A bit of history:

Breckenridge is now a dried up little former oil boom town on I-20 a few miles west of Fort Worth. Driving through now one would not expect it to once have been a powerhouse in Texas High School football and an incubator for some of the state's, and Texas A&M's, greatest coaches.

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No team and community manifested the state's football culture more spectacularly than Breckenridge. Until Gordon Wood's Brownwood Lions eclipsed them in 1960, the Buckaroos were the scourge of West Texas. ” - Ty Cashion

Breckenridge's winning tradition reached back to oil boom era in the late 1920s. P. E. Shotwell(who put Abilene High on the football map), who coached the Buckaroos from 1927-34, guided the team to the state finals in 1929, where they tied Port Arthur Jefferson 0-0 in the snowy weather of Waco. Despite Breckenridge's declining population as the oil boom faded, the Buckaroos still played some of the largest schools in West Central Texas. With an enrollment of less than 400 students during the 1950s, Breckenridge's football varsity barely comprised 30 players. Yet, during the '50s the Buckaroos formed a true dynasty under head coaches Cooper Robbins (1945-51), Joe Kerbel (1952-54) and Emory Bellard (1955-59). Breckenridge appeared in five Class 3A State Championship games, winning four times in 1951, 1952, 1954, and 1958 and tying Cleburne for the title in 1959. Under coach Eck Curtis (1935-44) they made the semifinals in 1942.

While at Breckenridge, Emory Bellard developed his famous wishbone formation.[1] His 1958 Buckaroo squad was voted the Fort Worth Star Telegram team of the century.

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After winning the State 3A Championship in 1951, coach Cooper Robbins was hired by Texas A&M to coach the freshman football team and he remained in that position through the Bear Bryant era. Cooper Robbins two sons, Ronald and Donald Robbins followed their dad to A&M in 1952 and played until graduating in 1956.

Don't forget about Coach Plainview (1907-1911). He pushed his kids pretty hard.

We used to spend lots of weekends during the summer out there at my great grandmothers property on Hubbard Creek Lake. It was a nice little town 15 years ago. Not sure how it is now.

It's not really on I20 though, it's about 20 miles north of I20 on 180. We would take 20 and and get off in Weatherford and go through Mineral Wells to get there from the DFW area...

I know this is a little late ... 15 or so years ... but wanted to correct a couple of things.

Emory Bellard developed the wishbone while Darrell Royal's top offensive assistant at Texas in the late 1960s - 1968ish. That was nine years *after* he coached at Breckenridge. He left there to coach San Angelo Central between 1960-'66 and was hired by Royal in '67.

Also ... Cooper Robbins spent only one year as the coach of Texas A&M's freshmen. In 1953, he was hired as head coach at Odessa High School. He remained in that role until he turned over reigns to 27-year-old Hayden Fry in a bloodless coup at the school. It was Fry's first job as a head coach.

Willie Zapalac replaced Robbins as frosh coach at Texas A&M.

The biggest correction here might be that it is an I-20 town. It is 30 minutes north of 20... part of the group of towns crushed by the transition away from US-180 to I-20 for the movement of goods.

And great quail hunting up until about '03 or '04. I have spent many great days in the field around Breckinridge, Albany, and Throckmorton.

The Collective said:

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The biggest correction here might be that it is an I-20 town. It is 30 minutes north of 20... part of the group of towns crushed by the transition away from US-180 to I-20 for the movement of goods.

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I dove hunt near and stay in Breckenridge every year. The biggest correction is that Breckenridge is a few miles from Ft. Worth. That's like saying Waco is a few miles from Dallas.