Tag: Game of the Week

by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Loboes put district streak on the line at San Saba (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)

LAST WEEK: 34-5, .871
SEASON TOTAL: 351-77, .820

If you had told me three months ago that we would make it to Week 11 of the football season without a major COVID lockdown, I’d have told you to rethink your position. 

Eleven weeks later, here we are, still playing. We didn’t completely escape the virus, but it didn’t stop the season, either. 

That said, it’s time to jump into this week’s area forecast, beginning with our Big Country Preps Game of the Week — Cisco at San Saba — a contest that I had serious doubts about ever materializing when I put it on a calendar back in August. 

There are two big stories at play here: The District 4-2A Division I championship tops that list. But a 54-game district winning streak owned by Cisco dating back to 2010 is another prize the Armadillos are openly eyeballing. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Bangs heads to Ballinger for long-awaited district showdown.

LAST WEEK: 35-8, .813
SEASON TOTAL: 317-72, .815

Week 10. I can scarcely believe it. 

We’ve reached the point of the season when we’ve begun to see those winner-take-all, do-or-die scenarios we’ve been waiting for. And with the regular season ending for Classes 1A-4A next week, there plenty of tense, solid matchups to choose from for those of you who enjoy heading out to an area game on a Friday night.

So let’s not waste any time. Let’s dive in. I’ll see you on the road. 

BANGS (7-0, 3-0) AT BALLINGER (8-1, 3-0)

Even in August, this stood out as a possible Big Country Preps Game of the Week. And here we are. Two area rivals, unbeaten in District 2-3A Division II, with the winner sitting alone atop the standings. 

The aspect of this game which will garner most of the attention will be Bangs’ speedy offense paired off with a Ballinger defense allowing only 10 points per game. But in my opinion, that’s not where this game will be won or lost for either team. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Clyde, Early meet in important District 3-3A DI matchup

LAST WEEK: 32-2, .941
OVERALL: 282-64, .815

With two straight weeks of hitting over 90 percent on my picks, I’m feeling ready for the home stretch. But our Big Country Preps Game of the Week and at least three other area games, are virtual tossups. So keeping this pace up will be a challenge.

Our spotlight game: Clyde (3-4, 2-0) facing Early (4-3, 1-1) in a game that in the end, may decide the No. 3 playoff seed.

But this game offers a bit more than that.

The Early Longhorns haven’t reached the playoffs since 2008 — 12 straight years of sitting at home in late November. But a win here would nearly lock up a playoff spot, assuming the Longhorns defeat winless San Angelo TLCA on Oct. 30. 

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Sweetwater stops Greenwood in overtime classic

SWEETWATER — In recent years, the Sweetwater Mustangs haven’t been associated with winning through defense in the trenches. 

Yet that’s exactly what they did on Friday, knocking off Midland Greenwood 36-30 in overtime in a classic Big Country Preps Game of the Week. 

Leo Holsey threw for 222 yards, rushed for 94 and accounted for four touchdowns to lead Sweetwater (5-1, 2-0 District 1-4A DII), which can now lock up a league title if it beats Pecos on the road next week.  Holsey scored the game winner, pushing his way into the end zone on a 4-yard quarterback sneak in overtime. 

But it was the Sweetwater defense that came up with some of the game’s biggest plays, including a fumble recovery and score by Harrison Foster in the first quarter, a 56-yard pick-6 by Foster in the second quarter, and two short-yardage stops on fourth down  that killed potential scoring drives in the fourth quarter and overtime. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Sweetwater hosts Greenwood in huge district clash (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)

LAST WEEK: 29-5, .853
SEASON TOTAL: 217-60, .783

Every district has key games you can spot weeks in advance. And every season has games that are worth circling on the calendar.

Friday will bring us to the Mustang Bowl in Sweetwater for exactly that — a crucial district 1-4A DII showdown between SHS (4-1, 1-0) and Midland Greenwood (3-2, 1-0) with the driver’s seat in the league race at stake.

Big Country Preps has something at stake as well, with me having picked Sweetwater to win district prior to the season, when most of the media had chosen Greenwood.

I’m either right or I’m not. And this is likely to be the game which proves it, either way. 

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by Evan Ren

BIG COUNTRY PREPS GAME OF THE WEEK: Hamlin dominates in 35-6 win at Hawley

HAWLEY — It was billed as a rematch of last year’s overtime thriller. 

But from start to finish, the Big Country Preps Game of the week belonged to the Hamlin Pied Pipers, who handed their hosts from Hawley a 35-6 loss to avenge the Bearcats’ 46-44 win over the Pipers last year. 

Jackson Sepeda rushed for 120 yards, caught two passes for 29 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Hamlin (2-0), which limited Hawley to 257 yards in total offense. 

Xavier Rodela threw for 130 yards, rushed for 85 and scored the Bearcats’ lone touchdown on a 42-yard third-quarter run to lead Hawley (1-1).  

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Pipers return to Hawley in rematch of classic (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country picks)

LAST WEEK: 34-15, .694
SEASON TOTAL: 34-15, .694

If this were a horse race, Gramps Ren just stumbled out of the gate.

A .694 pick percentage is one of the worst weeks I’ve had in recent memory — brought on by a disastrous 15-9 tally (.625) in the six-man ranks.

That stinks.

Alas, we have yet to reach the first turn, so it’s way early. If I’m not hitting over .800 down the backstretch, I may resort to consulting with a palm reader.

Here’s a look at this week’s Big Country football games.

I’ll see you on the road.

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Explosive Brady visits Dublin (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

LAST WEEK: 41-8, .837

OVERALL: 130-27, .828

On a Friday where any one of four or five games is arguably a candidate for our Big Country Preps Game of the Week, our final decision — Brady at Dublin — was based on sharing the love. 

Jim Ned and Mason is on the board, as is Wichita Falls Rider at Brownwood, Hawley at Albany, Christoval at Cross Plains and, of course, the annual war between Brock and Breckenridge. 

But with Jim Ned a likely candidate for Game of the Week when it faces Wall and Eastland later this year, and Brownwood receiving live coverage for Snyder two weeks ago and Wylie next week, the field narrowed a bit. 

Hawley got our Game of the Week last Friday, and Albany will likely see the GOW when it faces Hamlin, so we’re heading to Dublin where Brady will be a part of its first-ever BCP spotlight game.

It shouldn’t disappoint. 

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Hawley tops Hamlin 46-44 in Big Country thriller

HAWLEY — It took nearly three hours and close to 900 yards of combined total offense to settle the issue. 

But once the dust cleared at Hawley High School on Friday, the 10th-ranked 2A DI Bearcats had earned a 46-44 win over top-ranked 2A DII Hamlin in a classic Big Country Preps Game of the Week.

Colton Marshall rushed for 230 yards, three touchdowns and four two-point conversions  to lead Hawley (3-0), which forced four Hamlin turnovers to key the win. 

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Wall survives trip to Cisco with 20-13 win

CISCO — Coming into Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week as a two-score underdog to Wall, the Cisco Loboes had a specific set of musts they had to meet in order to knock off the visiting Hawks. Contain Wall’s option game, win the turnover battle and take advantage of key opportunities when they had them. 

The Loboes achieved two out of the three in a 20-13 loss, falling just short when a would-be fourth-down touchdown pass from Gibson Hearne to Dax Brunson just grazed the the tight end’s finger tips in the end zone with 3:42 to play. 

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Hamlin defense leads Pipers to 27-7 win at Anson

ANSON — A shootout may have been anticipated, but a trench war was what the spectators received Friday when the visiting Hamlin Pied Pipers opened the season with a 27-7 win over Anson at Tiger Stadium. 

Jackson Sepeda rushed for 90 yards and two scores and Braydin Warner rushed for 93 and another score to lead Hamlin (1-0), which never trailed in 2019’s first Big Country Preps Game of the Week. 

Anson, which was led by Drew Hagler’s 223 yards in total offense and one rushing TD, dropped to 0-1.

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