Buckaroos drop football season opener to Holliday, 64-0

September 01

14:21 2024

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By Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan

The Breckenridge Buckaroos started their 2024 season Friday evening on the road in Holliday as they faced the No. 8 (Class 3A Div. II) state-ranked Holliday Eagles.

Heading into the 2024 season, Buckaroo head coach Casey Pearce knew that the youthful Buckaroos would have some growing pains early in the season, and that was evident in Friday’s contest as the Eagles handed the Buckaroos a 64-0 season-opening loss.

“That was a disappointing way to start (the season),” Pearce said. “We knew we were young but didn’t believe we would be exposed the way we were. They exposed us in coverage early with the fullback through the seam. That’s a tough situation when you’re trying to put pressure on them. You better get pressure on them before he gets it off. We are going to keep sending people and keep pressuring, and we are going to land our punches. We didn’t land many punches today.”

One of the bright spots for the Buckaroos was the play of running back Hayden Mendoza who gave the Bucks a solid effort in the running game. Pearce said the sophomore is tough.

“He’s going to compete,” Pearce said of Mendoza. “Those pups are going to compete, and they are going to fight for each other and are dang sure going to fight for those upper classmen.”

Buckaroo senior Sawyer Wimberley takes down a Holliday ball carrier in the season opener Friday, Aug. 30. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Pearce noted the emotional response of the players after the game but stressed the importance of sticking to the plan in place and bonding as a team.

“Whenever I looked at that group of kids, every one of them were upset because they all contributed tonight someway to the loss or to the event,” Pearce said. “We are all in it together. We are going to respond, and we are going to work at things to get better. We aren’t going to throw out the window all the things we have tried to build on. I will say that. We have to physically improve and react.”

With the vulnerabilities of the Buckaroos exposed by Holliday, Pearce said that he expects to see more of what the Eagles did to expose the Bucks in the coming weeks.

“Tonight, doesn’t make us or break us, but it dang sure exposes us because it’s on video now,” Pearce said. “Everybody else, it’s a copycat game. Everything we have seen, we are fixing to get a repeat dose of as we work through this schedule. That’s fine. It will tell us whether we respond or not. Can we fix those problems?”

In Friday’s game, the Eagles scored on 10 of their 11 possessions with their only possession not resulting in points was a 49-yard missed field goal. The Bucks were forced to punt five times, failed to convert fourth down three times, had a fumble end a drive once and a bad snap on a punt one time.

Following a Buckaroo punt on the opening possession of the game, the Eagles moved the ball 79 yards in six plays and capped the drive off with a 27-yard touchdown run by Parker Jones. The two-point conversion pass from Steele Skinner to Ty Harrison was successful, giving the Eagles an early 8-0 lead with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter.

On the following Buckaroo possession, hoping to respond, the Bucks moved the ball 57 yards in five plays, but a lost fumble ended the drive at the Eagles’ 30-yard line.

Buckaroo quarterback Zage Gravitt looks for a receiver downfield at Eagle Stadium in Holliday on Friday night. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Holliday needed just six plays to go 54 yards on the ensuing drive that was capped off with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Jones to Ashtyn Berry. Skinner connected with Harrison once again for the two-point conversion, making the score 16-0 with 2:56 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Eagles cashed in on back-to-back punts by the Buckaroos with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Jones to Parker Jones and a 54-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Jones to Skinner, to give the Eagles a 30-0 lead with 8:53 left in the quarter.

The Buckaroos moved the ball 46 yards in six plays on the ensuing drive; however, a failed fourth down attempt ended the drive.

The Eagles scored on the first play of their next drive, but a holding penalty erased the touchdown. Following the penalty, the Eagles scored again with an 82-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Jones to Berry with no penalty. Tyce Whittington was successful on the PAT, giving the Eagles a 37-0 lead with 4:29 left in the second quarter.

The Bucks were forced to attempt a punt on the next Buckaroo possession, but the snap sailed over punter Zage Gravitt’s head and he was unable to get a punt off. That set up the Eagles next drive at the Buckaroo 21-yard line.

Three plays later, Hunter Jones connected with Skinner on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Whittington’s PAT was good, giving the Eagles a 44-0 lead with 2:06 remaining in the first half.

Sawyer Wimberley gains some yardage for the Buckaroos as two Holliday players try to stop him Friday night. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The Eagles got the ball to start the second half and quickly went 73 yards in five plays in a drive that was capped off with a 52-yard touchdown run by Skinner. The PAT by Whittington was good, giving the Eagles a 51-0 lead with 10:11 left in the third quarter.

The Buckaroos were forced to punt on their next possession, and a penalty on the punt set up the Eagles at the Buckaroo seven-yard line.

Three plays later, the Eagles scored again with a seven-yard touchdown run by Parker Jones. The PAT was no good after a bad snap. The Eagles led 57-0 with 7:37 remaining in the third quarter.

Breckenridge was forced to punt once again after just three plays on the ensuing drive.

Holliday moved the ball just 20 yards on their next possession, and the drive ended with no points as a 49-yard field goal was unsuccessful.

The Buckaroos responded with what was their best drive of the game when they went on a 13-play 65-yard drive. The drive took the Buckaroos to the Eagles’ two-yard line, but the Bucks were unable to punch it in the endzone.

The Eagles scored their final points of the game on the next drive as they went 87 yards in seven plays in a drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Cash Kirkland. The PAT kick by Whittington was good, giving the Eagles a 64-0 lead with 3:17 left in the game.

Game Stats

The Buckaroos finished the game with 111 yards passing and 140 yards rushing for a total of 251 yards, while Holliday had 301 yards passing and 210 yards rushing for a total of 511 yards.

The Buckaroo rushing attack was led by Sawyer Wimberley who had 11 rushes for 55 yards. Wimberley was the leading receiver with five receptions for 42 yards.

Jack McKay and Mendoza followed Wimberley and helped contribute to the rushing attack with McKay finishing the game with 46 yards on seven attempts, while Mendoza had 30 yards on eight attempts.

Mendoza also had one reception for 21 yards, and Douglas White had one reception for 16 yards, as well.

Upcoming Games

The Buckaroos will have their home opener next week against the Childress Bobcats. The Bobcats were defeated by Midland Greenwood 42-19 in their season opener. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, at Buckaroo Stadium. The game is designated as Little League Night with local youth teams honored before the game.

Breckenridge will then be on the road for two games — in Cisco on Sept. 13 and Eastland on Sept. 20 — before returning home for the Homecoming game against Tolar on Sept. 27, the final pre-district game of the season.

After an open schedule the first week in October, the Buckaroos will start district play on Oct. 11 at home, against Clyde.

District 3-3A Opponents

Aug. 30 Results

(Winner in bold, District opponent in italic)

Poth (1-0) 35
Comanche (0-1) 14

Lubbock Estacado (1-0) 14
Jim Ned (0-1) 7

Idalou (1-0) 25
Sweetwater (0-1) 21

Tahoka (1-0) 54
SA TLCA (0-1) 0

Clyde (1-0) 43 OT
Cisco (0-1) 42

Sept. 7 Games

Clyde vs Eastland
Breck vs. Childress
SA TLCA vs Cisco
Jim Ned vs Lubbock Trinity
Sweetwater at Midland Greenwood
Comanche vs Llano

The Pride of Breckenridge – Buckaroo Marching Band performed during halftime at the Buckaroos’ season opening football game in Holliday. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The halftime show included the season’s first performance by the Breckenridge High School color guard. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo: Buckaroo sophomore Hayden Mendoza advances the ball for Breckenridge in the game against the Holliday Eagles on Friday, Aug. 30. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)