Buckaroos lose to Loboes in first home game of 2020 season
By Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan
Coming off a 13-0 loss to the Ballinger Bearcats a week ago, the Breckenridge High School Buckaroos knew they would have their hands full trying to knock off the No. 4 state-ranked Cisco Loboes Friday evening in the 2020 home debut at Buckaroo Stadium under first-year head coach Casey Pearce.
Despite a strong defensive showing for the Buckaroos, it was the Loboes that came away victorious 14-0 on Sept. 11. The loss dropped the Bucks to 0-3 for the season, while Cisco improved to 2-1.
Buckaroo Jonas Arellano makes a tackle during Friday night’s game against the Cisco Loboes. For more photos from the game, click here to see the Breckenridge Texan’s Photo Gallery. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
While still searching for their first points of the year, the Breckenridge offense saw improvement from a week ago and Pearce said it still comes down to being able to put points on the board on the offensive side of the ball.
“I saw some good things tonight, saw effort, saw some pride, saw some kids get after it probably harder than they have in their career, but it still comes down to putting points on that scoreboard,” Pearce said. “We got to get it done some way. We are close. So close. We just got to execute and continue to work the plan.
“The effort is right. The kids believe in what we are doing,” he continued. “It comes down to scoring points. We got to put points on the scoreboard to win a game. We just got to get it done.”
The Buckaroos caught the Loboes’ defense off guard on the opening play of the game with a 37-yard pass from Henry Johnson to Tyler Valdez that moved the ball to the Cisco 20-yard line.
Breckenridge moved the ball an additional 12 yards to the Cisco 8-yard line but came up short on a fourth down attempt.
The Bucks’ defense forced a punt on the Loboes’ opening drive, however another fourth down attempt inside Lobo territory came up short.
Cisco answered with a six-play, 92-yard drive that ended with a 8-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Long to Devin White. The extra point kick was good, and the Loboes took a 7-0 lead with 1:39 left in the opening quarter.
The ensuing Buckaroo possession saw the Bucks drive 34 yards to the Cisco 33-yard line and take up the remaining 1:33 of the first quarter and the first three minutes of the second quarter, but the drive ended with a failed fourth down attempt.
Following back-to-back punts, Cisco moved the ball from their own 19-yard line to the Bucks’ 44-yard line before being forced to punt. The punt was downed at the one-yard line with 29 seconds left in the half.
The Bucks trailed the Loboes 7-0 at halftime.
Cisco started their opening possession of the second half on their own 30-yard line and moved the ball 70 yards in nine plays, capping the drive off with a 2-yard touchdown run by Dawson Hearne with 7:20 remaining in the third quarter. The kick was good, making the score 14-0.
Breckenridge’s Offensive Coordinator Jarrod Shepperd talks to Buckaroo Quarterback Henry Johnson during Friday night’s game against the Cisco Loboes. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Breckenridge managed to move the ball 25 yards in 10 plays while burning around five minutes off the clock before being forced to punt.
The defense of the Buckaroos came up with a huge goal line stand on the next Loboes’ possession as Cisco moved the ball to the Breckenridge 10-yard line.
The Loboes’ were at the one-yard line, but the Buckaroo defense held its ground and tackled Long for a loss by Jonas Arellano and Zeke Castillo.
Breckenridge’s following possession saw the Bucks move the ball 34 yards in 10 plays (all runs) while picking up three first downs on third down and converting one fourth down attempt and running about six minutes off the fourth quarter clock. The drive would end in a punt.
Neither team came away with much offense in the final 5:15 of the fourth quarter as Cisco was forced to punt and Breckenridge had a pass intercepted on their final possession of the game.
Breckenridge finished the game with 81 yards rushing on 35 attempts and had 72 yards passing.
Henry Johnson completed 7 of 14 passing attempts for 72 yards and had one interception, while Anson Rodgers was the leading rusher with 38 yards on 11 attempts and Tyler Valdez was the leading receiver with one reception for 37 yards.
Alias Maya and Arellano led the Buckaroo defensively. Maya finished with 11 tackles (2 tackles for loss) and one pass break up, while Arellano had 10 tackles (3 tackles for loss) and one sack.
Cisco had 269 yards of total offense. The Loboes finished with 161 yards rushing on 40 attempts and completed 6 of 10 passing attempts for 108 yards.
The road toward the first win of the season doesn’t get any easier for the Buckaroos as they host the Eastland Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. (Click here to order tickets to the Buckaroos-Mavericks game.)
The Mavericks are 0-3 so far in 2020, but the record can be misleading as they have a talented quarterback in Behren Morton, who has committed to Texas Tech University to play football for the Red Raiders.
“It’s going to be totally different style of play that we have been against,” Pearce said of the Mavericks. “We better come out and be ready. We are going to be playing in space and on 53 yards of grass with a really good quarterback and some talent out there to catch it. They got a big back and we better be able to tackle him.”
9-11-2020 District 3-3A Results (Winners in Bold)
Jim Ned (2-1) 62
Eastland (0-3) 27
Grape Creek (1-2) 42
San Angelo TLCA (0-3) 12
Comanche (3-0) 35
Early (1-2) 7
Midland Christian (n/a) 24
Wall (2-1) 6
Cisco (2-1) 14
Breckenridge (0-3) 0
Sept. 12 Game
Clyde @ Riesel
Sept. 18 Games
- Clyde @ Ballinger
- Breckenridge vs Eastland
- Jim Ned @ Cisco
- Early @ Merkel
- Wall vs Mason
The Breckenridge High School Buckaroo Band performed for the first time this season during the half-time of the Buckaroos-Cisco Loboes game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
