Rams vs. Buckaroos: Lessons learned

BRECKENRIDGE — The Rams took their first bus ride of the new season to Breckenridge to scrimmage the Buckaroos, Aug. 18.
The Rams and Buckaroos have gone at it for three consecutive years in these preseason scrimmages, and each time the Rams have met a very quality opponent. After their season opening scrimmage just six days before, the varsity team was looking to stay hot.
To start the scrimmage portion of the night, Breckenridge came out swinging using their speed at skill positions and bruising running game to put up a pair of touchdowns before fans could even get settled into their seats.The defense was able to get off the field with no further damage done on a big third down play.
Coming back the other way, the Rams started slow on offense, getting nothing going through their first set of downs. During the second, junior offensive lineman Clayton Ethridge threw a crucial kick out block to give Jose Garcia some running room and the offense some life.
Backed up on a third down in Buckaroo
“It’s much better to identify problems that need to be addressed in a scrimmage, than to find out you don’t have a ready solution halfway through the season. We will continue to work on the little things first as we prepare for Castleberry.” – Rams Head Coach Seth Hobbs
Rams Head Football Coach Seth Hobbs.
Photo courtesy Mineral Wells High School territory, senior quarterback Mason Facteau scrambled up the middle for a 12-yard first down run, one of his two. The drive would be capped off by a Kaden Montalvo touchdown who ended his night with a touchdown and 31 yards on six carries.
Moving to the live half, the Rams started on defense. They forced the Buckaroos to multiple third downs, but could not get off the field early as Breckenridge went on a grueling 11-play drive and ended it with a score.
“It’s important to get off the field on third down and not give up big plays” said Defensive Coordinator Clint Clayton. “We have to do a better job getting the ball back to our offense and not letting the other team control the tempo of the game.”
On offense the Rams failed to get the ball rolling. Facteau fumbled the ball under center snap several times with junior center Hunter Menchaca.
More ball security issues arose as they put the ball on the ground two more times during the live half and came away with nothing two possessions in. Running woes for the Rams transitioned to a pristine air attack from Breckenridge that overpowered the Ram defense.
“Ball security is always a big focus for us” said Offensive Coordinator Landry Gunter. “We’ve got to avoid digging ourselves a hole by fumbling the snap or turning it over. This will be a focus as we move forward into next week.”
Late in the live quarter, sophomore Owen Gadd hit senior fullback Trevyn Montalvo for a huge 30-yard gain out of the flat. Rams got on the ball quickly and the hand-off went for a 70-yard touchdown by DJ Simpson who finished the night with 82 yards and the lone rams score in the live quarter.
The Rams did not prevail and 0-0 is still the varsity official record as they look forward to their season opener at home against Castleberry on Aug. 26. The expectations are high, as they should be for a team that has improved their win total every year since 2019 and look to do more of the same here in this 2022 campaign.
“We’re still 0-0, just like last week” said Rams Head Coach Seth Hobbs. “We got to see lots of different combinations of players on the field today,and we got to see where some of our weak spots are. It’s much better to identify problems that need to be addressed in a scrimmage, than to find out you don’t have a ready solution halfway through the season. We will continue to work on the little things first as we prepare for Castleberry.”