Breckenridge Texan

By Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan

Coming off a dominating win over the Jacksboro Tigers a week ago, the Breckenridge Buckaroos had their first road test of the young 2022 season as they hit the road Friday, Sept. 2, to Childress to take on the state-ranked Bobcats.

Add in a little extra motivation of it being the Bobcats’ homecoming game and the Bucks had all they needed to play the spoiler in the festivities.

The Bucks took care of business as they cruised to a 35-8 win over the Bobcats to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Senior running back Jerry Lawson runs around Bobcat defenders after taking a hand-off during Friday night’s game in Childress. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Despite the three-hour bus ride, Buckaroo head coach Casey Pearce said he was proud of the way the Bucks were able to handle it.

“We handled the travel and handled the date that we were given by being the homecoming date,” Pearce said. “We came out and played with a lot of energy and ran the football. We busted a few things, but it’s part of it. It’s early.”

With two rivalry games next up on the schedule in back-to-back games (Cisco and Eastland), the Buckaroos now have some momentum that hasn’t been felt in several years.

“The biggest deal is we are 2-0 and we get a chance to roll into two rivalry games with some momentum for the first time in a long time, and we got to take advantage of that,” Pearce said. “But we got to play these things one at a time, and you know as well as I do Cisco is the Big Dam Loboes and they are going to come ready to play in Buckaroo Stadium.”

The typical school week will be a little bit different with no school on Monday due to the Labor Day holiday, but Pearce said it’s important that the Bucks come ready to put in the work that is necessary for the upcoming game.

“We better get our tails ready to go on Monday. It’s a Labor Day practice, and it’s huge that we be in attendance and handle the day because we are going to labor,” Pearce said. “It gives us the opportunity to get better again and play another ballgame. It’s exciting. We got a little bit of energy right now.”

In Friday’s game, Childress drove the ball 56 yards in 11 plays to the Buckaroos’ 11-yard line, but the Buckaroo defense came away with a big fourth down stop to put an end to the drive and give the ball over to the offense.

The Buckaroos answered with a long 12-play 85-yard drive that lasted just over five minutes. The drive was capped off with a one-yard touchdown run by Jerry Lawson. Sawyer Wimberly connected on the PAT, putting the Bucks up 7-0 with 3:16 remaining in the first quarter. Chase Lehr had a 46-yard pass to Alexis Franco on the drive to help the Bucks.

Breckenridge forced the Bobcats to punt once again and then scored as Anson Rodgers returned the punt 75 yards to the endzone for a touchdown. Wimberly kicked the PAT and put the Bucks up 14-0 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.

“The kicking game is huge, and I think we invest our time wisely into the kicking game and it is very important to us as a staff,” Pearce said. “I think it’s starting to show and it’s going to show early in the year, and if we continue to work at it, it’s going to continue to improve and it’s going to pay off in the long run for us.”

Buckaroo Junior wide receiver Alexis Franco gets under a pass near the goal line. He completed the pass and scored on the play. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The Bucks defense forced another punt on the next Bobcat drive, but the momentum was short lived as the Bobcats came away with an interception three plays later.

Another defensive stop by the Buckaroos set up a five-play 49-yard drive that ended with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Lehr to Adrian Ruiz. Wimberly hit the PAT, giving the Bucks a 21-0 lead with 5:42 left in the second quarter.

Two plays into the ensuing Childress possession, an officiating call was made for targeting that ended up disqualifying Ruiz for the remainder of the game. Ruiz went to tackle a Childress player, and it was ruled as a “flagrant targeting call.”

“I hated it for Adrian because he was just playing aggressive,” Pearce said. “That’s part of the game now. There’s no replay to overturn it. They (the officials) ruled it as a flagrant targeting instead of just a targeting call. When they rule it as a flagrant, it’s like two personal fouls at one time, so that’s an automatic ejection. That’s an opinion and a judgement deal, and that’s tough. Most of the time the officials don’t make that call in high school football.”

Despite the call, the Buckaroos stopped the Bobcats five plays later and forced a punt.

The Bucks took over with 2:20 left in the second quarter but were unable to get anything going on the next possession and came up short on a fourth down attempt.

Breckenridge would take a 21-0 lead into halftime.

The Buckaroos were forced to punt on their first possession of the third quarter. Three plays later, Childress was forced to punt as well, but that punt aided the Buckaroos on their next score.

Punting from their own 23-yard line, the Bobcats’ punter kicked a low line drive punt that ricocheted off a Buckaroo player. Franco caught it in the air and returned it to the Bobcats’ four-yard line.

Three plays and 57 seconds later, Rodgers scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Wimberley connected on the PAT to put the Bucks up 28-0 with 6:47 left in the third quarter.

Buckaroo Senior running back Anson Rodgers dives across the goal line to score a touchdown during the third quarter at Friday night’s game against the Childress Bobcats. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan.

The Bobcats scored their only touchdown of the game late in the third quarter following a seven-play 68-yard drive that ended with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Seth Taylor to Kobe Sims. Taylor connected with Lamont Nickleberry for the two-point conversion, to make the score 28-8 with 3:24 left in the third quarter.

The Bucks had their second turnover of the game on the ensuing drive with a lost fumble, but the defense was able to force another Bobcat punt just three plays later.

Breckenridge answered with a 90-yard 11-play drive that ended with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Lehr to Franco. Wimberly’s PAT was good, giving the Bucks a 35-8 lead with 8:43 left in the game.

Childress moved the ball deep into Buckaroo territory before Bryson Herring intercepted a pass on fourth down, ending the long Bobcat drive.

From there, the Bucks were able to milk 5:38 seconds off the clock, before ultimately being forced to punt with 18 seconds left in the game.

The Buckaroos finished with 161 yards rushing on 34 attempts and 150 yards passing for 311 yards of total offense.

Lehr completed 8 of 14 passing attempts for 150 yards and had two touchdowns and one interception.

Lawson rushed for 89 yards on 15 carries and had one touchdown, while Rodgers rushed for 35 yards on 10 carries and had two touchdowns. Rodgers also had the 75-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Ruiz was the leading receiver with two receptions for 52 yards and one touchdown. Franco finished with two receptions as well for 45 yards and one touchdown.

The Buckaroos will host the Cisco Loboes at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, at Buckaroo Stadium.

District 3-3A results

(District opponents in bold)

Clyde (1-1) 26
Eastland (0-2) 0

Vernon (2-0) 36
Gainesville (0-2) 24

Iowa Park (1-1) 63
Benbrook (0-2) 21

Holliday (2-0) 41
Jim Ned (0-2) 19

Bridgeport (1-1) 63
Bowie (0-2) 62

 Sept. 9 Games

Merkel at Clyde

Vernon at SA Lakeview

Iowa Park at Burkburnett

Cisco at Breckenridge

Bowie at Henrietta

Jim Ned at Wall

Buckaroo Senior running back Anson Rodgers runs in for a touchdown during Friday night’s game against the Childress Bobcats. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan.

Members of the Buckaroo Band play in Childress during Friday night’s game against the Bobcats. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo: Buckaroo defensive players tackle a Bobcat ball carrier during Friday night’s game in Childress. The Buckaroos dominated the Bobcats throughout the game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Editor’s note: This article was updated on Sept. 5, 2022, to correct the name of the Childress Bobcats quarterback. The Breckenridge Texan regrets the error.

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