Buckaroos preparing for new district opponents

August 17

16:10 2018

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After almost two weeks of two-a-days, the Breckenridge Buckaroos football team will travel to Vernon this afternoon to play a scrimmage game against the Vernon High School Lions, and Head Coach Casey Hubble said the team members have been working on their strength and conditioning all summer so they are in pretty good shape.

“There’s a lot of good things going on. We had a good summer strength and conditioning program, so it’s not like they showed up and we hadn’t seen them all summer,” Hubble said. “So, that’s a good thing; we were able to jump right in to football and pick up where we left off last year.”

The District

This will be Hubble’s fifth team of Buckaroos. After four years of coming in second in the district to Brock, Breckenridge won the district championship last year.

This is Casey Hubble’s fifth season as Head Coach of the Breckenridge High School Buckaroos. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/ Breckenridge Texan)

This year, though, they are in a completely different district after the UIL realignment. Officially, the district is: Conference 3A, Division 1, Region 1, District 3.

The Buckaroos’ district opponents will be Clyde, Early, Eastland, Jim Ned (Tuscola) and Wall. The pre-district schedule has them facing Brock, as well as Jacksboro, Comanche, Cisco and Dublin, in addition to Vernon and Holliday for scrimmages.

Vernon is a 4A-Division 2 school, and Holliday, Jacksboro, Comanche, Cisco and Dublin are 3A-Division 2 teams. Brock is still a 3A-Division 1 team.

The Challenge

Breckenridge will be up against different types of teams than they faced last year, Hubble said. “Yeah, the challenges are a little different; we’ll see a lot more wing-t football and old school in non-district,” he said. “But, that’s good; I like that kind of football.”

As far as competitiveness, it’s going to be a tough schedule, he admitted.

“Everybody always asks me why I schedule so tough,” Hubble said. “That’s kind of the area we’re in. There’s a lot of great football around here. So, that’s who we’re going to play — the people in our area. We’re not going to drive past four teams to play somebody two and a half hours away.”

The Team

Hubble said the Buckaroo team is strong in upperclassmen this year.

“I’ve got a good group coming back and looked to not have a bunch of sophomores playing for us which is always a good thing,” he said. “We’re heavy junior/seniors, and that’s how you want to be.

The Breckenridge Buckaroos have been practicing for about two weeks and play their first scrimmage Friday, Aug. 17, in Vernon. For more photos from Buckaroo practice, click here to see the gallery. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/ Breckenridge Texan)

“As far as retention, we’ve got a long way to go, but there’s something there to start with,” Hubble continued. “You know, last year we started from scratch on offense, so we’re ahead of where we were at this point last year on that side of the ball.”

Defensively the team has some kids who are stepping up, the coach said. “We’ve just got a lot of work to do, a lot of fundamentals to establish and understanding of exactly what their job is so they can do it fast,” he said.

Despite the team winning district last year and having several returning players this year, Hubble said no one on the team started out this season in a specific spot. “You’re only going to be guaranteed what you earn. We’re always going to play the best players,” he said. “If they’re out here on our field, then they deserve the right to play, if they’re the best one. So everybody’s job’s open. We gotta perform every day.”

The Pursuit

The Buckaroos’ slogan for the season is “The Pursuit — 2018,” and Hubble said the focus is on the team and what they can achieve day-by-day.

The Buckaroos’ slogan this year is: The Pursuit 2018. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/ Breckenridge Texan)

“We’re never going to get caught up in revelries or ‘this is a big game’ and all that. We’re going to focus on us,” he said. “We’re the only ones we control, so I don’t ever want this game to be about anybody but us and our pursuit, what we’re trying to do.”

At this point in the season, Hubble said, the team’s focus can’t be on championships or playoff games but on doing the day-to-day things that lead to the bigger achievements.

“A lot of people get confused in the difference between goals and results,” he explained. “How do I go win a state championship today? I can’t. All I can do is take care of today. So I need to have goals that I can achieve today. I need to never miss a workout. If I’m a running back, I always take care of the ball. If I’m a linebacker, I never miss a read. So those are tangible things that I can focus on and achieve every day, and that’s the pursuit.

“And this whole experience is not about what everybody else sees,” Hubble continued. “It’s about the day-to-day struggle with your brothers and the grind and the ability to go do something special with a group of guys.”

The Predictions

This year, “Dave Campbell’s Texas Football” ranks the Buckaroos second, behind Wall High School. But, Hubble said his team just needs to stay focused on what they’re doing right now.

“You know, all they do is look at how you did last year and try to see how much you got coming back,” he said about the rankings. “They don’t know what we do out here. We gotta go take care of us. You know, last year we were ranked number two in the district and we won it. Whoever makes plays is going to win.”

The Fundamentals

The Buckaroos will continue to follow Coach Casey Hubble’s philosophy of taking the season day-by-day and focusing on the fundamentals. For more photos from the Buckaroos practice, click here for a gallery. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/ Breckenridge Texan)

During two-a-days, the team has been working on the fundamentals, blocking, tackling catching the ball, and then formation recognition on defense, he said.

“You know, we got beat by Merkel because we didn’t get lined up right,” Hubble said. “You know, if you don’t get lined up right, if you don’t know where you’re supposed to go, it’s hard to do it fast, and you’ll end up losing games because of that. It got us last year. So that’s a huge thing.”

The coach said he thinks the team is in pretty good shape as far as knowing the basics of what they’re trying to do. Now they’re just continuing to develop, to get to where they don’t have to think about it and they can just go out and perform.

“We’ve got a great group of guys coming back. Our senior class is strong,” Hubble said. “They’re a group that has done everything I’ve asked them to do as far as being accountable for meeting expectations. They’ve allowed themselves to have a chance. I’m just proud of them.”