Breckenridge Texan

In a nail-biter of a game that had Breckenridge fans holding their breath until the very last second ticked off the clock, the Buckaroos beat Brock, 30-28, Friday night, Nov. 10, for the district championship. Unbeaten in district play, the Breckenridge High School varsity football team will travel next week to Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood to face the Merkel High School Badgers in the bi-district playoff game.

We just kicked it up a notch, and now look at us…District Champs.” — Jose Escobedo, senior kicker

Playoffs
As the District 4-3A, Division I, Region 1 champions, the Breckenridge Buckaroos will take on the Merkel Badgers at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, in Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood in the Bi-district playoff game. The winner of that game will face the winner of the Muleshoe-Crane game in the Area round.

Brock will take on Clyde on Thursday, Nov. 16, and Bowie will play Jim Ned Friday. Boyd will go up against the District 3 champions, Comanche, Friday night.

Buckaroo Jake Escalon, No. 15, recovers an Eagles fumble in the district championship game Friday night. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Buckaroos vs. Eagles
“We want to win. Our kids have had that desire all year. And tonight, we put it all together, and I can’t explain how proud I am of them,” Head Coach Casey Hubble said after Friday night’s game in Buckaroo Stadium. “We’ve had some glimpses of some pretty good football, but I believe we played great football tonight, offense, defense, special teams.”

As time ran out on the Eagles, the Buckaroos defense held Brock to their lowest district score this season while the Breckenridge offense scored more than double the points of any of Brock’s 2017 district opponents. Last week, the Associated Press poll ranked Brock sixth in the state for Class 3A.

Breckenridge’s win over Brock was the first district loss the Eagles have suffered since Brock High School began playing varsity football in 2014. And, Brock’s score of 28 Friday night was their lowest district score since Breckenridge kept them to 20 in 2015, the year Brock won the state championship.

“I’m unbelievably proud of our kids and our coaches,” Hubble said. “Football is a lot like life – if you just stay with it, good things happen. Very proud of our kids because they didn’t back down.”

It was a back-and-forth game all night, with the biggest lead being the Buckaroos’ 12-point lead for a few minutes in the second quarter. Brock made the first two scores of the game with a safety and then a touchdown, giving them a 9-0 head start over Breckenridge nine minutes into the game.

But, the Buckaroos answered with two touchdowns in the first period, leaving the quarter with a lead of 14-9. For Breckenridge’s first touchdown, No. 9 Angel Ruiz ran back a kick-off, and No. 10 Jose Escobedo’s kick was good with 3:05 left in the first quarter. Less than two minutes later, No. 12 Owen Woodward ran the ball in, and Escobedo’s point after was good.

No. 25 Zach Willis scored two touchdowns in Friday night’s game against Brock. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Breckenridge kept up the momentum in the second quarter, when No. 25 Zach Willis ran more than halfway down the field. Escobedo’s kick took the score to 21-9 in favor of the Buckaroos.

Brock answered with two more touchdowns before the half was finished, and the teams went to the locker room with a score of Breckenridge 21, Brock 22.

After no scores by either team in the third quarter, the Buckaroos came on strong in the final period, pulling ahead, 27-22, on a Willis run just 26 seconds into the quarter. But, the Eagles answered less than two minutes later with a touchdown that put them in the lead by one point.

The two teams traded the ball back and forth for another nine and a half minutes before Escobedo prepared to kick a field goal. Just as he got ready to kick, Brock called a time-out. Then, Escobedo kicked the field goal that put the Buckaroos in the lead again, 30-28, with only six seconds left in the game.

With one second on the clock, Breckenridge kicked the ball to the Eagles, who then called a time out. Then, Brock garnered a delay of game penalty while the hometown crowd stood on their feet, anxiously waiting for that last second to be over. Finally, when play resumed, the Breckenridge defense shut down Brock and the 2017 Buckaroos became the district champions.

After the game, Escobedo explained what was going through his mind before the final winning score. “It was a lot of pressure before they called time-out,” he said. “During that time-out, I closed my eyes and thought to myself ‘This is just a regular kick to me. I mean, I do this on a regular basis.’ I went out there, kicked it like it was a normal field goal, and it turned out to go in.”

The senior said the win was exciting, especially since it was his last game in Buckaroo Stadium. But, he’s been preparing for just such a situation. “Practice pays off. I practice every day after practice,” Escobedo said. “I never really thought it’d pay off. I never thought I’d have a chance to win a district championship.”

The Buckaroos put up a bigger fight than ever before, he said, and they spent the week gearing up for the game.

“We were pumped up every day. All we would talk about is we’re going to go out and practice and get prepared to beat Brock,” Escobedo said. “We had a rough start (to the season), and we just kicked it up a notch, and now look at us…District Champs.”

After Friday night’s victory over the Brock Eagles, the Breckenridge Buckaroos celebrated their district championship with friends, family and fans. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Story by Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown

Cutline, top photo: Jose Escobedo, No. 10, second from right, along with Breckenridge and Brock players, looks to see if his field goal was good. It was not only good, it topped the Brock score by two points and left the Eagles with only 1 second to go in the game, which wasn’t enough time for the sixth-ranked team to recover. The Buckaroos won the district championship 30-28. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

NOTE: This article was updated at 2:16 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, to correct the headline and the teams that Breckenridge could play in the Area round.