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(Photo/Alex Kielar) Joseph Juneau looks to pass to his left as Brandon Niblett blocks for him during the senior pair’s final high school football game Friday, Nov. 14 at Mineral Wells Ram Stadium in a bi-district matchup against Paradise. -
(Photo/Alex Kielar) Ryan Waller (13) and Brenham Walker (40) work to get Paradise ball carrier Logan Lampley down Friday night, Nov. 14, in their bi-district matchup at Mineral Wells Ram Stadium. -
(Photo/Alex Kielar) Senior offensive lineman Brandon Niblett embraces offensive coordinator Jarrod Shepperd following his final game as a Buckaroo against the Paradise Panthers Friday, Nov. 14. -
(Photo/Alex Kielar) The Buckaroos raise their helmets to close out their final huddle of the season following their 55-0 loss to the Paradise Panthers in their bi-district matchup Friday, Nov. 14. -
(Photo/Alex Kielar) Truett Trammel returned kickoffs for the Buckaroos, which was a common occurrence with the Paradise offense finding the end zone on several occasions in the bi-district matchup Friday, Nov. 14 at Mineral Wells Ram Stadium.
The Breckenridge Buckaroos (4-7, 2-3) traveled to Mineral Wells Ram Stadium to face off against the number two ranked team in Class 3A Division 1, Paradise Panthers (10-1, 6-0), where they saw their season come to an end.
The Buckaroos lost 55-0 in the game that took place Friday, Nov. 14 as mistakes and a relentless Panthers’ offense got the better of them. After receiving the opening kickoff and going three-and-out, the Bucks allowed the first touchdown of the game at the 7:40 mark on a pass to the end zone by quarterback Ayden Olalde.
The second score came a few minutes later on a deep pass to Luke Brown for a 64-yard score, and it was 13-0 nearing the end of the first quarter. Two quarterback runs up the middle by Olalde–one of seven yards and the other of five yards– punched it in for the Panthers' third and fourth scores.
Any time that it felt the Bucks started to move the ball a little bit downfield, mistakes bit them, as Joseph Juneau was intercepted three times by Camden Walker. A run up the middle by Brown extended the Paradise lead to 34-0, which would be the score going into halftime.
Cooper Wimberley also recorded an interception of his own with the Panthers throwing towards the end zone as time was ticking down on the half.
The Panthers took very little time to get back on the scoreboard in the second half as Brown broke free for an 83-yard touchdown on the second play. The lead was then 48-0 after the Bucks went three-and-out and the Panthers drove right back downfield. Cooper Romines ran it for a six-yard score to extend the lead to 55-0 with two minutes in the third.
The clock would move quickly in the final quarter and the Panthers got into victory formation after the two-minute warning.
Offensively, the Bucks struggled to move the ball, accumulating just 110 all-purpose yards, while defensively, they allowed 494 all-purpose yards.
“Paradise is a good football team, they’re everything they’re built to be, predicted to be and ranked and all of those things. But we did some things to shoot ourselves in the foot offensively,” head coach Casey Pearce said. “Had some opportunities early to get off the field defensively…I don’t take anything away from our effort. I think we played hard again, we’re just not the caliber of team that they are.”
Pearce talked about the senior class who have now played their final high school football game.
“They’ve been through a bunch–10-0 as a freshman group, so they have not been in the playoffs for three years and finally get back,” Pearce said. “They’ve done their due diligence to help this program move forward. It’s the underclassmen who’ve got work to do. I hope this burns because they’ve never experienced this. They were never part of those groups that were in the playoffs, so they don’t understand what this is about and I hope this burns in their gut.”
Pearce also added that he has challenged the senior class to continue to play a sport through graduation to keep the competitiveness going–whether it be track, golf, baseball or basketball.
“Find a way to continue to compete, because the reflection of those guys will trickle down,” he said.
