Big Country Rewind: Unbeaten Stamford deals Olney first loss
OLNEY – Kaston Vega returned a fumble 11 yards for a touchdown to break open an 8-7 game in the third quarter, and Stamford went on to beat Olney 22-13 in a battle of unbeatens on Friday.
Stetson Koenig picked off a pass to seal the win and forced two fumbles as the Bulldogs improved to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in District 4-2A Division I play.
Olney dropped to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in district.
“We had that (game) circled (on our calendar) for a while, and it was a really big win for us,” said Britt Hart, Stamford’s second-year coach.
The Bulldogs, 3-7 last year, haven’t won six games in a season since going 6-5 in 2019. They went 9-3 and two rounds in the playoffs in 2018 and 10-3 and three rounds in the postseason in 2017.
Hart praised his defense, which contained the Cubs’ flexbone offense.
“Our defense was flying around the ball and did a really good job,” Hart said.
Hayden Henager ran 4 yards for a TD for the game's first score with 5:56 left in the second quarter. Christian Duran ran for the two-point conversion.
Olney cut the lead to 8-7 as Jovan Rockmore ran 5 yards for a TD with 19 seconds remaining in the half.
Vega, a middle linebacker, then came up with the big fumble return to put the Bulldogs up 14-7 with 2:11 left in the third quarter.
“I thought, ‘Man, we’re doing good,’” Hart said. “Then they kind of came back on us, scored again.”
Olney cut the lead to 14-13 on Rockmore's 68-yard TD with 9:38 left in the game, but Duran ran 54 yards for a TD, then threw a pass to Henager on the two-point conversion to all but seal with the win with 4:18 to go.
“We just played a really good second half, really more defensively than anything,” Hart said. “We got a couple of take-aways.”
Stamford has a bye this week before playing Cisco on Oct. 14 in Stamford.
More:Week 6 Abilene, Big Country high school football scores (Sept. 29-Oct. 1)
No. 2 Hawley soars past Anson
At Anson, Rodey Hooper threw three TD passes, and Austin Cumpton ran for two more as No. 2 Hawley blasted Anson 55-0 in a District 4-2A DI game.
Hooper completed 9-of-18 passes for 185 yards, while Keagan Ables completed 1-of-2 passes for 8 yards and a TD.
Cumpton ran for 140 yards on 18 carries for the Bearcats (5-0, 1-0).
Chandlin Myers, Diontay Ramon, Kason O’Shields and Will Scott each caught a TD pass.
Scott also had 10 tackles, including eight solo, and five for a loss as the Bearcats held the Tigers to 81 total yards while rolling 341.
Tegan Saiz led the Tigers (1-5, 1-1) with 37 yards rushing and 12 yards passing.
Hawley plays Colorado City on Friday in Hawley.
No. 6 Coleman routs San Saba
At San Saba, Jadin Jackson threw for 116 yards and four touchdowns in No. 6 Coleman’s 49-0 victory over San Saba in a District 5-2A Division I game.
Jackson threw TD passes of 36 and 39 yards to Braxton Smith, while Keaton Beets and Hunter Lackey each had a 12-yard catch for a TD
Ryland Gentry ran for TDs of 5 and 32 yards, and Brent Bouldin had a 53-yard TD run.
Beets also recorded a safety on defense.
Coleman (5-1, 2-0) outgained San Saba (4-2, 0-2) 356-78 and limited the Armadillos to just 2 yards passing and four first downs overall.
The Bluecats play No. 9 Tolar (5-0, 1-0) on Friday in Coleman. Tolar beat Hamilton 56-7 on Friday.
No. 8 Cisco quells Blizzards
At Winters, Hunter Long threw for three TDs and ran for two more as No. 8 Cisco thrashed Winters 60-6 in a District 4-2A DI game.
Cade Gayle returned a punt 60 yards for a TD, caught a 32-yard pass from Long for another and capped his night with a 65-yard TD run for the Loboes (5-1, 2-0).
Long completed 6-of-8 passes for 144 yards, and he ran for 100 more on six carries – including a 48-yarder for a TD.
He threw TD passes to Julius Profitt (16-yarder) and Tre Brackeen (18-yarder), along with the score to Gayle.
Brayden Stoker and Gus Hart had TD runs of 40 and 13 yards, respectively, for Cisco, which outgained Winters 497-112, including 344-85 rushing.
The Blizzards (1-5, 0-2) avoided the shutout when Alejandro Garcia ran 1 yard for a TD with 1:39 left in the game.
Cisco hosts Olney on Friday, while Winters goes to Anson.
Henry sparks Haskell win
At Petrolia, Trevor Henry ran for 156 yards and four touchdowns to lead Haskell past Petrolia 42-20 in a District 7-2A Division II game.
Grady Vasquez also completed 9-of-14 passes for 105 yards, including a 43-yard TD pass to Nemo Silvas to spark Haskell (3-3, 1-1) to a 14-0 lead.
Henry, who had a 2-yard TD run for the game’s first score, added a 1-yard TD run as Haskell led 21-6 at halftime.
He ran for TDs of 3 and 2 yards in the second half, and Matthew Villareal added a 13-yard TD run for Haskell.
Gage Bowers threw for 163 yards and a TD, while running for another for Petrolia (1-5, 1-1). He was picked off twice.
Haskell is at home vs. Munday on Friday in a league game.
Knox City rips St. Jo
At Knox City, Bryson Callaway threw three TD passes and ran for another to lead Knox City past St. Jo 52-0 in a Class 1A six-man game.
Callaway threw a 56-yard TD pass to Luke McGaughey and came back to throw TD passes of 12 and 5 yards, respectively, to Ryan Shaver and Devin Guillory.
Caleb Arrieta (8 yards), Tristin Baxter (14 yards) and Callaway (5 yards) also ran for TDs as the Greyhounds (4-2) dealt St. Jo (5-1) its first loss.
Guillory returned an interception for a TD with 84 seconds left in the half, ending the game at the break on the 45-point mercy rule.
Knox City plays at Forestburg on Friday.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Stamford overcomes Olney in battle of unbeaten football teams
