Russell signs letter of intent

Breckenridge Buckaroo football player Rance Russell signed his letter of intent to Hardin-Simmons University Wednesday morning, surrounded by family, teammates and coaches. Russell was voted defensive MVP of District 3-3A Region 1 for his 2018 season.

A few of Russell’s coaches spoke about his accomplishments and progress from when he began playing football for Breckenridge in junior high. Bucks Coach Casey Hubble didn’t mince words when talking about where Rance began.

“When I got here you were an eighth grader,” Hubble said at the signing. “And I’ll say this about what happens to a young man. Rance was an extremely average football player. But because of his dedication, hard work and his commitment … he turned into a defensive MVP and a truly dominant player.”

Bucks Coach Brian Valenzuela also spoke about his time with Russell and how he watched Russell develop in the last two years. He echoed what other coaches said about Russell’s dominance in-game. Lastly, he added how Russell was perceived by other coaches who had to face the Bucks. “You have a great opportunity to talk to some of the coaches in the district,” Valenzuela said at the signing. “So when you hear those other coaches from the district talk about how dominant of a player and how they had to game plan around him … it allows you to understand what you had as a coach in a player.”

Russell said he was excited to be signing with Hardin-Simmons.

“I’m excited and I feel like they have a good program going,” Russell said. “I feel like I can execute what they have going and like I’m a key component to what they’re doing.”

Speaking a little more on Russell’s progression, Hubble said you can never project or predict what kind of a player a kid will turn into, but echoed Russell’s hard work and dedication turned him into the player he became.

“Rance was a just a kid like everybody else, but a little different in his desire to play and always just worked really hard,” Hubble said. “He turned himself into a really good player …. I know he’s going to do well and I look forward to watching him on Saturdays.” In his 2018 campaign, Russell had 20 tackles for losses and an unofficial seven sacs, according to MaxPreps. The Hardin-Simmons Cowboys, out of Abilene, posted a 9-2 record last season while going 8-1 in conference. Pictured below are some photos of Russell’s 2018 season.