Tag: Breckenridge Buckaroos

by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Merkel closes out Breckenridge in grueling 12-inning Game 2 battle

TUSCOLA — It took 12 innings in 107-degree temperatures to decide it, but the Merkel Lady Badgers managed to close out their 3A area round series with Breckenridge on Saturday, edging the Lady Buckaroos 4-2 at Jim Ned High School. 

Josie Whitehead outdueled Chloe Whitmire in a intense contest that saw both pitchers work the full 12 innings.  And Merkel’s Kyleigh Mauldin provided the game-winning RBIs with a two-run homer  in the 12th to lead Merkel (25-2), which advances to face Coahoma in the Region I-3A quarterfinals. 

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by Evan Ren

FEATURE: Bartleys take things light (to a point) when managing against each other

STAMFORD — Breckenridge baseball coach Kevin Bartley Jr., is quite open about who his hero is. It is the man who taught him more about baseball and life in general, than anyone else — his father, Stamford baseball coach Kevin Bartley Sr. 

In fact, Junior can scarcely approach the topic of his father’s influence without getting emotional. Nonetheless, he welcomes the public into it with an annual meeting against SHS on the diamond — a game that brings both fun and a high level of family competitiveness into the limelight. Some 60 miles and a full generation may separate the two, but the fear of competing with one another does not. 

Breckenridge travelled to Stamford on Friday, falling to the Bulldogs 5-1 at Wendeborn Field. There were plenty of smiles on both sides as action got underway. Not so much as Breckenridge boarded the team bus to go home. 

At the end of the day, both of these clubs want to win — family ties or no family ties.

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by Evan Ren

2020 BRECKENRIDGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Bucks have shot at the playoffs, but the road will be difficult

A trial by fire is what is in store for a youthful Breckenridge club under first-year coach Casey Pearce.

With few seniors to call upon and a relatively low amount of varsity experience on the roster, Pearce will install his new system while facing an overall schedule that ranks among the most difficult for any Class 3A team in Texas. 

Only 14 lettermen are back from last year’s 1-9 club, including six starters on both sides of the football. They will be tasked with learning Pearce’s pro I/pro spread offense and hybrid 3-4 defense in an effort to secure the playoff spot they missed a year ago. 

“Our strength of schedule is on a par with anybody who plans on trying to contend in the playoffs,” Pearce said. “We expect to try to be a November team.” 

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by Evan Ren

COUNTDOWN TO TWO-A-DAYS: Breckenridge Buckaroos

Football is fast approaching, and we at BigCountryPreps.com are committed to bringing you the information you need to prepare for your favorite team’s season.

We’ll be releasing our Big Country Preps Preseason Football Preview, the most comprehensive look at the upcoming Big Country football season anywhere, on Friday, Aug. 14. But you won’t have to wait until then to sate your gridiron appetite.

Leading up to the first day of fall football practice on Aug. 3, we’ll be spotlighting each 11-man team in the area and posing some of the key questions they’ll face in 2019 as part of our “Countdown to Two-a-Days” series.

After featuring Merkel on Monday, we move to District 3-3A Division I with the Breckenridge Buckaroos. On Wednesday, we will take a look at the Clyde Bulldogs followed by the Early Longhorns on Thursday.

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by Evan Ren

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: Bartley’s hopes for Buckaroos dashed with final announcement

The “What Might Have Been” feature series is Big Country Preps’ effort to celebrate area athletes who have seen their seasons affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The series will continue through June 15. If you have a suggested story for the “What Might Have Been” series, please contact Big Country Preps at Evan.Ren@BigCountryPreps.com.

Throughout the statewide COVID-19 interscholastic lockdown, Breckenridge baseball coach Kevin Bartley quietly waited and tried to maintain a positive frame of mind. 

It was important for him to do so, in order for him to convince his players to do the exact same thing. 

Then the other shoe dropped. 

With Friday’s announcement by the University Interscholastic League that all spring sports seasons have been cancelled due to the pandemic, Bartley was faced with the fact that what may have been the best Breckenridge baseball team in 30 years would never have the chance to prove it. 

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by Evan Ren

District 3-3A Division I: Week 10 Report

Eastland 42, Clyde 27 — Behren Morton was 22 of 36 for 288 yards and four scores as Eastland recovered from its first loss of the year (at Wall on Oct.

Bonilla

25) with a big win over Clyde. 

Anthony Bonilla was Morton’s favorite target, hauling in seven catches for 142 yards and a score. He also rushed eight times for 69 yards and two more touchdowns as the Mavericks improved to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in district play. 

Dylan Neuman led Clyde (6-3, 2-2) with 231 yards passing, including a 37-yard TD pass to Jax Roam in the fourth quarter.

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by Evan Ren

District 3-3A Division I: Week 7 Report

Dickey

Wall 35, Clyde 7 — In a high-profile game between the district favorite and perhaps the most-improved team in the league, the Hawks got the better of the upstart Bulldogs. 

Mason Fuchs threw for 79 yards, rushed for 23 and threw one TD pass to lead Wall (6-0, 1-0), tallied 222 rushing yards via committee. 

Leading 14-0 at the break, third-ranked Hawks blew the game open with a 5-yard TD run by Cinch Dickey at the 7:30 mark and a 17-yard TD jaunt by Chase Rios at 0:53. 

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by Evan Ren

District 3-3A Division I: Week 4 Report

Jim Ned 28, Mason 19 — The Indians (4-0) passed their most difficult test of the early season in workmanlike fashion.

Harwell

Trailing 6-0 early on, the Jim Ned gained a permanent upper hand with three straight touchdowns — the first of which came at the 0:16 mark of the first quarter on a 1-yard run by Riley Perry. 

Perry added a 3-yard TD with 4:08 left in the half before a 65-yard punt return by Jamin Harwell put the Indians up by three scores with 9:07 left in the third quarter. 

Continue reading “District 3-3A Division I: Week 4 Report” →

by Evan Ren

FEATURE: Smallish McKay has learned to channel his aggression

BRECKENRIDGE — At 5-9 and 195 pounds, Breckenridge senior offensive lineman Zane McKay is easy to underestimate.

And that’s just the way he likes it. 

McKay, who may be among the smallest offensive tackles in the Big Country, has found compensation within the reaches of his own heart. In the process, he has come to exemplify the sort of grit the Breckenridge team has counted on under coach Casey Hubble in recent years. 

“It’s something that we’ve tried to hang our hat on since we’ve been here,” Hubble said of McKay’s tough style of play. “Breckenridge has tough kids. We always try to play the game extremely physical and Zane encompasses that.” 

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by Evan Ren

BRECKENRIDGE TEAM PREVIEW: Buckaroos ready to face the gauntlet

BRECKENRIDGE —If piling up impressive records is the lone criteria for success, then Casey Hubble’s Breckenridge Buckaroos aren’t a blip on the radar. 

If consistently peaking at the right time and qualifying for the playoffs is the top priority, then Hubble has yet to fail during his five seasons in Breck.   

Hubble has posted a modest 28-31 overall record at BHS, which is misleading if one takes into consideration the level of difficulty he chooses for his non-district schedule.  But the Bucks are 17-9 in district play during that time, with five straight postseason appearances, a district title and a regional semifinal appearance. 

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Wall closes out Breckenridge 11-1 (two videos and box score included)

One club saw a storied season pushed to the next round. The other saw its greatest season ever finally come to a close. 

There was never going to be a subtle finish for either Wall or Breckenridge in their Region I-3A semifinal series, which played itself out with Wall’s two-game sweep of the Buckaroos. 

The Hawks, who took Game 1 by a 5-4 margin Friday afternoon, closed the series with an 11-1 win Saturday at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field, ending the deepest playoff run in Breckenridge baseball history. 

Luke Young worked a solid five innings and Colton Diebitsch was 3 for 3 with three RBIs from the No. 9 spot to lead Wall (35-0), which will meet Brock (30-5-1) in the Region I-3A championship series next week. 

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by Evan Ren

FEATURE: Buckaroos approaching series with top-ranked Wall as a special chance

“Great moments are born from great opportunity.” — Herb Brooks 

If the top-ranked Wall baseball team is beatable, nobody has proven it in 2019. 

Area clubs have had 33 opportunities to defeat the Hawks and every one of them have been shot down in flames —more often than not, by lopsided margins. 

That is the challenge currently facing Breckenridge coach Kevin Bartley, whose Buckaroos (32-3) will take on Wall (33-0) in a best-of-three Region I-3A semifinal series, beginning at 1 p.m. Friday at Abilene Christian University. 

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by Evan Ren

Big Country Preps Player of the Week: Woodward tops nearly 50 nominees for award

When selecting our Big Country Preps Player of the Week, the quality of competition is one of the top considerations we look at.

And in a week that is absolutely loaded with nearly 50 quality nominations from area coaches, choosing the player to occupy the top spot was no easy task.

Our choice: Breckenridge junior Owen Woodward, who helped Breckenridge in its stunning 3-0 win over top-ranked Brock with a three-hit, no-walk, 12-strikeout complete game.

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by Evan Ren

GAME STORY: Breckenridge stuns Brock behind dazzling effort from Woodward (w/ box score, two videos and photo gallery)

BROCK — For at least three full innings during Friday’s game at top-ranked Brock, Breckenridge starting pitcher Owen Woodward was nervous, his breaking ball was hanging and he wasn’t quite sure if he and the Buckaroos were going to pull off the upset they had in mind. 

But after being staked to 1-0 lead in the third inning, the junior right-hander settled in, his curve developed a nasty snap in the late innings and he finished with a jaw-dropping three-hit shutout in a shocking 3-0 Breckenridge win. 

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by Evan Ren

PHOTO GALLERY: Evan Ren’s Top 100 football photos for 2018

FEATURED SCHOOLS: Albany, Anson, Baird, Breckenridge, Brock, Brownwood, Clyde, Coahoma, Colorado City, Comanche, Cross Plains, Dublin, Eastland, Forsan, Hamlin, Haskell, Jim Ned, Merkel, Snyder, Stamford, Stephenville, Wall and Winters.

Photos may be purchased for $7 each by pushing the small shopping cart emblem below the lower right corner of the gallery.

by Evan Ren

Dublin wrecks Buckaroo homecoming 22-21

BRECKENRIDGE — For the second straight year the Dublin Lions were the guests for the Breckenridge homecoming. 

And, for the second straight year, they were completely indifferent to the occasion — edging the Buckaroos 22-21 in a thrilling Big Country Preps Game of the Week. 

Cy Wing threw for 233 yards and three scores, including a go-ahead TD pass to Mark Ybarra with 0:19 to play to lift Dublin (5-0) which remains unbeaten with its best start since 1999. 

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by Evan Ren

Breckenridge, Hubble, looking forward to Big Country return

Not since 2013 have the Breckenridge Buckaroos — a Big Country cornerstone — actually played in a district involving Big Country teams.

Over the past four years, realignment has sent the Buckaroos north and east, where they’ve faced teams such as Ponder, Paradise, Brock, Bowie and Boyd.

However, 2018 brings the Buckaroos home to their traditional territory where they will be housed with Big Country Stalwarts from Clyde, Jim Ned, Early, Eastland and Wall in District 3-3A Division I.

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by Evan Ren

Experienced Breckenridge Buckaroos a major threat

Don’t expect fifth-year Breckenridge coach Casey Hubble to involve himself in the hype surrounding his 2018 Buckaroos.

The media, however, may not be able to help itself, and the numbers provide some reasoning for that.

To begin with, Breckenridge returns all but one offensive starter, more than half its defense and has a solid nucleus of seniors for leadership.

Toss in the fact that the Buckaroos weren’t thrilled with a season-ending loss to Merkel in the playoffs last year and you can add hunger to their list of potential advantages.

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by Daniel Youngblood

BCP Podcast No. 7: Evan, Dan talk football with Wichita Falls’ Zach Duncan

Zach Duncan

Like Big Country Preps co-founders Evan Ren and Daniel Youngblood, Wichita Falls Time Record News area writer Zach Duncan has been covering high school sports in his market for a long time.

Entering his 15th football season with the Wichita Falls newspaper, Duncan has seen more great games than he can count and worked with some outstanding coaches and players. This week, he took some time to share some his favorite football stories and talk shop with Evan and Daniel.

Also in this episode, Evan and Daniel discuss District 3-3A Division I and District 7-2A Division II — two all-area leagues that should be competitive from top to bottom.