Buckaroos fall to Holliday Eagles 43-0 in season opener
By Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan
The Breckenridge Buckaroos hosted the Holliday Eagles Friday evening in their 2025 season opener, falling to the Eagles by a score of 43-0.
Despite the final score of the game, there were some positive things to take away from the game, compared to last season’s 64-0 loss against the Eagles.
“There were spurts (of positivity),” Buckaroo head coach Casey Pearce said. “This group is going to fight. We got a little too emotional there at the end to finish it up, but we are a better football team than we were a year ago.”
The Buckaroos enter the field at the start of Friday’s season opener against the Holliday Eagles. Click here to see more photos from the game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Pearce said there will be several things to work on as the season progresses, partially tackling in space.
“We got a lot to work on, space tackling,” Pearce said. “Getting down on people’s legs, getting them wrapped and then getting them in the grass. That’s a hard job to do and that’s a delicate line to run whenever you practice that kind of stuff. We got to find a way to practice it and get out of there without injury and get to where we can do it on Friday night.
“It doesn’t matter if we do it in practice,” the coach continued. “It’s got to be done on Friday night.”
Offensively, the Bucks played three different quarterbacks, and Pearce said the position is still up for grabs between the three.
“We turned the ball over with nearly every one of them and put ourselves in a hole, but that’s quarterbacks growing up,” Pearce said. “We got them out of rotation there with that last series. We took (Joseph) Juneau off since he had just played about 10 snaps of defense and then got him out there in that special package.
“It’s still an open fight, and they are doing everything they can to take the job,” he said. “We got to find a way to get them on the field and make us the best team we can with all three of them helping us. That’s my job to figure out.”
The Buckaroos were forced to punt on the opening series of the game after three plays.
Holliday needed just three plays to go 48 yards before finding the endzone on a 37-yard pass from Caleb McLane to Owen Hays. Brady Jones ran in for the two-point conversion, making the score 8-0 with 9:10 remaining in the first quarter.
On the ensuing kick-off, the Buckaroos muffed the kick-off, and the ball was recovered by the Eagles.
Three plays later, the Eagles scored on a 18-yard touchdown run by Brayden Hill. Maverick Glassburn kicked the PAT and made the score 15-0 with 8:16 to play in the first quarter.
Quarterback Hudson Woodward hands off the ball to running back Jaime Cruz in the Aug. 29 game against the Holliday Eagles. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Pearce noted the muffed kickoff as one of the turning points early in the game, along with a muffed snap on a punt later in the second quarter.
“The whole thing flipped when we muffed the punt snap trying to get it out of there and they (Holliday) were able to score,” Pearce said. “Then we turn right around and fumble a kickoff. I think that’s in reverse order but fumbling a kickoff and then having the punt mistake is rough and hard to overcome.”
The Buckaroo defense had just come away with a fourth down stop as the Eagles moved the ball to the Buckaroo four-yard line.
The Bucks had a 44-yard run by Jaime Cruz on the first play of the ensuing drive; however, three plays later, the Bucks were forced to punt and that is when the muffed punt occurred.
Four plays and 23 yards later, the Eagles scored again on a 13-yard touchdown run by Hays. Jones passed to Hudson Dray for the two-point conversion, giving the Eagles a 23-0 lead with 1:42 remaining in the first half.
The Buckaroos moved the ball 39 yards in four plays including a 29-yard run on fourth down by Hudson Woodward. As Woodward was brought down by a Holliday defender, the ball came loose and the Eagles recovered, ending the Buckaroo drive.
The Eagles quickly moved the ball 77 yards in six plays and scored on a hook and ladder play on the final play of the half.
McLane completed a pass to Ty Harrison, who after a gain of around 12 yards, tossed the ball to Jones who ran it the rest of the way to the endzone. The PAT was no good, making the score 29-0 at halftime.
The Buckaroo defense forced a punt on the Holliday opening drive of the second half, but an interception put an end to the ensuing Buckaroo drive three plays later.
Quarterback Joseph Juneau passes the ball in the Buckaroos 2025 season opener on Friday night. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Three plays and 42 yards later, Landon Jones connected with Dray for an 18-yard touchdown pass. The PAT by Glassburn was good, giving the Eagles a 36-0 lead with 7:18 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bucks were forced to punt again on their next possession, and Holliday quickly capitalized.
The Eagles scored what would be the final points of the game with a 26-yard pass from Jones to Ty Harrison. Glassburn’s PAT was good, making the score 43-0 with 4:36 remaining in the third quarter.
Offensively, the Bucks had 136 yards rushing on 35 attempts and completed 9 of 17 passing attempts for 36 yards passing for a total of 172 yards.
“We are going to develop a run game mentality, one way or another,” Pearce said. “I trust that it’s going to happen, and I’m going to expect that it happens. I’m going to press that it happens, and by God, we are going to run the football.
“We had some miscues early in the first half with some things in our dive option game that we didn’t take advantage of because we didn’t execute it properly,” he said. “But that’s part of figuring this thing out, and we dang sure aren’t going to quit.”
Jaime Cruz led the Buckaroo rushing attack with 97 yards on 14 carries, while Woodard and Juneau both finished with 19 yards.
Woodward completed five of eight passing attempts for 29 yards, while Cooper Wimberley completed two of three attempts for 11 yards and Juneau completed two of six attempts for negative four yards.
Holliday had 272 yards passing and 142 yards rushing for a total of 414 yards.
Defensively, the Buckaroos were led by Glen Thibodeaux and Hayden Mendoza. Thibodeaux had eight tackles total, two solo and six assists. Mendoza had six tackles total, two solo, four assists, two sacks, three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
The Buckaroos will take on the Childress Bobcats at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, in Childress. Childress was defeated by Midland Greenwood on Aug. 29 by a score of 42-21.
District 3-3A Results
*District Opponent in Bold
Sweetwater (1-0) 44
Idalou (0-1) 22
Jim Ned (1-0) 42
Lubbock Estacado (0-1) 21
Clyde (1-0) 33
Cisco (0-1) 13
Tahoka (1-0) 28
SA TLCA (0-1) 12
Caddo Mills (1-0) 54
Comanche (0-1) 24
Holliday (1-0) 43
Breckenridge (0-1) 0
The Pride of Breckenridge – Breckenridge High School Marching Band entertained the crowd during the halftime show on Friday night. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Buckaroo Head Coach Casey Pearce talks with the team after Friday night’s game against the Holliday Eagles. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Cutline, top photo: Buckaroo running back Jaime Cruz breaks away from the Holliday Eagles in Friday night’s season opener. Cruz led the Buckaroo rushing attack with 97 yards on 14 carries. Click here to see more pictures from the game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
