Breckenridge Texan

By Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan

The “B” on top of Clear Fork Bank was lit up in the October sky Friday evening and that could only mean one thing: the Breckenridge Buckaroos were victorious on the gridiron.

Starting the 2026 football season winless in the first five games, the Buckaroos opened up the district 4-3A Div. II portion of their schedule with a dominating 55-23 win over the Wichita Falls City View Mustangs in Buckaroo Stadium on Friday, Oct. 9.

Buckaroo wide receiver Ryan Waller catches a 41-yard pass from Cooper Wimberley and ran it in for a touchdown in Friday night’s game against Wichita Falls-City View. The score put the Buckaroos ahead for the first time this season. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

If there was ever a true example of the old saying “it’s not about how you start, but how you finish,” Friday’s game was a classic case of just that.

City View jumped out to a 15-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Mustangs scored on their first two possessions of the game on a 36-yard touchdown run by Brian Collier and a five-yard touchdown pass from Keylan Marks to Nick Herring.

The first two possessions for the Bucks resulted in a failed fourth down attempt and a fumble recovered by the Mustangs.

City View stretched its lead to 23-0 with 9:12 remaining in the second quarter with a 35-yard touchdown run by Collier.

“We did everything we could to blow that thing in the first quarter,” Buckaroo head coach Casey Pearce said. “I’m ecstatic at the way they fought and made their dang minds up. That’s the only way you can do this is to make your mind up on how you’re going to go at it.

“Finally, some of the things that I talk about – our staff talks about – we went out and performed it that way,” he said. “I’m very appreciative of the win. We got to enjoy it and soak it in and love it for 24 hours, but we got to go back to work.”

Following Collier’s touchdown that stretched the score to 23-0, the Buckaroos answered with a 13-play 87-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cooper Wimberley to Ryan Waller. The PAT was no good, making the score 23-6 with 3:02 remaining in the second quarter.

The Buckaroo defense forced a punt and gave the ball back to the Bucks’ offense with 1:35 left in the half.

From there, the Bucks showed great clock management skills as they moved the ball 67 yards on 10 plays and capped the drive off with a five-yard touchdown pass from Wimberley to Zach Beltran. The PAT was good, making the score 23-13 with 15 seconds left in the half.

The Bucks found themselves trailing 23-13 at halftime but could sense the shift in momentum with the two late first half touchdowns.

Breckenridge started the third quarter with the ball and needed just seven plays to go 58-yards on a drive that ended with Wimberley connecting with Waller again for a 29-yard touchdown. The PAT was good, making the score 23-20 with 9:46 left in the third quarter.

The Buckaroo defense forced another punt on the next Mustang possession. That led to a 41-yard touchdown pass from Wimberley to Waller on the first play of the next Buckaroo drive. The PAT was once again good, giving the Bucks a 27-23 lead at the 7:46 mark of the third quarter.

That’s when the Buckaroos started to really feel the momentum and the encouragement from the Buckaroo faithful on the home side of Buckaroo Stadium. It also marked the first time all season that the Buckaroos found themselves leading a game.

The Buckaroo defense held the Mustangs to a total of 226 yards, a season low for Breckenridge’s opponents this year. Click here to see more pictures from the game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The score would remain 27-23 for the remainder of the third quarter.

The Bucks put together a 10-play 67-yard drive to start the fourth quarter and capped the drive off with a seven-yard pass from Wimberley to Waller on fourth down. The PAT was good, making the score 34-23 with 8:52 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Three plays into the next City View drive, Wimberley intercepted a pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was good, to give the Bucks a 41-23 lead at the 7:24 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Buckaroo defense forced another punt, and the Bucks needed just three plays before Buckaroo Jaxyn Tyson scored on a 13-yard touchdown run. Once again, the PAT by Leo Mendoza was good, giving the Buckaroos a 48-23 lead with 4:50 remaining in the game.

Another punt by the Mustangs led to a quick three-play 53-yard drive with all yards coming from freshman running back Nick Young as he scored on 42-yard touchdown run.

“You don’t know when your opportunity is coming, and you better embrace your opportunity,” Pearce said on Young’s touchdown. “We talk about that weekly with who’s it going to be and who’s going to step up and go make a play?”

The Buckaroos finished the game with a season high 478 yards of total offense – 254 yards passing and 224 yards rushing. The offensive line had a solid performance for most of the game, but Pearce noted that there were a few adjustments made.

Buckaroo quarterback Cooper Wimberley, a Breckenridge High School junior, completed 16 of 25 passing attempts for 254 yards and had five passing touchdowns in the game against City View. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

“You know, there were some nerves there with a good athlete on the edge and a little panic,” Pearce said. “You got to sort through that and settle them in, and I think we did some things scheme-wise to settle us in and get us kind of on track and back on schedule. But it’s just growing pains. For five weeks, we looked ragged and sporadic, and finally we started putting things together.”

Wimberley completed 16 of 25 passing attempts for 254 yards and had five passing touchdowns. He also rushed for 41 yards on three carries.

Gunnar Pearce was the leading rusher for the Buckaroos with 112 yards on 15 carries. Young had 53 yards on three carries and one touchdown. Jaxyn Tyson had one carry for 13 yards and one touchdown.

Waller was the leading receiver with 11 receptions for 217 yards and four touchdowns.

City View finished the game with 34 yards passing and 192 yards rushing for a total of 226 yards, a season low allowed by the Bucks’ defense.

The Buckaroos will continue district play Friday, Oct. 16, when they host the Jacksboro Tigers.

Jacksboro enters the game 1-0 in district as well following a 61-34 win over the Merkel Badgers Friday.

District 4-3A Results

Breck (1-5, 1-0) 55
WF City View (0-6, 0-1) 23

Holliday (1-5, 1-0) 47
Henrietta (3-3, 0-1) 40

Jacksboro (5-1, 1-0) 61
Merkel (3-3, 0-1) 34

Oct. 16 matchups

• Merkel at Henrietta
• Holliday at City View
• Jacksboro at Breckenridge

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

Gunnar Pearce was the leading rusher for the Buckaroos with 112 yards on 15 carries in Friday night’s game against Wichita Falls-City View. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The Oct. 9 game was Pink Out Night in Buckaroo Stadium, an annual event that promotes cancer-awareness and raises funds for local cancer patients. The cheerleaders, fans and others wore pink t-shirts for the event. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

The Buckaroo marching band also showed their support for cancer research and fundraising for cancer patients. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo: Buckaroo running back Jaxyn Tyson sails over the goal line in the fourth quarter. Click here to see the Breckenridge Texan’s Photo Gallery from the game. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)