Breckenridge Texan

It may have taken longer than some have hoped for, but the Breckenridge Buckaroos finally scored their first win of the 2019 football season as they routed the Early Longhorns 40-7, Friday evening at Buckaroo Stadium.

Something that made the win even more exciting was that it came in front of Breckenridge High alumni as the community celebrated its homecoming activities this week. To read about the crowning of the 2019 Homecoming Queen and King, click here to read the Breckenridge Texan article.

Head Coach Casey Hubble leads the team into Buckaroo Stadium on Friday night. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/ Breckenridge Texan)

The win also helped the Bucks in the district race as they improved to 1-2 in District 3-3A Division I with just two district games remaining before the playoffs start.

The road to the playoffs will not come easy as the Bucks host the undefeated Wall Hawks next week and then travel to Clyde, who knocked off Jim Ned Friday evening 14-7.

With the type of season the Bucks have had, Head Coach Casey Hubble said he was proud of the fight that the Bucks showed Friday against Early.

“I’m really proud of them. It is hard to go through what we have gone through,” Hubble said. “We have a great group of guys, and I’m very proud of them. That’s the way to keep fighting. Football is just like life. You don’t always get what you want right when you think you should get it, but if you keep on keeping on, good things will happen.”

The Buckaroo defense played a big role in the success of the Bucks as well, coming away with four turnovers and two big goal-line stands inside their 10-yard line.

“Coach Val and our defensive staff did a great job. We had a good plan,” Hubble said. “Number four is a dangerous player, and we had a plan all night for him and the kids did a great job. We just executed and didn’t have very many mistakes and not many busts. When you do that consistently, you can keep scoring and keep the (opposing) scores down.

Following a interception by the Early defense less than two minutes into the opening quarter, the Buckaroo defense came away with a turnover of their own as Kyle Canada recovered a fumble for the Buckaroos. Two plays later, Owen Woodward scored from three yards out to put the Bucks up 7-0 with 8:59 remaining in the first quarter.

Breckenridge’s defense forced a punt on the next Longhorn possession, and seven plays later the Bucks found the endzone once again as Jonas Arellano scored on a three-yard touchdown run. The PAT was blocked, making the score 13-0 with 4:27 left in the first quarter.

Early went on a 69-yard drive to the Buckaroo one-yard line, but the Breckenridge defense stuffed the Longhorns on four-and-goal from the one.

The Buckaroos defense held the Longhorns to 206 yards rushing in Friday night’s game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/ Breckenridge Texan)

The Bucks answered with a 9-play 99-yard drive that was capped off with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Woodward to Canada. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 19-0 with 7:17 left in the first half. The 99-yard drive was aided in part by 50 rushing yards from Anson Rodgers.

Canada put an end to the next Longhorn drive as he intercepted a pass from the Early quarterback Brent Grooms. The Bucks couldn’t come away with any points on the ensuing possession after failing to convert on fourth down.

With under a minute remaining in the first half, Aaryn Medina picked off another Grooms pass attempt as the Bucks took a 19-0 lead into halftime.

Early’s defense held its own on the opening Breckenridge possession of the second half as the Bucks failed to convert on a fourth down attempt.

The Longhorns scored their only points of the game on the ensuing possession with a 42-yard run by Tre Beam with 8:57 left in the third quarter. The Bucks were forced to punt on their next possession but came away with another take away as Medina recovered a fumble.

Five plays and 49 yards later, Woodward scored once again for the Bucks, this time from 22 yards out to put the Bucks up 26-7 with 3:33 left in the third quarter.

The Buckaroo defense came away with another big stop on fourth down as Early failed to convert fourth down. Medina help set up the next score for the Bucks on the first play of the ensuing drive with a 57-yard pass reception from Woodward. Woodward would punch it from one yard out to put the Bucks up 33-7 with 11:40 remaining in the game following Colby Stober’s successful PAT attempt.

Early drove the ball deep into Breckenridge territory and chewed up 5:49 of the clock with a 67-yard drive to the Buckaroo three-yard line; however, the defense stood its ground once again and stopped the Longhorns on fourth down.

Three plays and 95 yards later, Arellano scored the final points of the game with a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:16 left in the game.

Woodward, who unofficially had 153 yards rushing and 98 yards passing to lead the Buckaroo offense, said it was nice to finally get that first win of the season.

“It’s been a tough season. We have been grinding all season and the coaches have been doing their best, and it feels good to come out on top,” Woodward said. “Our coaches always have a good game plan, and this week it worked out good for us. I think it (the win) will carry over good for us when we get ready to play Wall.”

The offensive line that helped create big holes for Woodward and the rest of the Buckaroo running backs did their part as well.

The Buckaroos offensive line held back the Longhorns, allowing the offense to gain 415 yards rushing in the game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

“Our o-line is pretty good, in my opinion,” senior offensive lineman Tanner Cantrell said. “We have messed up a few times, but it’s going to happen. Tonight, we all performed well and we worked as a unit really well. We gave Owen time and gave our backs some good holes. I was pretty happy with it.”

On the defensive side of the ball, the defensive line put a lot of pressure on Grooms and helped the secondary come away with turnovers.

“We had to put pressure on him all night and keep the backs contained,” junior defensive lineman Logan King said. “We had to have big help from our corners containing number four and it worked out well for us.”

Unofficially, the Bucks had 513 yards of total offense with 415 rushing yards on 43 carries, and they  completed 3 of 8 passing attempts for 98 yards. Early had 311 yards of total offense with 206 yards rushing on 37 carries, and they completed 12 of 28 passing attempts for 105 yards.

District 3-3A Results

Breck 40 (1-7, 1-2)
Early 7 (3-5, 0-3)

Wall 28 (8-0, 3-0)
Eastland 14 (7-1, 2-1)

Clyde 14 (6-2, 2-1)
Jim Ned 7 (6-2, 1-2)

Nov. 1 Games

• Clyde at Eastland
• Jim Ned at Early
• Wall at Breckenridge

Click here to see the Breckenridge Texan’s Photo Gallery from Friday night’s Homecoming game.

*Statistical numbers are unofficial at time of publication and were provided courtesy of Charlie Parker, KLXK-KROO Radio.

Story by Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan

Cutline, top photo: Buckaroo Kyle Canada signals Owen Woodward’s touchdown in Friday night’s game against the Early High School Longhorns. The Buckaroos won the Homecoming game 40-7. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, to update the game’s statistics.