Week 1 is behind us, and what a week it was for area six-man teams.
After previewing the week’s slate in last week’s “Six-Man Lookahead” column, it’s time to recap it in our first edition of the “Six-Man Rewind.”
We hope you enjoy taking a look back at the week that was in Big Country six-man football and encourage you to check out our new “Six-Man/Class 1A Central” page for more information on your favorite six-man teams.
Abilene High 60, San Angelo Central 36 — Ryland Bradford caught five passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns and added a 32-yard scoring run on a lateral swing pass to fuel an explosive offensive effort for the Eagles against the Bobcats.
Quarterback Brayden Henry also had a big day, passing for 205 yards and three touchdowns while adding a receiving score for the Eagles, who outscored Central 17-0 in the fourth quarter to turn a one-score game into a rout.
Central was led in the loss by quarterback Christian “Squeaky” English, who threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores in the loss.
Azle 41, Abilene Cooper 34 — Leading 20-19 at halftime, the Cougars couldn’t hold off the Hornets in the second half, being outscored 22-14 over the final two quarters to drop a thriller in the season opener for both teams.
Hagan Hughes rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns and King Stephens added 108 yards and three touchdowns on the ground for Azle, which also got 191 yards and one TD passing from Derrek Vowell in a 485-yard effort.
Cooper, which had 333 yards of total offense, was led in rushing by Peyton Ewing (14-74), in passing by Austin Cummins (16-29-0—195, 2 TDs) and in receiving by Zavian Alexander (6-95, 1 TD).
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 2:
Continue reading “WEEK 2 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
Junction 40, Goldthwaite 6 — With every starter back from last year, Junction was expected to take a major step forward this season.
And from the looks of their win over Goldthwaite on Friday, that is apparently the case.
The Eagles (1-0) will play host to an improved San Saba team (1-0) on Friday.
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.
Wall (1-0) will face Brownwood (0-0) next Friday at home.
Electra 16, Santo 9 — The Wildcats led the Tigers at the end of the three quarters, but Electra rallied with the only touchdown of the fourth to escape with a narrow win.
Santo found itself up 3-0 after one quarter and 9-8 after three, but it couldn’t hold onto the lead in dropping its season opener.
Munday 57, Abilene TLCA 6 — The Moguls snapped a 14-game losing streak dating back to Oct. 7 of 2022 with a win over the Eagles in their season opener.
Munday led 22-0 by the end of the first quarter and extended its lead to 41-0 by halftime.
Miles 32, Sonora 14 —Tevin Meade rushed for 145 yards and four TDs to lead Miles to an impressive road win over Sonora.
Cooper Ellison was the top receiver for MHS, reeling in four catches for 96 yards and another score.
Seymour 58, Colorado City 35 — The Wolves couldn’t keep up with the Panthers, opening the season with a shootout loss.
C-City trailed 6-2 after scoring a defensive two-point conversion following Seymour’s first touchdown and remained competitive through halftime, trailing just 34-23 in the second quarter. But Seymour extended its advantage to three scores in the second half to pull away for a comfortable win.
Hawley 49, Roscoe 21 — Keagan Ables threw for 294 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 68 more and another TD to lift Hawley in its opener.
The Bearcats (1-0), who trailed finished with 460 yards in total offense, trailed 14-13 at the break, but took control of the contest with a 36-7 outburst in the second half.
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.
Pecos 41, Snyder 7 — A 43-yard touchdown pass from Seth Cooper to Jacob James gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, but the Eagles responded with 41 unanswered points to pull away for a lopsided win.
Pecos took a 28-7 lead into halftime, taking advantage of a pair of Snyder turnovers and three touchdown hookups between quarterback Colt Salgado and receiver Jesus Navarro.
El Paso Riverside 49, Big Spring 21 — After a competitive first quarter, the Steers couldn’t keep pace with the Rangers in a game that was postponed to Saturday due to weather, allowing 35 unanswered points in a four-touchdown loss.
Behind a touchdown run by Isiac Martinez and a 45-yard touchdown pass from AJ Yanez to Eithan Threats, Big Spring went into the second quarter with the game tied at 14. But Riverside outscored the Steers 21-0 in the second quarter and 14-0 in the third to pull away.
Ballinger 28, Merkel 10 — Kyson Weathers ran for one touchdown and threw for another to help the Bearcats snap a 10-game losing streak dating back to the start of the 2023 season.
Ballinger, which led 21-3 by halftime and stretched its lead to 28-3 before Merkel finally scored its only touchdown in the fourth quarter, also got rushing touchdowns from Aiden Pena and Jaylin Washington.
Brock 27, Decatur 7 — Brody Woods passed for 244 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushed for 65 more yards to fuel BHS to a lightning-delayed win over Decatur.
Colt Matlock caught both of Woods’ touchdown passes, finishing with six catches for 139 yards, while Coty Farmer (10-90 rushing) and Jackson Farhatt (3-17) each had scoring runs for Brock.
Clyde 43, Cisco 42 — In one of the top games in the area on Friday, Clyde edge Cisco in a shootout, giving the Bulldogs (1-0) the only win of the night for District 3-3A DI.
The Bulldogs overcame a 28-20 deficit heading into the fourth quarter to earn the win.
Clyde will play host to Eastland (1-0) in its home opener next Friday; Cisco will travel to San Angelo TLCA on the same evening.
Glen Rose 49, Grandview 14 — Canyon Evans threw for 329 yards and five scores to lead Glen Rose to a rout of Grandview at home.
Braylon Reid led the Tigers in rushing with 62 yards and one score on 10 carries.
Glen Rose (1-0) will take on Gatesville (1-0) next Friday on the road.
Brady 27, San Antonio YMLA 0 — Ashton Taylor and Johnny Menefield led a dominant rushing performance for the Bulldogs, who pounded out 319 yards on the ground in a shutout win over the Lions.
Taylor finished with 146 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, while Menefield added 101 yards and a TD on 18 attempts as Brady scored 24 points after halftime to pull away following a defensive first half.
Stephenville 38, Midlothian Heritage 3 — Ryan Gafford threw for 242 yards and two scores as the Yellow Jackets dominated Class 5A Heritage.
Tristian Gentry was Gafford’s favorite target, resulting in four receptions for 109 yards and a score. Comanche Transfer Sawyer Wilkerson led the ‘Jackets in rushing with 48 yards on eight carries and one TD.
SAN ANGELO — The Abilene High offense scored early and often, and the Eagles got enough from their young defense to pull away late for a 60-36 win over San Angelo Central in the season opener for both teams Friday at San Angelo Stadium.
AHS used a fast start to build an early lead and a strong fourth quarter to finally put away the Bobcats in a game that was tight through the first three periods.
The Eagles never trailed, but they led by just six (28-22) at halftime and seven (43-36) heading into the fourth quarter, before outscoring Central 17-0 in the decisive final quarter to open their season on a winning note.
STAMFORD — The warning signs turned out to be correct.
Throughout the offseason, whenever the subject of the Stamford Bulldog football team came up, overall team speed stood out like a tsunami warning. The Bulldogs were going to have speed all over the field with multiple big-play threats.
The forecast proved accurate on Friday night with an impressive 50-6 win over two-time defending 2A DII state champion Albany in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week.
Christian Duran rushed for 110 yards and three scores and threw for 221 yards and two more scores to lead Stamford, which coasted to a season-opening win after carrying a 36-6 lead into the break.
Hagen Hughes ran for 202 yards and two touchdowns to lift the Azle Hornets to a thrilling 41-34 win over Cooper in the season opener for both teams Friday night at Shotwell Stadium.
Hughes scored twice on counter plays in the second half — once from 77 yards and a second time from 34 — and those sprints basically spelled the difference in a battle featuring very evenly matched teams lifted by big plays all evening long.
BIG SPRING — The Coahoma Bulldogs turned three Forsan turnovers and a defensive two-point conversion into 22 points — and ultimately a win — on Thursday at Memorial Stadium, kicking off the 2024 season with a thrilling 34-28 victory in the annual Howard County Bowl.
Coach Chris Joslin’s defense scored nine points directly and set up two of the offense’s four touchdowns with takeaways, using a bend-but-don’t-break style to help the Bulldogs leave Big Spring with their second straight victory in the rivalry series and sixth in the last eight years.
Forsan ran 24 more offensive plays than Coahoma and outgained the Bulldogs 389-281, but a 3-0 gap in the turnover margin and a couple of explosive offensive plays by CHS were enough to turn the tied in a game Joslin’s squad led from the 6:04 mark of the first quarter on.
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.
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 morning.
Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
Continue reading “Big Country Preps’ Pick ‘Em Panel (Week 1)”
After a week of highlighting area playmakers, we wrap up our eight-part preseason position rankings series with the Big Country’s best signal callers.
To complete our look at the area’s top players, we’ve ranked our top 10 quarterbacks with a list of others to watch in 2024.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you’ve enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kick off a new season.
This football season, we’re beefing up our Class 1A coverage to keep fans as up to date as possible on the six-man game and the now more than 50 teams we cover that play it.
A big part of that coverage will be our new Six-Man/Class 1A Central page, which will feature a weekly schedule, scores and updated standings for each of the 14 districts that contain Big Country Preps schools. But fans can also look forward to pair of weekly columns — a “Six-Man Lookahead” to preview each week’s slate of games on Thursdays and a “Six-Man Rewind” to recap the weekend’s biggest developments each Monday.
With a full weekend of interesting games to talk about, it’s time to preview Week 1. Let’s jump in, shall we?
As we wind down our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we arrive finally at the Big Country’s top ball-carriers.
After breaking down this year’s crop of receivers and tight ends earlier tonight, we move now to the area’s top backs, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch in 2024. Don’t forget to check in Thursday when we conclude our series with the top 10 area quarterbacks.
We hope you enjoy tonight’s list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
We’re approaching the final stretch of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, and it’s time to look at the Big Country’s top receivers.
After starting the offensive portion of our series Tuesday with the linemen, we now shift our attention to the playmakers on the perimeter, ranking our top 10 wideouts/tight ends with a list of others to watch in 2024.
We hope you enjoy our list and encourage you to check out the other position groups, which are linked below.
With the defensive and special teams rankings behind us, it’s time to look at the area’s top offensive players. And we’ll start with the foundation of any productive offense: the offensive line.
For the fifth installment of our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we turn our attention to the trenches, ranking the Big Country’s top 10 offensive linemen with a list of others to watch in 2024.
We hope you enjoy reading through our rankings.
After recognizing the top defensive players throughout the Big Country over the past three days, it’s time to honor the specialists.
We continue our eight-part preseason position rankings series by naming our top 10 kickers and top three punters to watch this fall.
We hope you enjoy this list and that you have enjoyed our position rankings as we get set to kickoff the 2024 season.
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 1:
Continue reading “WEEK 1 FAN POLLS … Pick this week’s 11-man winners!”
After starting with the linemen and linebackers, we turn to the defensive backfield to complete our look at the top defenders in the Big Country.
For the third installment in our eight-part preseason position rankings series, we shift our focus to the secondary, giving our list of the area’s top-10 defensive backs and others to look out for in 2024.
We hope you enjoy our list.
After taking a look at the Big Country’s top defensive linemen last night, it’s now time to examine those who will backing them in 2024.
Continuing with Big Country Preps’ eight-part preseason position rankings series, here’s our top 10 linebackers to watch this fall, as well as a list of the others we’re expecting big things from.
We hope you enjoy our list.
With the start of football season around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the players who will be making the biggest impact in 2024.
For the first installment in an eight-part series that will cover all position groups, we’ll be taking a look at the area’s top defensive linemen, ranking our top 10 with a list of others to watch this fall.
As with any such list, these rankings are subjective. We hope you enjoy reading through them.
Ready to take the truck out on one of those farm-to-market roads to watch high school football into the late hours on a Friday night?
You’re not the only one.
And, as always, we’ve come up with a preseason menu of sorts for those of you who will be hitting the trails each week in search of pigskin.
Every week for the next 11 weeks, Big Country Preps will be searching for its Game of the Week, and we’re already looking ahead. The list below represents that work and acts as a framework for the rest of the season. We now share it with you … our preliminary list of Big Country Games worth traveling for in 2024. But keep in mind: the following list is subject to change as surprises and disappointments emerge.
And as we all know, surprises and disappointments will always emerge.
The time has arrived for us to make our Big Country predictions, district-by-district.
Several weeks of research and two solid months of summertime labor have gone into this, so we’re more than ready to post it.
With that please dive in and study our take on the upcoming season, along with the more than 80 preseason stories we posted earlier today. Enjoy! We’ll see you on the road!
Ask any football coach and they’ll tell you that the best place to start when trying to build a successful offense is at the line of scrimmage. When you can open holes in the run game and protect the quarterback in the passing game, everything gets easier for your skill position talent — and, in turn, your play-caller.
So if you’re wondering why Abilene High coach Mike Fullen is so excited about this year’s offense, you need look no further than the big boys he’ll have blocking for his fast guys this fall.
That line group, which returns four starters from last year’s 11-3 squad, including a trio of three-year lettermen, will be one of the most experienced in the region this season. And if all goes according to plan, it should also be one of the best.
After leading Abilene High to its best season in more than a decade last fall to mark the Eagles’ third run to the third round of the playoffs or deeper since 2020, sixth-year AHS head coach Mike Fullen feels like he has his program in a healthy place.
And following an 11-3 campaign that saw the Eagles claim their first district championship since 2016, who could blame him for holding that opinion?
But when it comes to rebuilding Abilene High’s tradition of gridiron excellence, Fullen is admittedly greedy. And both he and his AHS players are ready to make seasons like last year’s a more common occurrence in North Abilene.
As a sophomore in 2022, Hayden Wright was a breakout star, intercepting nine passes in his first year as a starter to help Wylie to a 10-4 campaign.
Challenged by coach Clay Martin and his defensive staff to become more of a complete safety last season, his coverage stats took a bit of a dip, but he still played a pivotal role in the Bulldogs’ run to the area round.
Now entering his final high school season, Wright is hoping for his best year yet. And Martin would be surprised, frankly, if he doesn’t accomplish that goal.
After posting a combined 18-8 record over the past two years, the Wylie Bulldogs are entering a campaign off consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2016-17.
The goal — and expectation — now for coach Clay Martin’s squad is to make winning seasons and playoff berths the norm at WHS again.
In the pursuit of sustained year-over-year success, Martin will have another good group to work with in 2024. The Bulldogs have five starters back on both sides of the ball among 39 returning lettermen.
While the fifth-year Wylie mentor, who has coached four of the Bulldogs’ six seasons at the Class 5A level, will have some questions to answer and holes to fill, he likes his chances of putting another winning product on the field this fall.
After having his junior season cut short by a broken collarbone, Cooper senior Zavian Alexander can’t wait to get back on the field and make plays again for coach Aaron Roan and his teammates.
The good news for the talented athlete is he’ll have ample opportunity to do so in 2024.
Alexander, a rare two-way player at the Class 5A level, will see time at both receiver and defensive back for the the Cougars again this fall. And after watching the end of last season from the sidelines, he’ll be looking to maximize his impact on both sides of the football in his last go-round at CHS.
In his seven years as Cooper’s head coach, Aaron Roan has never finished a season outside of the playoffs. With a good group back from a team that reached the area round last year, a return to the postseason is the baseline expectation for the Cougars this fall.
In losing 27 of its 51 lettermen from last year, Roan and the CHS staff will have to develop some depth this season. That’s especially true with a smaller than normal roster of just 44 players.
But among that group, the Coogs return eight offensive and nine defensive starters, giving their coach a strong nucleus to build around and a lot of optimism for the season ahead.
STEPHENVILLE — Just a few months after Stephenville’s Class 3A DI state football championship in 2012, a young coach, Jeremiah Butchee, brought his family to town looking for work.
He found it as an assistant coach under former SHS coach Joe Gillespie. Twelve years later he has remained on staff through the tenures of Greg Windor and now, Sterling Doty with no plans of ever leaving.
After considerable prayer, Jeremiah and his wife, Julie, wanted the decision to come to SHS be an easy one and they wanted the decision to stay to be just as simple.
Both prayers were answered.
The couple has since raised their three sons, Mason, Jack and Hudson in Stephenville, all three have been standout football players and all three have made considerable contributions to a highly successful 12-year run for the SHS program.
STEPHENVILLE — For your average Class 4A football program, the loss of 32 lettermen to graduation is enough to inspire whispers of “rebuilding year.”
Stephenville, however, isn’t your average Class 4A football program.
In fact, even after the loss of 32 experienced players, the Yellow Jackets still enter the 2024 football season ranked No. 1 in Class 4A DI by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine. To put that into perspective, the remainder of District 4-4A DI (Brownwood, Lampasas, Burnet and Marble Falls) must replace an average of 16 lettermen this year — only half of that lost by the Yellow Jackets.
BROWNWOOD — Defining a special football accomplishment can depend on what sideline your standing on. By that I mean all things are relative when it comes to stirring the blood of a Texas high school football fan.
A .500 season at La Mesa, for example, will win you the key to the city at a place that hasn’t seen a record like that in 23 years. But good luck winning any popularity contests if you follow Denney Faith at Albany with a 5-5.
That’s the problem with weighing accomplishments when speaking of programs with a storied past. Programs such as Brownwood, which has reached the state championship pinnacle seven times has a different viewpoint on what’s “special.”
BROWNWOOD — With the loss of talented quarterback Ike Hall (Tarleton State), all-Big Country Preps kicker Junior Martinez and offensive lineman Quinton McCarty (Navarro College) among 21 graduated lettermen, one may be expecting a rebuilding phase in Brownwood.
Not just yet.
The Lions, you see, still have 19 lettermen returning from last year’s 12-2 team and several promotees up from a 10-0 JV team. So the mindset at Brownwood is more to reload, rather than rebuild.
“It speaks well of our coaching staff,” coach Sammy Burnett said. “They’re high school coaches, but they coach all levels. … So our kids no how to work hard, they expect to be successful and they’re just thirsting for the opportunity to play on Friday night.
“It’s a big deal in Brownwood, Texas and we’ve got a lot of kids ready to do that.”
Marked by youth on both sides of the football, the Big Spring Steers won’t return much production in 2024. Junior linebacker RJ Gomez is the exception.
Seeing time at both inside linebacker to defensive end a year ago, Gomez broke out as a sophomore, emerging as a true playmaker for the Big Spring defense.
Now making the move back to middle linebacker in the Steers’ new 3-3 stack alignment, the junior will need to be a leader on and off the field if coach Cannon McWilliams’ young squad hopes to accomplish its goals this fall.
On paper, it might appear that the Big Spring football team is in for a rebuilding year in 2024. The Steers return just four starters on both sides of the football and must replace almost all of their offensive production from last year’s 2-9 team.
But despite those factors and the challenges they would seem to present, coach Cannon McWilliams enters his sixth season as the BSHS head coach excited about the season ahead.
What the Steers lack in experience, he said, they make up for with a desire to compete and grow. And with so many spots up for grabs and players eager to seize them, McWilliams is choosing to view this as a season of opportunity for a still-building program.