Bucks fall short against Loboes

The entire Buckaroo Stadium held its collective breath as the ball took a big bounce up in the air on an onside kick attempt in the fourth quarter. When the ball came down after coming off the foot of Josiah Acosta, a Cisco Loboes player fell on it. The Loboes ran out the clock to close out the game as the Buckaroos fell just short, 18-14 Friday, Sept. 12. 

The Bucks started the game with the ball after winning the coin toss and opting to receive. After getting into good field position on the return, the ball wasn’t moved much before the Loboes forced the Bucks to punt. 

Cisco got the ball at its own 45-yard line following the punt and took advantage of the good field position. The Bucks struggled to bring the ball carriers down, allowing two straight first downs; that was followed by a roughing the passer penalty on Breckenridge to move the ball even deeper into their end of the field. 

With a chance to come up with a stop, the Bucks allowed a third-down conversion with quarterback Colby McIlroy completing a pass to Carter Toof. A group of Buck’s defenders helped save a touchdown, tackling Toof within the five-yard line and Cooper Wimberly slowing him down.

McIlroy then ran to the right side into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown score and following a missed extra point, the Bucks trailed 6-0. 

Tucker Baugh returned the ensuing kickoff to the 33-yard line. Jaimie Cruz took the ball on a toss and ran it for strong yardage, and a face mask call on the defense moved the ball into Cisco territory. 

A few plays later, the Bucks had fourth down from the Cisco 20 and Juneau kept the ball in at quarterback and ran for the first down. 

On another fourth down from the nine, a toss to Cruz was sniffed out by the Loboes as they stuffed him behind the line. The turnover on downs occurred with less than 40 seconds to go in the opening quarter. 

The Loboes opened up the second quarter, moving the ball down the field as the Bucks were struggling to wrap up ball carriers. The defense stood tall despite allowing a couple of first downs on quarterback runs down inside the red zone. 

A tackle for loss by Douglas White brought up a big 4th and goal. McIlroy looked to the end zone on the next play, but the pass intended for Canon Harris was broken up Canyon Shirley on a great defensive stop in the back right corner of the end zone. 

The Bucks were able to get out from under the shadow of their own end zone, leaning on Cruz once again for a first-down run to the 18-yard line. Wimberley kept it on back-to-back plays, the first for nine yards and the second for another first down. 

The clock ran down to the two-minute timeout as the Bucks had the ball in Loboes territory on a 2nd and 10. Following the timeout, a pass intended for Gunnar Pearce went off his fingertips to bring up 3rd down. An offsides penalty on Cisco made it 3rd and 5. Wimberly scrambled but was tackled behind the line for a loss. 

Following a Breckenridge timeout, the Bucks opted to punt and the Loboes took over from the 24-yard line. Cisco failed to move the ball much as the clock ran out on the half and the score remained 6-0. 

The Bucks had good coverage on the second-half kickoff, limiting the return to the 35. The Loboes completed a pass to get past midfield with under a minute into the half.

Hudson Woodward deflected a pass to set a 3rd and 12, and then Zachary Beltran pushed McIlroy out of bounds short of the sticks on the next play. 

On 4th down, a pass intended for Adam Bennett fell incomplete as the Bucks took over on downs. 

Taking over from their own 43-yard line, Cruz was again leaned on for several tough runs on the drive. After churning his legs for first-down runs, he was handed the ball at the 18-yard line and ran it right up the gut to the end zone for the first score of the game for the Bucks. 

“Cruz ran his rear off, quarterbacks ran with the football and took some absolute licks. I’m proud of that,” Head Coach Casey Pearce said. “We kept swinging.”

The extra point was good by Acosta and the Bucks, at the seven-minute mark of the third quarter, took their first lead of the game and the season.

A big hit by Truett Trammel on the ensuing kickoff forced the Loboes to start at the 20-yard line. Despite the good coverage on the kickoff, the Bucks still allowed Cisco to drive the length of the field. A big catch and run by Harris got the ball inside the five, with Trammel recording a touchdown-saving tackle. 

The Loboes then ran right up the gut on the next play for the touchdown. Cisco went for two and Ryan Waller picked off the pass attempt by McIlroy. With 5:37 to go in the third quarter, the Bucks trailed, 12-7. 

Breckenridge started with the ball at the 20-yard line following an illegal block in the back on the return. Struggling to move the ball, the Bucks were forced to punt, which was downed at the Cisco 48. 

McIllroy threw up a deep ball towards the end zone on the drive, but it was defended well by Waller and fell incomplete. 

“That’s the expectation. That’s what we’re supposed to do around here,” Coach Pearce said of the defense getting big stops. “That’s why we have coach in front of our name and that’s why those kids go out there every day and bust their tails.”

A false start on the Cisco punt forced the Loboes to punt from a farther back position. The snap went over the punter’s head and when he went back to get it, Pearce rushed and blocked the punt attempt. 

The Bucks took over at the 9-yard line with a great chance to take the lead back. But run plays went nowhere and the Bucks kicked themselves in the foot with a handful of penalties pushing the ball back. It ultimately ended up being 3rd and goal from the 32-yard line. 

“Procedure penalties after the blocked punt, with a chance to get it in and go up [was frustrating],” Coach Pearce said. 

The third quarter ended with Wimberly scrambling to the 20 and the fourth quarter opened with him scrambling again but falling well short of the end zone. 

After the Loboes took over, another penalty was called against the Bucks – an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the fourth in a row called on the home team. 

The Loboes drove down the field once again and converted third and fourth downs on the drive. On a 3rd and goal from the five, McIlroy found Toof for another touchdown. The extra point was no good and the Bucks were down 18-7 with under four minutes remaining. 

A short kick by Cisco was fair caught at the 30-yard line by Pearce. A couple of personal foul penalties on the Loboes for late hits on Woodward got the Bucks down into the red zone. Woodward rolled left from the 9-yard line and targeted Cameron David who came down with the catch in the end zone for the touchdown. 

The point after attempt was good by Acosta and the deficit was down to 18-14. 

“Woodward led a great drive after Juneau had started it. He gets dinged on the sideline,” Coach Pearce said. “Great job by two dudes being ready to roll and get us in the end zone.”

The onside kick attempt went the Loboes' way and they were able to kneel a few times to run the clock out, as the Bucks only had one timeout left. 

“We had that onside in our hands. That’s a jump ball deal,” Coach Pearce said. “We have got to be able to get it back. That’s just an execution piece. That’s learning how to win…these kids haven’t won enough. They deserve to win the ball game whenever they scrap like that. At some point, we’ve got to get it done.”

The Bucks are going into Homecoming Week and will host Eastland at Buckaroo Stadium Friday, Sept. 19. Eastland is also 0-3 on the season after losing to Comanche, 42-14.

“We’ve got another shot [to win] next win in front of this crowd. We better come back and represent them. Because that was a representation of this community,” Coach Pearce said. “...It’s another week of improvement. Everything that we’re doing, we’re getting better. We need to catch some kind of break.”