Buckaroos celebrate seniors with blowout victory

Not long ago, the Breckenridge Buckaroos went from being a state-ranked football team to searching for answers following backto- back district losses. After feeling like they let two games slip away, the Bucks fought back to earn a second- place district finish with a win Friday, Oct. 28 at Bowie and closing the season with a 50-20 senior night home win Friday, Nov. 4 over the Clyde Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs visited the Buckaroos looking to finish its season with at least one district win after four losses. Looking for momentum from the start, from their 25-yard line the Bulldogs caught the Buckaroos off guard.

Lining up with nine players to the right of the ball and nobody to the left, the ball was snapped to Bulldogs’ wide receiver Dai’Jon Booker, who passed the ball to Austin Hastings for a 63-yard pass. Anson Rodgers made a touchdown-saving tackle for the Buckaroos on the Bucks’ 12-yard line.

After a 5-yard run by Lane Clark, Bulldogs sophomore running back Josh Hutton bounced out of a tackle and ran to the right for a touchdown. Taking three plays and less than a minute, the Bulldogs held their only lead of the night.

It did not take long for the Buckaroos to begin taking over the game.

Starting with the Bulldogs’ extra-point attempt, the ball was fumbled as the Bulldogs attempted a sweep to the right side. Adrian Ruiz recovered the fumble and returned the ball 85 yards. Following the touchdown and 2-point conversion attempt, the Buckaroos trailed 6-2.

Any momentum gained by the Bulldogs on their trick play to open the game was successfully crushed with the Buckaroos’ first offensive drive. Rodgers returned the kickoff to the Buckaroos’ 48-yard line. Needing one play to take the lead, Jerry Lawson found room along the left sideline to run 52-yards for a touchdown. Sawyer Wimberley’s extra- point kick gave the Buckaroos a 9-6 lead. Both touchdowns were scored in one minute and 15 seconds.

With less than two minutes played in the first quarter, the Bulldogs started their second offensive drive. Looking to catch the Buck- aroos off guard for a second time, the Bulldogs ran out of the wildcat formation where the ball can be snapped to either the running back or the quarterback. Looking to regain the lead and driving into the red zone, the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs at the Buckaroos’ 10-yard line. Zeke Castillo made the drive-ending tackle on a run up the middle by Hastings.

A second big-play touchdown was scored two plays later. On first-and-10 from the Buckaroos’ 21yard line, Camden Escalon threw a screen pass to Rodgers who ran untouched along the right sideline 79-yards for a touchdown. Wimberley’s extra- point kick gave the Buckaroos a 16-6 lead that lasted into the second quarter.

The Bucks scored six-straight touchdowns to take a 41-6 lead.

After opening the game with a touchdown, the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs five times in the game, including twice while holding the ball within the Buckaroos’ 20-yard line. After turning the ball over on a failed fourth-down conversion in the first quarter, the Bulldogs were in the red zone for a second time early in the second quarter.

Ruiz broke up a second- down pass in the end zone to prevent a touchdown. The third-down pass was overthrown following heavy pressure on the quarterback by the Buckaroos’ defense. Facing fourth-and-9 on the Bucks’ 16-yard line, the fourth-down pass was overthrown for the second play in a row.

Depending mostly on the run game, the Buckaroos wasted little time getting into scoring position. Aided largely by a 20-yard run by Rodgers and a 15-yard pass to Bryson Herring, the Buckaroos scored their third touchdown of the first half with a 6-yard run by quarterback Camden Escalon. Lawson scored on a goal-line run for a 30-6 lead at halftime.

After starting the first half with a trick play, the Bulldogs opened the second half by recovering an onside kick.

The Buckaroos responded by holding the Bulldogs to a three-and-out with two stuffed runs and a sack by Castillo. Rodgers broke an initial tackle on the punt return and returned the punt 65 yards for a touchdown.

Scoring four touchdowns with plays of 70 or more yards, Wimberley scored the fourth big-play touchdown with a 70-yard touchdown reception from Escalon.

The Bulldogs scored two touchdowns with the game out of hand in the fourth quarter. Alejandro Franco scored the game’s final score with a 1-yard run.

Escalon finished the game with 204 passing yards and two touchdowns. Lawson finished the game with 83 yards on nine carries.

Defensively, Castillo led the Buckaroos with 20 tackles, including two sacks. Rodgers and Nando Becerra each had one interception.

The Buckaroos will meet Paradise in the bi-district playoff at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11 at Ponder High School. The Panthers are the third-place finishers in District 4-3A Division I. The Bucks will be considered the away team. The winner will meet the winner of Shallowater and Lamesa in the area playoff next week.

For more photos from the night, visit breckenridgeamerican. com