Ballinger defeated the Breckenridge Buckaroos 13-0 Friday, September 4th. In a game that could have gotten out of hand if it had turned into a track meet the Buckaroos used their superior size up front to keep it a smash mouth slugfest. Ballinger’s offense was struggling against the Buckaroo defense for much of the game, but the Ballinger defense never looked like they were in danger. After giving up two touchdowns in the first half of Week 1 the Bearcats have now gone six consecutive quarters without giving up a score.
Ballinger started this game almost the exact same as they had a week prior. On the second play of the game Ballinger, this time, was gifted a fumble that ended in Adam Winn’s possession. Five plays later it was Garrett Dixon slashing and spinning his way towards the end zone for Ballinger’s first touchdown.
The game would continue with multiple 3 and outs from both teams until Ballinger was able to break through the Breckenridge defense a second time. The play was blocked great up front by the Ballinger line as Adam Winn, Markus Castleberry and Beau Perkins eliminated their assignments. Garrett Dixon outran the inside linebacker to the edge before being tripped up by the safety 14 yards downfield. The play should have ended here, but Dixon had the presence of mind to place his free hand on the ground to help stay on his feet. After regaining his footing he broke another of Breckenridge before outracing the remaining defenders to the corner of the end zone.
Ballinger missed another scoring opportunity on their next possession. Gavin Martinez was clearly interfered with on a pass that was missed by the referee on third down that would have given Ballinger a first down inside the 5 yard line. Instead Ballinger had to settle for the field goal attempt by Weston Rollwitz that got blocked.
For the rest of the game both teams seemed content on playing smashmouth football. Breckenridge struggled to pass the 50 yard line and Ballinger seemed content to grind out the clock on every possession. Ballinger primarily runs a 3-4 defense with three down lineman on defense, but against Breckenridge they played a primarily 4-3 defense. This allowed the Bearcats to handle the Buckaroo offense. “We are making sure that nobody can dictate to us what we have to do. Different looks can cause different problems for different O-lines. Going to the 4-3 didn’t allow them to double team our players. It singled up our D-line guys and let them play more aggressive” said Ballinger’s defensive coordinator, Marvin Wilson. Breckenridge totaled 155 yards on the game and averaged just 3.4 rushing yards per carry on offense. The Buckaroo quarterback was 7 of 9 for 61 yards which doesn’t seem terrible, but 40 yards of that came on one play where the quarterback was being pressured by Adam Winn and threw up a prayer that surprisingly got answered on a diving catch from the receiver.
Ballinger is 2-0 and will next host the Colorado City Wolves at 7:30pm September 11th. C-City is 0-2 with a 47-0 loss against Albany and a 37-0 loss to Crane.
Players of the Game against Breckenridge:
Garrett Dixon:
Garrett has been nothing short of spectacular for Ballinger in their first two games with 187 yards and 4 touchdowns so far with another 40 yards on 3 receptions. He is the yardage leader for Ballinger and has scored four of their five touchdowns.
Joe Marcus Guerrero:
Joe was challenged repeatedly in this game on defense and he stepped up in a big way, locking down his side of the field. Defensively Joe had 7 tackles with 1 for a loss to go along with 8 rushing yards and 16 receiving yards.
Bryce Foster:
Ballinger’s four man line did wonders for Bryce. Unable to double team the massive lineman he loaded the stat sheet. Foster had 8 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack and a fumble recovery. This is a huge breakout game for a kid loaded with natural talent.
Players to watch vs Colorado City:
Carter Arrott:
Expect Carter to have a much bigger game against a porous Wolves defense. Even if healthy Tyler Vaughn might not play this game, which would give Carter his second consecutive start. With his first start being a win the jitters should be over and he can go back to playing football.
Nathan Rivera-McDuffee:
The sophomore running back got his first varsity carries against Breckenridge and should Ballinger get an early lead he should get the majority of the second half snaps. He is explosive enough to have 100 yards in a short amount of time which could mean good things for Ballinger going forward if they are able to add one more threat to a potent offense.
Beau Perkins:
Beau should play almost the entire game on defense. Playing an offense that struggled to 52 total yards against Albany is a dream matchup for this athletic linebacker.
Weston Rollwitz, Adam Winn and Garrett Dixon:
These three will be must watch every game this year. On both sides of the ball all three just produce. The top three tacklers on the team are also the top two yardage leaders and their lead blocker on offense. If your eyes are on numbers 6, 25 or 72 on any play you are likely to see something good happen.
