Tag: Wall Hawks

by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Two fast starts for Wall, two Jim Ned rallies produce split doubleheader in Tuscola

TUSCOLA — A high-profile Friday doubleheader saw Jim Ned suffer two straight slow starts against Wall at Bill Thornton arena. The Jim Ned girls overcame theirs, topping their area rival 52-36. 

The boys weren’t so fortunate, falling to the Hawks 55-50, despite a frantic effort to erase an early deficit that had ballooned to 16 points by the second quarter.

On the girls side, Ashton Garner, Alexis Espinosa and Ashlynn Galvin dropped in 15, 14 and 13 points respectively to lift the 15th-ranked Lady Indians (21-2, 11-1). The win forces a first-place tie in District 6-3A with No. 14 Wall (20-3, 11-1), which suffered its first district loss of the year. 

Trailing 17-8 at the end of the first quarter and 21-13 with 4:46 left in the second, the Lady Indians closed the half on a 14-0 run and never relinquished the lead beyond that point. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Wall dodges two late bullets, eliminates Boyd in OT

DUBLIN — The Wall Hawks were two yards and a hooked 27-yard field goal away from seeing their season end on Thursday.

But courtesy of a game-saving tackle and a well-executed game-winning pass, the Hawks prevailed with  20-14 win over Boyd in a Class 3A DI bi-district game at Bob and Norma Cervetto Field. 

Gabe Haskins hit Chase Rios in the corner of the end zone with a 20-yard touchdown pass in overtime to lift the Hawks (8-3), who will advance to face Bushland in the area round. 

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Indians top Wall 28-8 behind Wishert, stout defense

TUSCOLA — If anyone doubted that Jim Ned’s Xavier Wishert is one of the premier running backs in the Big Country, he furnished 211 yards worth of proof in Friday’s Big Country Preps Game of the Week. 

Scoring three of Jim Ned’s four touchdowns in a 28-8 win over perennial power Wall, Wishert was the primary weapon in an Indian attack that scratched out 324 total yards.

The Jim Ned defense took much of the spotlight as well, limiting Wall’s vaunted option game to 222 total yards (all on the ground) to lift the Indians (5-1, 2-0 District 3-3A DI), who are now in the district driver’s seat. It was the fifth straight victory for Jim Ned since a season-opening loss to Ballinger.

Wall (4-3, 1-1) was led by Dominic Garcia, with 100 yards on 20 carries. 

Continue reading “BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Indians top Wall 28-8 behind Wishert, stout defense” →

by Daniel Youngblood

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: Wall baseball’s title defense put on hold

The “What Might Have Been” feature series is Big Country Preps’ effort to celebrate area athletes who have seen their seasons affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The series will continue through June 15 or until the UIL rules that high school athletics statewide may resume. If you have a suggested story for the “What might have been” series, please contact Big Country Preps at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com.

Coming off its first state championship in program history, the Wall baseball team entered this season eager to defend its title.

With eight key seniors graduating off that 39-1 squad, a repeat run through the Class 3A bracket would not be easy, but the Hawks returned a pair of all-state pitchers in Caleb Heuertz and Luke Young and viewed this as more of a reloading job than a rebuild.

Sitting at 9-3-1 on March 12 with the start of District 4-3A play on the horizon, everything was going according to plan for coach Jason Schniers and his players — until, that is, the COVID-19 outbreak and University Interscholastic League’s subsequent shutdown intervened.

In a matter of days, the Hawks went from gearing up for the district season and another strong playoff push to wondering if they’d get to take the field again at all in 2020. And three weeks later, with school suspended indefinitely and the players and coaches separated, little has changed to ease their uncertainty.

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: No. 1 Wall to enter playoffs without starting quarterback

The undefeated and No. 1-ranked Wall Hawks will enter the Class 3A Division I playoffs this week with starting quarterback Mason Fuchs still sidelined from a concussion suffered Oct. 25 during a District 3-3A DI game against the Eastland Mavericks.

Drew Morrison, a junior and the Hawks’ backup quarterback, started the final two regular-season games — wins of 20-6 over Breckenridge and 49-7 over Early.

“I don’t think Mason will be able to play this week,” Wall coach Houston Guy said, referring the Hawks’ bidistrict game against Boyd scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Cisco. “His first full day back at school wasn’t until Friday so he obviously has not returned to practice.

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by Evan Ren

District 3-3A Division I: Week 10 Report

Eastland 42, Clyde 27 — Behren Morton was 22 of 36 for 288 yards and four scores as Eastland recovered from its first loss of the year (at Wall on Oct.

Bonilla

25) with a big win over Clyde. 

Anthony Bonilla was Morton’s favorite target, hauling in seven catches for 142 yards and a score. He also rushed eight times for 69 yards and two more touchdowns as the Mavericks improved to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in district play. 

Dylan Neuman led Clyde (6-3, 2-2) with 231 yards passing, including a 37-yard TD pass to Jax Roam in the fourth quarter.

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by Evan Ren

BCP GAME OF THE WEEK: Wall defense shuts down powerful Eastland 28-14

WALL — A workmanlike offensive effort, backed by yet another dominating defensive performance, pushed the second-ranked Wall Hawks to a 28-14 win over No. 7 Eastland in the Big Country Preps Game of the Week on Friday.

Mason Fuchs threw for 81 yards, rushed for 62 and accounted for two touchdowns to lift Wall (8-0, 3-0 District 3-3A Division I), which now has sole possession of first place in the league standings. 

Eastland, which was limited to 218 yards in total offense, was led by Behren Morton, who threw for 166 yards and one score and Anthony Bonilla, who caught one TD pass and rushed for another. 

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by Evan Ren

District 3-3A Division I: Week 7 Report

Dickey

Wall 35, Clyde 7 — In a high-profile game between the district favorite and perhaps the most-improved team in the league, the Hawks got the better of the upstart Bulldogs. 

Mason Fuchs threw for 79 yards, rushed for 23 and threw one TD pass to lead Wall (6-0, 1-0), tallied 222 rushing yards via committee. 

Leading 14-0 at the break, third-ranked Hawks blew the game open with a 5-yard TD run by Cinch Dickey at the 7:30 mark and a 17-yard TD jaunt by Chase Rios at 0:53. 

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by Evan Ren

District 3-3A Division I: Week 4 Report

Jim Ned 28, Mason 19 — The Indians (4-0) passed their most difficult test of the early season in workmanlike fashion.

Harwell

Trailing 6-0 early on, the Jim Ned gained a permanent upper hand with three straight touchdowns — the first of which came at the 0:16 mark of the first quarter on a 1-yard run by Riley Perry. 

Perry added a 3-yard TD with 4:08 left in the half before a 65-yard punt return by Jamin Harwell put the Indians up by three scores with 9:07 left in the third quarter. 

Continue reading “District 3-3A Division I: Week 4 Report” →

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: Cisco, Wall square off in a clash of area powers (w/ Evan Ren’s Big Country Picks)

LAST WEEK: 43-13, .767

SEASON TOTAL: 43-13, .767

The beauty of Week 1 of the football season is that it throws all sorts of new questions into your face. The beauty of Weeks 2 and 3 is that most of those questions get answered. 

Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week — Wall at Cisco — should serve as a moment of clarity. 

Just how good is this Wall team that routed perennial power Mason 47-7 at the Puncher Dome last week? Entering as a nine-point favorite, the Hawks shattered the computer projections leading some to believe this could be a vintage Hawks football team. 

At this point, however, we don’t know exactly where Mason stands. 

We do, however, have a pretty fair idea about Cisco, which handed a rapidly improving (albeit young) Class 4A Sweetwater team a 49-27 loss in the Mustang Bowl. This is your standard, tough Cisco football team with an excellent running game and physical defense. 

So we’ll find out precisely where Wall is on Friday. 

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by Evan Ren

District 3-3A Division I: Week 1 Report

Wall 47 , Mason 7 — Mason’s 40-game home winning streak was ended in a resounding way by the Hawks, who dominated from start to finish in a Thursday night game televised by Fox Sports Southwest. 

Wall (1-0) pounded out 353 yards rushing and Mason Fuchs threw two first-half TD passes in what was a largely unexpected rout. 

The Hawks limited Mason to just 111 yards in total offense, including 84 yards rushing on 40 carries.  

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by Evan Ren

FEATURE: Wall’s Seider switches to catcher and quickly becomes one of area’s best

Many baseball coaches will tell you it’s difficult to build a championship team around a poor backstop. 

Stolen bases, passed balls, poor pitch management and lack of infield leadership are just a few of the problems that can arise with a sub-par player behind the plate. 

The Wall Hawks, courtesy of senior Tanner Seider, have none of the aforementioned issues.

In fact, they’re well ahead of the learning curve. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Wall closes out Breckenridge 11-1 (two videos and box score included)

One club saw a storied season pushed to the next round. The other saw its greatest season ever finally come to a close. 

There was never going to be a subtle finish for either Wall or Breckenridge in their Region I-3A semifinal series, which played itself out with Wall’s two-game sweep of the Buckaroos. 

The Hawks, who took Game 1 by a 5-4 margin Friday afternoon, closed the series with an 11-1 win Saturday at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field, ending the deepest playoff run in Breckenridge baseball history. 

Luke Young worked a solid five innings and Colton Diebitsch was 3 for 3 with three RBIs from the No. 9 spot to lead Wall (35-0), which will meet Brock (30-5-1) in the Region I-3A championship series next week. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Wall capitalizes on Breck mistakes to escape with 5-4 win in Game 1 (w/ box score, two videos)

When facing a top-ranked unbeaten opponent in a regional semifinal game, the need to hold mistakes to a minimum is axiomatic. 

The fact that Breckenridge gave No. 1 Wall three unearned runs behind five errors and still nearly pulled off an upset in a 5-4 Game 1 loss Friday at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field, is the backdrop the two teams will play against in Game 2.

Caleb Heuertz scattered 10 Breckenridge hits in a complete-game win and Charlie Mascorro was 1 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored to lead Wall (34-0), which can close out the series with a win in Game 2, slated for 3:30 p.m. at ACU.  Game 3, if needed, will begin 30 minutes after Game 2.

Jake Jansa scored the eventual game-winner for the Hawks in the top of the seventh on an infield error, bringing the Wall contingent to its feet. 

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by Evan Ren

FEATURE: Buckaroos approaching series with top-ranked Wall as a special chance

“Great moments are born from great opportunity.” — Herb Brooks 

If the top-ranked Wall baseball team is beatable, nobody has proven it in 2019. 

Area clubs have had 33 opportunities to defeat the Hawks and every one of them have been shot down in flames —more often than not, by lopsided margins. 

That is the challenge currently facing Breckenridge coach Kevin Bartley, whose Buckaroos (32-3) will take on Wall (33-0) in a best-of-three Region I-3A semifinal series, beginning at 1 p.m. Friday at Abilene Christian University. 

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by Mike Lee, Special to Big Country Preps

FEATURE: Dominant pitching a big reason for Wall’s No. 1 ranking

Photos courtesy of Stephanie Weishuhn

Most Class 3A baseball teams hope to have one or two starting pitchers who can consistently shut down opponents.

Wall has five pitchers with earned run averages of 0.60 or less, and it’s not like the undefeated Hawks have played a weak schedule. Their nondistrict victims include Class 6A Odessa High and 4A opponents Pecos, Andrews, Seminole, Dumas, Lubbock Estacado, Lamesa and Snyder.

It’s no wonder Wall is 31-0 and has been ranked No. 1 in 3A in the Texas Association of Baseball Coaches poll since the first week of April. Wall will face Alpine in the regional quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday in a best-of-three series scheduled for Christensen Stadium in Midland.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Chapel Hill dodges a last-second bullet to eliminate Wall in overtime (box score and photo gallery w/29 images included)

SAN ANTONIO — With the game knotted at 48 in the final seconds of regulation, Wall’s Sawyer Lloyd canned a jumper as time expired to give the Lady Hawks a would-be 50-48 win over Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill in Thursday’s 3A state semifinal in the Alamodome. 

There was, however, a problem — did the ball leave her hands before time expired? 

After a few intense minutes of video replay study, game officials determined that Lloyd’s shot wasn’t released in time, forcing overtime where Chapel Hill eventually prevailed 53-49.

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by Evan Ren

STATE TOURNAMENT PREVIEW: Wall, Hermleigh carry Big Country torch to San Antonio

With the Texas High School equivalent to the Final Four kicking off in San Antonio with this week’s UIL state tournament, two Big Country representatives — Wall and Hermleigh — are among the survivors. 

And as one might suspect, any further advancement will be a major challenge for both. 

Ninth-ranked Hermleigh (30-5) will take the stage first, taking on top-ranked perennial power Nazareth (30-6) in a Class 1A state semifinal at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Alamodome.

Wall (32-1), ranked No. 1 in Class 3A, will hit the floor at 1:30 p.m. against No. 2 Mount Pleasant Chapel Hill (35-0).

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Lady Hawks punch their ticket to the Alamo City with win over Idalou (w/ two videos, box score)

PLAINVIEW —A slight edge in every major statistic added up to a convincing 52-36 win for the Wall Lady Hawks in Saturday’s Region I-3A championship game with Idalou.

Jayden Fiebiger scored 16 points and Samantha Rocha added a dozen more to lift Wall (32-1), which took control of the game shortly after the outset of the second half. 

 The Lady Hawks now advance to the UIL State Tournament in San Antonio on Feb. 28. Their opponent in the state semifinals should be announced on Sunday. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Wall girls rally to eliminate Brock (w/ two videos, box score & photo gallery w/37 images included)

PLAINVIEW — In the end, it all came down to how many extra shots were taken. 

Pounding the glass for 14 offensive rebounds, the top-ranked Wall Lady Hawks got 16 extra shots in their 56-49 win over Brock in Friday’s Region I-3A semifinal at Wayland Baptist University. 

That, combined with a 15-7 disparity in turnovers, was a handicap that Brock had no answer for as Wall (31-1) advanced to Saturday’s regional title game. There, they will face third-ranked Idalou (31-5), which closed the semifinal doubleheader with a 41-36 overtime win over Jim Ned. 

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by Evan Ren

EVAN REN: This week in Big Country girls basketball (Feb. 17-23)

With the regional semifinal round just one victory away, a dozen Big Country teams are still alive with hopes of reaching the Texas high school equivalent of the Sweet 16.  

This week’s regional quarterfinal round will be accompanied by two things: pure elation and pure devastation once the final horns blow. And not all of our area clubs will be among the survivors.  

Nonetheless, I’ll go out on a limb and say no fewer than six Big Country teams will retain a pulse after Tuesday night. 

That said, let’s have a look what’s on tap. 

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by Evan Ren

Evan Ren’s Area Round Forecast (released early for Thanksgiving)

LAST WEEK: 31-6, .837   

SEASON TOTAL: 415-91, .820 

Normally our playoff forecast is released on Thursdays. But, in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, we’re pushing it out a day early. 

I don’t mind saying, it has been a good year for the column, picking at nearly 84 percent in Week 12 and holding at 82 percent on the year.

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by Daniel Youngblood

Wall holds off Wylie in early-season girls basketball thriller

The Wylie girls basketball team rallied from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to have a chance to pull even with Wall in the waning seconds Saturday, but some clutch plays by guard Sawyer Lloyd and some struggles at the free-throw line by the Lady Bulldogs allowed the Lady Hawks to get out of Abilene with a hard-fought 50-47 win.

Wylie (1-2) outscored Wall 20-10 in the fourth quarter, but an 11-of-20 effort from the line in the final period kept the the Lady Bulldogs from ever overtaking the visiting Lady Hawks.

Using an aggressive press that Wall struggled with down the stretch, Wylie had a chance to tie the game with about two seconds remaining, but Karis Christian’s first of two free throws rimmed out and the intentional miss that followed missed the rim, allowing Wall to seal the game on the other end.

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by Evan Ren

Wall’s flexbone a key to Hawks’ success

One could say the Wall Hawks have made a living by being very good at something seldom seen anymore.

The triple option, once a staple at both the collegiate and high school levels, has given way to more up-tempo spread attacks over the past two decades.

At Wall, however, not only are option principles still alive, but they’re are executed with an uncommon precision among those high school teams still running the offense.

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by Evan Ren

Wall Hawks reload to make a run at district title

If one were going to make a case for perennial power Wall ever slowing down, it might be in 2018.

After all, the Hawks return only one offensive and three defensive starters from last year’s 12-1 team. They bring back a modest 13 lettermen after graduating 22.

There are, however, compelling reasons to believe the Hawks will take the proverbial “reloading” route, rather than rebuilding.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 7: Evan, Dan talk football with Wichita Falls’ Zach Duncan

Zach Duncan

Like Big Country Preps co-founders Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood, Wichita Falls Time Record News area writer Zach Duncan has been covering high school sports in his market for a long time.

Entering his 15th football season with the Wichita Falls newspaper, Duncan has seen more great games than he can count and worked with some outstanding coaches and players. This week, he took some time to share some his favorite football stories and talk shop with Evan and Daniel.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss District 3-3A Division I and District 7-2A Division II — two all-area leagues that should be competitive from top to bottom.

by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 5: Craig Slaughter talks coaching past, present, future

Wall defensive coordinator Craig Slaughter.

After spending 16 years as a head football coach, making stops at Hearne, Clyde, Sweetwater and Llano, Craig Slaughter transitioned back into an assistant role last year as Wall’s defensive coordinator.

This week, Slaughter, who’s entering Year 2 on coach Buddy Guy’s staff, took some time to talk to Big Country Preps’ Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood about the biggest highlights and regrets of his time as a head coach, how he’s enjoying Wall and what his coaching future holds, among other topics.

In this episode of the BCP Podcast, Evan and Daniel also debate the viability of the wishbone offense as a vehicle for winning a championship at high school and college football’s highest levels.