has won four of its last five games, will open 3-4A DI play next week with a home game against Andrews.
Wall 58, Coahoma 0 — Wall’s Landon York kept his hot hand, hitting 17 of 24 throws for 333 yards and two scores to help Wall to an important league win over Coahoma.
Brady Neal led Wall (8-0, 2-0) on the ground with 107 yards rushing and three scores.
Limited to only 158 total yards, Coahoma fell to 6-2 and 1-1.
Stamford 28, Anson 21 — Stamford entered this game as an underdog in the view of many, but left as the victor after forcing four Anson turnovers.
Limited to only 185 yards in total offense for the night, the Bulldogs (4-3, 1-1) still managed to build a 28-6 first-half lead before hanging on for the win.
Despite piling up 371 yards in total offense and outgaining Stamford by nearly 200 yards, Anson (5-2, 0-2) dropped its second straight game after a 5-0 start.
Hamlin 21, Roscoe 14 (OT) — 
Hamlin rushed for 239 yards via committee in a tough overtime win on the road. Reece Rainey led the Pied Pipers (6-1, 2-0) with 85 yards rushing on four carries and one TD.
It was the sixth straight win for Hamlin since a season-opening loss to Anson.
Roscoe (1-6, 1-1) was led by Jace Arnwine, who threw for 136 yards, rushed for 19 and accounted for two scores.
Jim Ned 49, Breckenridge 7 — Cash Gwinn threw for 186 yards and three scores and Aiden Ellis rushed for 127 yards and another TD as Jim Ned earned its fourth straight win.
The Indians quickly built a 42-7 first-half lead before coasting to the finish.
Breckenridge fell to 2-5 and 0-2.
PLAINVIEW — Jaden Carrillo passed for 203 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 177 yards and three more scores to lead Cooper to a 56-43 win over Plainview on Friday at Greg Sherwood Memorial Stadium.
Peyton Ewing added 134 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and Zaylon Johnson received for 127 yards and two scores as the Cougars used a 28-point fourth quarter to break open a game that was tied after each of the first three periods.
The wild victory improved Cooper to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in District 2-5A Division II play, keeping coach Aaron Roan’s squad within a half-game of league leader Amarillo Palo Duro (6-1, 3-0) with two games to play.
HICO — Upon examining the videotape of the Big Country Preps Game of the Week, both the Bangs and Hico coaching staffs will no doubt, find dozens of different ways they could have won or lost their matchup on Friday.
As fate would have it, the Bangs Dragons left Tiger Stadium as the victors, sneaking past Hico 28-27 behind a fake PAT kick-conversion pass from Cason Tidwell to Joaquin Rubio with 37 seconds to play. Even the game-winning play forced everyone to hit the rewind button twice, with both a successful Bangs PAT run and failed PAT kick wiped out by penalties, giving both teams a taste of victory before Rubio scored the actual game-winner.
Tidwell topped the stat sheet for both clubs, rushing for 205 yards and four scores on 24 carries on a night that saw Bangs (5-2, 2-0 District 5-2A DI) rally from two separate deficits —13-6 at the break at 27-20 in the fourth quarter.
Hico (4-3, 0-2) was led by Cole Heutzenroeder (15 carries, 132 yards, two TDs) and by Tyler Jackson, who was 7-of-15 passing for 113 yards and another score.
“I just told the kids ‘hey, you’ve got to want it more, because (Hico) wants it more than you do right now,'” said Bangs coach Colton Buzzard, whose team has now won five straight games after an 0-2 start. “That’s not the Dragon way. If we come out and want it more, it’s going to be really hard to beat us.”
Facing off with an overmatched opponent in front of a homecoming crowd, the Abilene High Eagles were about as dominant as a team could be Friday, scoring 59 points in the opening half of a 73-0 win over Lubbock High at Shotwell Stadium.
AHS followed a 28-point first quarter with 31 more points in the second, while holding the Westerners to minus-25 first-half yards defensively on 29 plays — three of which ended in turnovers.
With a running clock in the second half, coach Mike Fullen’s squad finished off the shutout after halftime, turning a fourth takeaway into its third non-offensive touchdown to improve to 6-2 on the year and 4-0 in District 2-5A Division I play.
Wylie entered Friday night’s District 2-5A Division II game against Wichita Falls Memorial at Hugh Sandifer Stadium with the potential to be part of a three-way tie for the district championship in a few weeks as the league has featured shocking results on a weekly basis.
After a 45-14 loss to the Mavericks, the Bulldogs are now headed into their open week trying to find answers while knowing that a trip to the playoffs isn’t nearly the guarantee that it seemed to be Friday morning.
With Amarillo Palo Duro rallying past Lubbock Cooper and Abilene Cooper pulling away from Plainview on Friday, the Bulldogs (4-4 overall, 2-2 district) find themselves in third place in a massive logjam in the postseason race.
Plainview, Wichita Falls Legacy and Memorial are all tied for fourth place at 1-2 in district while the Lubbock Cooper is now 1-3.
When Jaden Carrillo was tabbed to be Cooper’s starting quarterback in the preseason, beating out fellow seniors Johnathon Rico and Jared Clancy for the role, it was likely eyebrow-raising news for some.
That’s because for most of his time as a Cougar, the speedy playmaker was catching passes, not throwing them.
Carrillo cut his teeth as a varsity football player at the slot receiver position, amassing 71 receptions for 657 yards and five touchdowns across his sophomore and junior seasons. But the senior three-sport standout has always thought of himself as a quarterback — and given the chance to man the position in his final high school season, he’s showing others exactly why.
Haegen Pinkerton isn’t a one-man show for Haskell’s football team.
But the junior quarterback is many things for the Indians this season. He’s a dual threat. He’s one of the best athletes in 6-2A Division II – if not the best.
He’s a three-year starter. He’s a hard worker and a leader. He makes an impact in multiple sports. And he’s motivated to lead Haskell to the playoffs after the Indians came up short last season.
We’ve reached Week 8, and playoff races are starting to take shape in our area six-man districts.
While most of our best matchups are still to come, this week’s slate, which is headlined by a marquee District 7-1A Division I clash between No. 8 Westbrook and fellow toughie Ira, has its share of intriguing games.
Without further adieu, let’s go ahead and jump into this week’s “Lookahead.” We hope you enjoy this preview of the week’s action and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).
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.
LAST WEEK: 53-7, .883
SEASON TOTAL: 335-79, .809
Week 8.
Can you believe it? I can’t, but every year it’s the same story. Two-a-days end, you blink and it’s Thanksgiving.
At any rate, Friday night will see us venturing to Hico for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, with the Bangs Dragons (4-2, 1-0) facing the Tigers (4-2, 0-1) on the road in an important District 5-2A DI showdown that will almost certainly play a huge role in playoff seeding.
Pretty much across the football landscape, there is one opponent nobody wants to play. He doesn’t wear a uniform, and he comes in all manner of configurations. But ask any coach, and he will tell you a bite by the “Injury Bug” can be as devastating as any heartbreaking scoreboard defeat.
Or, as in the case of the Mineral Wells Rams, you can suffer multiple chomps, keep on shooing, and convert disaster into what still might have the promise of a successful season.
It certainly helps the Rams’ cause that the primary swatter is six-feet tall, weighs 180 pounds, runs faster than a speeding cornerback and is able to leap tall safeties to catch pretty much any ball thrown his way.
But (much) more on Jaidun Fisher in a bit. First, consider why the Mineral Wells receiver has been so important this year.
Photos courtesy of Kimberly Branch
With its sweep of San Angelo TLCA on Tuesday, the Wall volleyball team ran its District 6-3A record to a perfect 10-0 and its overall mark to 29-7.
Yet, as impressive as those numbers are, the record is not the most remarkable stat of the year for the Lady Hawks.
While forging its identity as the 6-3A “team to beat,” Wall has dropped just one set in district play.
That astounding number, coupled with the fact that Wall faced a pre-district schedule that included a bevy of quality Class 6A and 5A opponents, has the Lady Hawks primed for what could be a special 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.
Coming into the second crosstown volleyball match between Abilene High and Cooper, the youthful Lady Cougars had yet to win a set in five District 4-5A matches. So when coach Kandice Williams’ squad had its rival down 9-2 in the fifth set Tuesday, there were a lot of surprised — and nervous — fans in Cougar Gym.
But after struggling to wrestle momentum from the feisty Lady Coogs for most of the match, thanks in no small part to a large and rowdy crowd, the Lady Eagles recovered just in time to avoid an upset loss, rallying for a 25-13, 24-26, 22-25, 25-17, 15-13 win to level their district record at 3-3.
The match was a far cry from the first meeting between the teams, which saw AHS breeze to a 25-8, 25-10, 25-12 victory at home. And after it, Lady Eagles coach Emily Gravitt was just happy to see her team escape with the hard-earned win.
With Week 7 came the opening of district play for most six-man teams in the Big Country Preps coverage area. And we already have some separation being created in a number of area leagues.
Included in those is District 13-1A Division II, which saw Blanket down Gustine 57-12 in our our “Big Country Lookahead” Game of the Week.
But that was one of many interesting results we’ll be discussing in this week’s “Big Country Rewind” column. We hope you enjoy this look back at Week 7 and encourage you to check out our Six-Man/Class 1A Central page for more information on your favorite team(s).
Slowly but surely, the Cooper Cougars have emerged as one of the most explosive teams in the Big Country. And in its latest exploit, CHS rolled up 517 yards in total offense in a 66-16 win over Lubbock Cooper.
At the top of the stat sheet: Cooper quarterback Jaden Carrillo, who hit 18 of 27 throws for 263 yards and six touchdowns. He also rushed 11 times for 80 yards and another score to help the Cougars improve to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in District 2-5A DII.
His six TD passes tied a school record held by Zac Allen and Clayton Nicholas.
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 8:
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: Breckenridge-Clyde football (70 images)”
Photos by Susanna Jackson, HubCityPreps.com
Abilene High 35, Lubbock Coronado 6 — The Eagles ran for 258 yards, getting 178 of those and two touchdowns from Ethan Joyner, to cruise to a workmanlike win over the Mustangs.
Symanni Strahan also had a big game for Abilene High (5-2, 3-0), rushing for 36 yards and two touchdowns while adding a third TD receiving, as the Eagles bu8ilt a 21-6 lead by halftime.
Abilene Cooper 66, Lubbock Cooper 16 — Jaden Carrillo passed for 273 yards and a school record-tying six touchdowns while adding 80 yards and another score rushing to lead the Cougars to a blowout win over the Pirates.
Zaylon Johnson was Carrillo’s favorite target in the passing game, hauling in seven passes for 140 yards and four touchdowns, while Jace Johnson and Donovan Wilkerson also had TD catches for the Coogs (4-3, 2-1).
With Hamlin extending its winning streak to five, I can hear its detractors (and with some validity) saying that the Pipers have yet to be tested by an upper tier 2A DII team.
Hamlin fell to Division I Anson in an injury-plagued opener, but hasn’t faced a team currently over .500 since.
OK, that’s fine.
But there’s one thing to keep an eye on: Hamlin is doing what a good team would do as a heavy favorite — it’s winning comfortably.
In fact, with the exception of a 19-14 win over Crosbyton, the Pipers have outperformed computer projections on a weekly basis. In other words, this club is better than most believed it would be and without question, it’s better than last year.
Continue reading “BIG COUNTRY PREPS NOTEBOOK: Hamlin, Brownwood, Glen Rose and Hawley all on tap tonight”
Haskell 44, Munday 20 — The Indians picked up their second consecutive win in district play, cruising past the Moguls for a comfortable victory.
With the score tied at 6-all early, Haskell closed the first half with 24 unanswered points to take a 30-6 lead into halftime. Munday rallied to close the gap to 38-20 in the fourth quarter, but that as close as the score would get.
Santo 27, Era 14 — Jackson McKinnerney ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns, and the SHS defense limited Era to 144 yards of total offense to fuel the Wildcats to a two-score win over the Hornets.
Justin Hollingsworth also had a rushing score and Rylan Griffith had 79 yards rushing and passing TD for Santo (5-1, 1-0), which took advantage of a 3-1 edge in the turnover margin.
Christoval 15, Colorado City 6 — The Cougars only generated 174 yards of total offense, but that was enough thanks to a dominant defensive effort against the Wolves.
Trailing 6-0 after a quarter, Christoval (3-3, 1-0) got a touchdown pass from Ty Debusk in the second quarter to take a 7-6 lead into halftime, before getting another TD throw from the quarterback in the third quarter to put the game away.
Big Spring 49, Kermit 14 — The Steers bounced back from last week’s loss to Fort Stockton with a blowout win over the Yellow Jackets, dominating from start to finish to improve to 4-2 on the year.
Big Spring built a 35-0 lead by halftime and extended that advantage in the third quarter, before Kermit scored a pair of touchdowns late.
Bangs 48, Ballinger 0 — Cason Tidwell ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns, and the BHS defense pitched a shutout to fuel the Dragons to a statement win over the Bearcats.
Bangs, which ran for 309 yards as a team, built a 28-0 lead by halftime in improving to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in district with its fourth consecutive victory.
Goldthwaite 42, Frost 0 — The Eagles (4-2, 2-1) stayed in the district title hunt with a win over previously unbeaten Frost.
This sets up a huge district matchup with Bremond next Friday at home.
The Polar Bears fell to 5-1 and 2-1.
Early 43, Tolar 14 — Cameron Love ran for 106 yards and a touchdown, while Caden Wilson and Isaac Ibarra each added two rushing scores to help the Longhorns snap a four-game losing streak with a lopsided win over the Rattlers.
Early (2-4, 1-0) ran for 314 yards as a team, getting 70 yards from Stone Ratliff and 69 yards each from Wilson and Ibarra in the victory. Wilson also passed for 67 yards, hitting Andrew for a TD as the Longhorns built a 28-14 halftime lead.
San Saba 47, Johnson City 21
Jason Everett rushed for 163 yards and two TDs on 27 carries to lead the Armadillos to a win in the district opener for both clubs.
It was the third straight victory for the Armadillos, who improved to 4-2 an 1-0.
Johnson City fell to 3-3 and 0-1.