Breckenridge Texan

By Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan

Making their third playoff appearance under head coach Casey Pearce, the Breckenridge Buckaroos had a challenging task heading into Friday’s Bi-District matchup against the Paradise Panthers.

The outcome of Friday’s game was not what Buckaroo Nation was hoping to see as Paradise advanced to the area round with a 55-0 win over the Buckaroos, ending the Bucks’ season at 4-7 overall.

Buckaroo Hudson Woodward takes down the Paradise ball carrier in Friday night’s playoff game. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan)

The Panthers went into Friday’s game against the Buckaroos ranked No. 2 Class 3A-Division I and finished the regular season 9-1. The Panthers also were the district champions from district 4-3A.

The Bucks were the fourth-place team out of district 3-3A and were 4-6 prior to Friday’s game.

“Paradise is a good football team and everything they are billed to be and predicted to be and being ranked and all those things” Buckaroo head coach Casey Pearce said. “We did some things tonight to shoot ourselves in the foot offensively.

“We had some opportunities to get off the field defensively and had a bust here and there and allowed them in the endzone,” he continued. “They are a good football team.”

Pearce said he proud of the effort by the Buckaroos against the quality of opponent in the Panthers.

“Don’t want to take anything away from our effort. I think we  played hard, again,” he said. “We’re just not the caliber of team that they are. We are playing with what we got, and I am proud of what we got. We are going to continue to develop talent the best we can.”

As with any team, the influence of the seniors has been a positive for the Buckaroos and the future of the football program.

“They (the senior class) have been through a bunch,” Pearce said. “From 10-0 as a freshman group (on JV), to not being in the playoffs for three years and finally getting back. They have done their due diligence to help this program move forward.

“Those underclassmen have work to do, and I hope this burns in their gut and incites them to do the work to get back to week 11,” he said. “At some point, Breckenridge has got to win in week 11. It’s been a long time.”

The Buckaroos will likely lean on the junior class to lead the way in 2026.

“The junior class was the first group to go through our pre-athletics program. It’s very big that they come back as a group,” Pearce said. “Those 13 guys that are left in that junior class need to come back and lead and lead the right way, not be moaners and complainers about what is not happening right, but show those underclassmen how to go do it.

“We have a sophomore class that (is) hungry,” he said. “We had a bunch of sophomores get playing time this year, way more than a year ago, but they weren’t necessarily getting on the field on Friday nights.”

Bucks vs. Panthers

The Buckaroos struggled to get any offensive consistency for most of the game Friday as they were forced to punt 11 times.

Paradise turned the first Buckaroo punt into an 11-play 44-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed, giving the Panthers an early 6-0 lead with 7:40 left in the first quarter.

The Buckaroos were forced to punt again, but a penalty by the Panthers on the punt gave the Bucks a new set of downs. Three plays later, the Panthers intercepted a pass from Joseph Juneau.

Buckaroo running back Jaime Cruz avoids the Panther defense to gain some yardage. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan)

Two plays later, the Panthers scored on a 73-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good, making the score 13-0 with 2:05 remaining in the first quarter.

The Panthers would lead 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Another punt by the Bucks led to a 12-play 68-yard drive that ended with a seven-yard touchdown run. The PAT was good, giving Paradise a 20-0 lead.

The Bucks were able to pick up a first down, but three plays later were forced to attempt a punt, however the punt was blocked by the Panthers, giving them the ball at the Buckaroo 35-yard line.

Three plays later, the Panthers scored again on a one-yard touchdown run. The PAT was good, giving the Panthers a 27-0 lead with 6:29 left in the second quarter.

The Panthers incepted another pass from Juneau on the ensuing drive and quickly turned it into a four-play 70-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good, making the score 34-0 with 4:08 remaining in the first half.

Paradise took a 34-0 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.

The Panthers started the second half with the ball and quickly found the endzone two plays into the drive with an 87-yard rushing touchdown. The PAT was good, giving the Panthers a 41-0 lead with 11:35 remaining in the third quarter.

Another Buckaroo punt three plays into the ensuing drive led to a six-play 56-yard touchdown drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by the Panthers. The PAT was once again good, giving Paradise a 48-0 lead with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter.

The Bucks were forced to punt once again on their next possession and Paradise quickly took advantage once again with a five-play 43-yard drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown run. The PAT was good, giving Paradise a 55-0 lead with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter.

Breckenridge was forced to punt on their next three possessions to close out the game.

The Breckenridge High School marching band performed their 2025 halftime show for the last time during the game in Mineral Wells’ Ram Stadium on Friday night. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan)

Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge Buckaroo Hunter Davis pulls down the Paradise Panthers ball carrier, while Brenham Walker and Douglas White rush in to help, in Friday night’s playoff game in Mineral Wells. (Photo by Brant Thurmond/Breckenridge Texan)