Week 3 Rewind

We are three games into the season and a few patterns are starting to emerge, some good, some bad, for Big Country teams. The good news, even for teams off to a not so great start, is there is still plenty of time to turn things around before district play begins.

CAUGHT MY EYE

This spot reserved for HAMLIN. Just when you start thinking the Pipers have been about as impressive as they can be they go out and do something even more impressive, like blowing out #6 Albany 42-6 on the Lions home field. Hamlin limited the Lions, who put 47 points on Colorado City and 64 on a good 3A Dublin team, to under 150 yards of total offense and a fourth quarter touchdown. The Lions will look to bounce back at Haskell Friday, while Hamlin has yet another showdown, this time for Jones County bragging rights, against unbeaten Anson.

The JIM NED Indians took it to previously state ranked Eastland 62-27 to pick up their first victory of the season. Jim Ned had to cancel the week before against Sweetwater, and put that disappointment behind them in a big way. Xavier Wishert racked up 175 yards rushing to lead an Indian ground attack that looked pretty unstoppable against the Mavericks. I saw the first quarter of this game in person and came away impressed with the physicality of the Indians on both sides of the ball.

COLEMAN bounced back from a home loss to Anson with a hard fought homecoming win over Brady. The Bluecats have scored defensive points in every game so far this season, and, if their offense can get rolling, should be a factor in the District 4-2A Division I race.

SNYDER got into the win column with an easy 40-8 win at Lamesa. After losses to Slaton and Levelland to begin the year the Tiger offense got things rolling to get them to 1-2. They’ll return home to face San Angelo Lake View Friday night.

SWEETWATER had to miss out on the action last week due to positive COVID testing, but showed no signs of slowing down on offense in a 58-42 win at previously unbeaten Lake View. The victory marks the 19th straight win in the series for the Mustangs over the Chiefs. Leo Holsey racked up 317 total yards (220 passing, 97 rushing) and 7 touchdowns (four passing, three rushing) in the win. The Mustangs make the long road trip to state ranked Boerne Friday night.

After two rough road losses to begin the season, HASKELL turned things around with a 20-16 victory over state ranked Cross Plains. The Indians have a rough finish to non-district play coming up with a home game against Albany Friday and a road trip to Hamlin the following week.

The ASPERMONT Hornets put a complete game together to roll past Benjamin 74-36. It is their first win of the year after season opening losses to powerful Valley and Jayton.

CLYDE also picked up win number one with a 52-14 thrashing of Riesel in Dublin.

HIGHLAND remains perfect and could see themselves in the 1A Division I rankings after taking care of #7 Blackwell in the battle for Nolan County six-man supremacy 44-22 Friday night. The Hornets are in what is looking like a brutal district, as Sterling City and Westbrook have already cracked the top ten this season.

BRECKENRIDGE may be 0-3 but the Buckaroos are playing some pretty impressive defense. The offense has yet to score, but the Bucks defense has allowed just 13, 13 and 14 in losses to Jacksboro, Ballinger and Cisco. If the offense can catch up to the defense, the Buckaroos could very well make a playoff push out of 3-3A Division I.

STILL PERFECT

We are down to eight Big Country teams have yet to lose a game this season.

ANSON: The Tigers outlasted Dublin 44-28 to get to 3-0 on the season. Anson makes the short trip to Hamlin Friday night in a battle of unbeatens at Piper Stadium.

BALLINGER: The Bearcats took care of Colorado City 34-2 to get to 3-0. Their defense continues to impress, only giving up 16 points so far this season. Ballinger will look to get to
4-0 as they host Clyde on Friday.

BANGS: The Dragons pulled away from Winters in the second half to stay unbeaten. Bangs had been unscored upon entering the game, but gave up 19 to an improving Blizzards squad. The Dragons had 418 yards of total offense and 403 of them came on the ground, led by a monster effort from Ethan Sanchez with 319 yards and three scores. Bangs returns home to face Hamilton this week.

HAMLIN: The Pipers continue to dominate in 2020 with their big win at Albany. The schedule remains tough, however, as Anson comes to town this week followed by Haskell and another game against a state ranked squad at Windthorst on October 2.

HERMLEIGH: The Cardinals continue to roll under Heath Gibson, blanking Lueders-Avoca 54-0 to improve to 3-0. They climb up to #34 in the 1A Division I sixmanfootball.com rankings ahead of a home game against 1-1 Robert Lee this week.

HIGHLAND: The Hornets picked up their most impressive victory of the young season by beating Blackwell. Now they make a short road trip to Loraine to battle the Bulldogs before a visit to another set of Bulldogs in Ira the following Friday.

ROTAN: The Yellowhammers keep rolling, blasting Moran 52-0 Friday night to already exceed their 2019 win total. They’ll be back at home this week with another winnable game against 1-1 Veribest.

SANTA ANNA: The Mountaineers have also been impressive so far in 2020. They beat Rising Star on the road 68-22 and should have their toughest contest to date coming up this week when they host Brookesmith.

LOOKING AHEAD

Some of the big games on the schedule this week.

Anson at Hamlin
Clyde at Ballinger
Jim Ned at Cisco
Sweetwater at Boerne
Highland at Loraine
Knox City at Ira
May vs Nueces Canyon in Eden

STANDINGS

District 5-4A Division I

Midlothian Heritage 3-0
Waco La Vega 3-0
Brownwood 1-2
Stephenville 1-2
Waxahachie Life 1-2
Alvarado 0-3

District 1-4A Division II

Greenwood 2-1
Pecos 1-2
Snyder 1-2
Sweetwater 1-2
Monahans 0-3

District 3-3A Division I

Wall 2-1
Jim Ned 1-1
Clyde 1-2
Early 1-2
Breckenridge 0-3
TLCA San Angelo 0-3

District 2-3A Division II

Ballinger 3-0
Bangs 3-0
Ingram Moore 3-0
Brady 1-2
Grape Creek 1-2
Sonora 0-3

District 5-3A Division II

Comanche 3-0
Millsap 3-0
Jacksboro 2-1
Merkel 2-1
Dublin 1-2
Eastland 0-3

District 3-2A Division I

Anson 3-0
Hawley 2-1
Forsan 1-2
Haskell 1-2
Stamford 1-2
Colorado City 0-3

District 4-2A Division I

San Saba 3-0
Cisco 2-1
Coleman 2-1
Goldthwaite 1-2
De Leon 0-3

District 5-2A Division II

Hamlin 3-0
Lockney 2-0
Crosbyton 1-2
Ralls 1-2
Roscoe 0-3

District 8-2A Division II

Albany 2-1
Cross Plains 2-1
Meridian 2-1
Santo 2-1
Hico 1-2

District 7-1A Division I

Hermleigh 3-0
Rotan 3-0
Ira 2-1
Roby 2-1
Aspermont 1-2

District 8-1A Division I

Highland 3-0
Sterling City 3-0
Westbrook 3-0
Bronte 1-2
Robert Lee 1-1

District 13-1A Division I

Santa Anna 3-0
May 2-1
Gorman 1-2
Baird 0-3
Lingleville 0-3

District 6-1A Division II

Loraine 2-1
Blackwell 1-2
Olfen 0-1
TLCA Abilene 0-2
Trent 0-3

District 8-1A Division II

Benjamin 2-1
Rule 2-1
Chillicothe 1-2

District 9-1A Division II

Throckmorton 2-1
Lueders-Avoca 3-0
Moran 0-3
Woodson 0-3

District 15-1A Division II

Blanket 2-1
Sidney 2-1
Brookesmith 1-1
Panther Creek 1-2
Rising Star 1-2