Breckenridge Buckaroos open 2025 football practice with focus on growth
By Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
The Breckenridge High School Buckaroos began their 2025 football season with their first practice at Buckaroo Stadium on Monday, Aug. 4, as head coach Casey Pearce expressed cautious optimism about his team’s potential for improvement.
When asked about what he saw after the first day of practice, Pearce said, “Hey, they appear to be interested in what we’re doing. There’s not a bunch of belly-aching about the heat. So that’s a good thing. How we put it together in the next few weeks, whenever the banging starts and the injuries kind of start to nag a little bit, the bruises start showing up…it’s going to indicate what kind of football team we’ll be. I think we got some that that took it on the chin last year and are bound and determined not to let it happen again.”
BHS Head Football Coach Casey Pearce, right, watches as Brysen Hash, center, and other players practice drills during the Buckaroos’ first football practice of the season on Monday evening. Click here to see more photos from the practice. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
As for his expectations for the upcoming season, he said, “I think we’ll know better about what we will be, after those first two scrimmages going into Holliday. I want to see us grow each week. It’s got to be a big deal.”
The coach emphasized that improvement from last season’s performance is essential, particularly avoiding the struggles the team faced in their 2024 opener against Holliday.
“We’ve got to grow from where we were last year, and it not be like the first day when we step out there against Holliday. Last year, that was deer in the headlights look,” Pearce said. “We can’t look like that. And that’s our goal, is to get them ready where they can compete at a higher level than a year ago.”
The Buckaroos return 18 starters from last season but face challenges along the offensive line after losing several key players at that position.
“We lost offensive linemen. That was what we lost, and we’re thin this year, too,” Pearce said. “We’ve got a bunch of defensive guys and offensive skill guys back.”
Pearce acknowledged that last year’s team struggled with consistency throughout games. He said one of the main things he wants to fix this year is their level of relentlessness.
“I think we played great for halves. Can we be a four-quarter effort team?” he said. “Can we know that, yeah, we may have had the upper hand the first half…well, they coach on the other sideline too, and they’re going to make adjustments? Can we match their adjustments as players and coaches? We do that, we can be better.”
The quarterback position remains unsettled, with three players competing for the starting role.
Head football coach Casey Pearce instructs the three Buckaroos currently vying for the quarterback position. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
“I think you saw three red shirts out here. We’re going to keep it a three-man race as long as we can, because they need those practice reps,” Pearce said. “Once we make a decision, then those guys are going to go play somewhere…we’re going to go play those other quarterbacks somewhere where they can help us. They’re not going to stand and watch.”
The team faces significant changes in its kicking game after losing kicker Sawyer Wimberley from last season.
“Losing Sawyer Wimberley kicking that ball, it could be a factor, but we do have some guys that have chosen to step into those roles, that have embraced it,” Pearce said. “We may be a different style of kicking game, but I think we’ve got some guys that can execute some different ways than Sawyer did. Sawyer was a banger.”
When asked what he hopes Buckaroo fans can look for this year from the team, he said he wants them to be proud of the team’s effort and fight this year.
“If they can be proud of the effort and the fight, week in, week out, we’re probably going to win more ball games. If we can make them proud, then we’re probably gonna make ourselves proud,” he said.
The Buckaroos face a challenging non-district schedule that starts with Holliday, Childress and Cisco. “They’re good football teams,” he said. “They’re going to check us. We need to come out of there with some wins.”
The Buckaroos work on fundamentals on Monday, Aug. 4, the first day of practice for the 2025 season. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Regarding district play, Pearce said, the first district game is huge for everyone. “I mean, everybody is going to say that, but it’s really big for us, because that’s who was the fourth-place team a year ago. If you win that ballgame, you can see down the road what’s coming,” he said. The Buckaroos will start district play on Oct. 10 against Clyde.
Breckenridge will also face Sweetwater at their home stadium on their Homecoming night. “They lost a bunch of big bodies, but they’re loaded with skilled players,” he said of Sweetwater. “Apparently some of the big bodies that were walking the hallways, they’ve gotten out of the hallways. I think they’ve replenished some of their bigs. It’ll be interesting to see how they play.”
The Buckaroos will have the annual Media Day and the traditional football Intra-Squad Watermelon Scrimmage at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9, at Buckaroo Stadium. The week after the Watermelon Scrimmage, the varsity football team will travel to Fort Worth on Thursday, Aug. 14, for a scrimmage against Castleberry and Gainesville at 6:30 p.m., followed by a scrimmage against Wall on Thursday, Aug. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in Wall.
Regular season play begins on Friday, Aug. 29, when the Buckaroos host Holliday in a non-district matchup at 7:30 p.m. at Buckaroo Stadium. The team will be on the road the following week, facing Childress at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5. Click here for the Breckenridge Texan’s previous article about this year’s schedule.
The Buckaroos get a drink during Monday’s practice at Buckaroo Stadium. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Reyse Hash, left, a Breckenridge High School student athletic trainer, and Bill Pearce, the school’s athletic trainer, keep an eye on the Buckaroos on the first day of practice for the 2025 football season. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge High School head football coach Casey Pearce, center, got a first look at the 2025 Buckaroo varsity team on Monday, Aug. 4, the first day of practice. Click here to see more photos from the practice. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
