Buckaroos earn trip to state tournament

For only the third time in school history, the Breckenridge Buckaroos 7on7 football team will be heading to the state tournament. The Buckaroos earned a tournament bid Saturday at the Ponder 7on7 Tournament at Northwest High School in Justin.

The 2022 Buckaroos 7on7 team consists of Dylan Baker, Brylie Bernal, Braye Cantrell, Camden Escalon, AJ Franco, Alexis Franco, Johnny Guillan, Jerry Lawson, Chase Lehr, Isaiah Lehr, Adler Loftis, Caiden Marin, Tim Newell, Anson Rodgers, Antley Rodgers, Adrian Ruiz, Chance Stewart and Sawyer Wimberley.

In 7on7 football, teams play on a field that is 45 yards long by 160 feet wide. The end zone is 10-yards deep. The field is marked at 15-yard intervals and only passing plays are allowed on offense. Possession always begins at the 45-yard line at the right hash mark. There is no blocking and the receiver is legally down when touched with one or both hands. The quarterback has four seconds to throw the ball. Any ball thrown after that time results in a loss of down and the ball is placed back at the line of scrimmage. Defensive pass interference will result in a 15-yard penalty and automatic first down. Offensive pass interference results in a 15- yard penalty. Responsibility to avoid contact is with the defense. There is no chucking, deliberate bumping, or grabbing. These actions will result in a fiveyard penalty and an automatic 1st down.

The offense has three plays to gain 15 yards for a first down. A “fourth down” play is allowed within 15 yards of the end zone. Defensively, interceptions may be returned. Interception returns that go past the 45-yard cone result in a touchdown for the defensive team.

Six points are scored for a touchdown. Teams can score a one-point point after touchdown from the 3-yard line and two points from the 10-yard. If a defense returns a PAT attempt across the 45-yard line, the defensive team is awarded two points.

All teams must be from the same school and have at least one year of high school eligibility. No high school coaches are allowed to coach a 7on7 team and must sit behind the end zone.

The Buckaroos participate in Division II, which consists of 3A-Division I through 4A schools and private schools not in TAPPS Division I. A SQT has one qualifying bid for every eight teams participating in a qualifying tournament. There are 10 16-team SQTs this year in Division II and 12 eight-team tournaments.

“More than anything it’s just camaraderie thing,” Buckaroos head football coach Casey Pearce said. “It’s timing with the skill position players and then some communication with the defensive kids. They just need to be out there catching and doing something together as you go into the summer and then you try to hold that for about and let them catch their breath and be ready to hit it when we go on August 1st.”

Although Coach Pearce and his coaching staff are not allowed to coach the team, they attend tournaments and watch from behind the end zone. Pearce said there are things the coaches look for during the summer tournaments.

“The biggest deal is to see them communicating and not complaining of digging on each other,” he said. “We need to keep this thing together and moving in the right direction. That’s the biggest plus that we get out of it. The next thing we do is find out what will happen anytime something bad happens. Can we flush it and move on? Those kinds of things. It paid off for us last year and hopefully it will for us this year.”

The Buckaroos participated in Group A with Krum, Glen Rose and Bridgeport. Also participating in the tournament were Burkburnett, Sanger, Graham and Brownwood in Group B; Dumas, Peaster, Bowie and Caddo Mills in Group C and Decatur, Robinson, Wichita Falls High School and Ponder.

Buckaroos SQT Results

Game 1: Buckaroos 39, Krum 20

Game 2: Buckaroos 35, Glen Rose 12

Game 3: Buckaroos 36, Bridgeport 33

State Qualifying Game: Buckaroos 20, Ponder 19

As the winner of Pool B, Brownwood played the winner of Pool D, Decatur. Brownwood defeated Decatur,19-13 to take the other state tournament bid available from the tournament.

Before the state tournament, taking place June 23-25 at Veterans Park in College Station, the team will participate in two more tournaments. On June 4, the team will travel to Brownwood for a 16- team tournament. The team’s final tune-up before the state tournament will be June 10 at Jim Ned.