Breckenridge Texan

Buckaroos defeat Comanche for second win of season

Buckaroos defeat Comanche for second win of season
September 09
16:43 2018

Friday, Sept. 7, was a rainy day in Breckenridge, but the precipitation let up about 30 minutes before the Breckenridge High School Buckaroos’ first home game of the season started at 7:30 p.m.

The Breckenridge Buckaroos take down a Comanche player in Friday night’s game. For more photos from the game, click here to see the photo gallery. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

After last weekend’s Buckaroo football game against Jacksboro ended with a combined total of 79 points, including 10 in the first quarter, this weekend’s matchup against the Comanche High School Indians was somewhat slower getting started. But, Breckenridge came out on top with 14 points to Comanche’s 7.

“We had a little trouble executing offensively and getting anything going,” Head Coach Casey Hubble said after the game. “Our defense just held around and gave up one busted play where they hit a long one, but other than that it was great defensive effort. And, then, offensively (they) kept plugging away and eventually were able to grab a couple of scores and that was what it took. Proud of our guys for finding a way to win.”

Breckenridge-Comanche history

While the Buckaroos won their first game of the season last weekend, the Indians lost to Eastland 15-34 on Aug. 31. Last year, Comanche had an overall record of 12-2 and a district record of 5-0. They lost in the UIL quarterfinals against Brock High School 7-34.

Breckenridge last played Comanche in the 2016 UIL bi-district championship and won that game 14-7. Prior to this year, the two teams had played each other seven times since 2006, and the Buckaroos lost once, in 2013.

Last year, Comanche was in the same UIL division as Breckenridge – 3A-Division 1, but the realignment dropped the Indians into the 3A-Division 2 this year.

Friday night’s game

On Friday, the game got off to a slow start with the first score coming three and a half minutes into the second quarter when the Indians’ Kade Mercer made a 75-yard touchdown, and extra point was good. That was it for scoring in the first half. At halftime, the score was Breckenridge 0, Comanche 7.

With 7:32 on the clock in the third quarter, the Buckaroos got on the scoreboard for the first time of the night. Quarterback Kevin Franco ran the ball in from the 5-yard line for the touchdown, wrapping up a 64-yard drive. Justin Bell’s extra point kick was good. That tied the score 7-7.

The score remained tied until the last four minutes of the game. Franco completed a pass from the Buckaroos 20-yard line to Aaryn Medina, who ran it in for the touchdown. Bell’s extra point kick was good, taking the score to 14-7 in favor of the Buckaroos with 3:18 left in the game.

That was the last score of the game.

The Breckenridge team had several fumbles, two of which were recovered by the Indians. But, the defense held Comanche to just one score.

“We just gotta catch the ball better,” Hubble said. “That punter, you know, he kicked it a mile up in the air, and we just didn’t do a good job catching it. We’ll work on it.”

Regarding the Buckaroos’ passing game this week, the coach said, “You know, we struggled a little bit picking up people; I don’t think we had a good game up front, for whatever reason. We’ll evaluate it. (Comanche) mixed it up. They did a good job, and they confused us a little bit, and hats off to them. But, we made some plays when we needed them.”

Although his team won Friday night’s game, Hubble said he’ll still talk to them about learning from their mistakes. “You can’t win a game at any point of the game,” he said. “You have to win that play; you have to win that block; you have to win everything that you do. It just goes back to getting better at doing what we do and make adjustments and focus on your job and the process it takes to be good each play. And, hats off to our kids because they did that, and I’m proud of them.”

Next week

The Buckaroos will play at home again next week, facing the Cisco High School Loboes on Sept. 14.

This past Friday, the Loboes were scheduled to play the Wall High School Hawks in Hawk Stadium. However, rain in the community southeast of San Angelo forced the game to be canceled.  Cisco played Sweetwater High School on Aug. 31 and won that game 56-7.

Breckenridge has a losing record against Cisco, last playing them in 2017, when the  Buckaroos lost the season opener 6-20.

Last year, the Loboes had an overall record of 9-3 and a district record of 5-0. They lost to Childress High School, 20-42, in the UIL area championship game.

In preparing for next week’s game, Hubble said the Buckaroos will take a hard look at the Comanche game. “We’ll evaluate the video and see what we did well and try to do more of that,” he said. “And, then find out what we didn’t do well and get better at it. So, we’ll watch the video and see what we gotta work on.”

 

Story by Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

For more photos from the Breckenridge-Comanche football game, click here to see the Breckenridge Texan’s Photo Gallery.

Cutline, top photo: Buckaroo Aaryn Medina catches a long pass from Kevin Franco in Friday night’s game against the Comanche High School Indians. Medina went on to run the ball in for the game’s final touchdown. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge High School)

The Breckenridge Buckaroos celebrate Friday night’s win over the Comanche Indians. Next week, the Buckaroos play at home again, this time taking on the Cisco Loboes. For more photos from the Buckaroos-Indians game, click here to see the Breckenridge Texan’s Photo Gallery. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)


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