Yoemen capture 700th all-time victory over McGregor

It’s not always how you start, but it’s how you finish.  That has been a trademark for the Yoemen football program over the past several years.  

The tradition carried over in Friday night’s district opener, as the Yoemen went on a 30-6 run in the final two quarters of play to win 44-20 over the McGregor Bulldogs.  The win was also the Yoemen’s 700th in program history.  Only seven other teams (all classifications) have ever accomplished the feat.

“It’s special for me to be the one that is coaching the 700th win, but this goes out to Yoemen from years back and ones in the future as well,” said Yoe head coach Tommy Brashear.  “This is a great place and I am very honored to be a part of it.”

The score was 14-14 at the half, but for the Yoemen it was a stretch of missed opportunities.  “We started off sloppy, slow and sluggish again,” said Brashear.  “McGregor is a good football team.  We had to make some adjustments there in the first quarter, and we were just not executing those very well.  There was some poor play calling by me as well.”

The poor play did not continue in the second half, thanks in part to a strong dual threat attack.  The ground game, led by RB Tydrick Williams (17-110), QB Zack Andress (15-85), and RB Nico Vargas (5-30) helped open up a passing game that accounted for 216 yards on the night.

That, along with a strong defensive effort, led to everything coming together for the Yoemen.

“It was just execution,” said Brashear.  “We didn’t really make any adjustments at halftime.  We just talked about executing what we were trying to do.  Nothing against McGregor, but I feel a lot of the stuff on the offensive side of the ball was us shooting our self in the foot.  I felt like we had some good things going, but we just weren’t executing in the first half.”

The Yoemen put the pressure on the Bulldogs in the third, as Andress connected with Jordan Young on a 10-yard pass followed up by an 18-yard reception by Sicory Smith to put Cameron up by two scores.  

Early in the 4th, Eddie Luna added on three more (30-14) with a 20-yard field goal.  McGregor put a late drive together, but an Andress to Jordan Wells 52-yard touchdown reception put the game out of reach.

The pair also connected on the last score of the game, this time of a 11-yard variety.  

Cameron improves to 4-1 and 1-0 in 10-3A, and most importantly picks one of the biggest wins in program history on Yoe Field.

“I think that just makes it even more special,” said Brashear.  “We saw the crowd and the student section holding up the 700 signs and stuff like that.  It makes it even more special to do it at home.”

The Yoemen will now take on the highly ranked Franklin Lions (5-0, 1-0), who defeated Troy (42-14) on Friday night.  

“We’ve not been trying to think about that one,” said Brashear after Friday night’s win.  “Now that this one is over, we can look ahead to that.  It should be a great matchup.  Two good football teams will be going at it.  We definitely do not need to start slow.  We need to come out all guns blazing from the beginning because they're a good football team.”

SCORING

1st Quarter

Cameron - Zack Andress 2-yard run - Adrian Lewis kick - 7-0 Yoe - 8:06

2nd Quarter

McGregor - Cedric McLeain 1-yard run - Joanly Martinez kick - 7-7 - 3:12

Cameron - Andress 37-yard pass to Bryce Welsh - Lewis kick - 14-7 Yoe - 2:25

McGregor - McLeain 1-yard run - Martinez kick - 14-14 - 0:14

3rd Quarter

Cameron - Andress 10-yard pass to Jordan Young - pass failed - 20-14 Yoe - 6:57

Cameron - Andress 18-yard pass to Sicory Smith - Lewis kick - 27-14 Yoe - 1:22

4th Quarter

Cameron - Eddie Luna 20-yard field goal - 30-14 Yoe - 10:43

McGregor - Kyle Sadler 1-yard run - pass failed - 30-20 Yoe - 6:33

Cameron - Andress 52-yard pass to Jordan Wells - Lewis kick - 37-20 Yoe - 4:58

Cameron - Andress 11-yard pass to Wells - Lewis kick - 1:35 

STATS

Cameron Yoe

First Downs: 27

Rushing Yards: 40-246

Passing Yards: 216

Passes: 17-30-0

Punts: 2-34.5

Fumbles/Fumbles Lost: 0

Penalties: 7-59

INDIVIDUAL

Rushing: Tydrick Williams, 17-110; Zack Andress, 15-85; Nico Vargas, 5-30; D.J. Fripp, 2-18

Passing: Zack Andress, 17-30-0, 216 yards, 5 touchdowns

Receiving: Jordan Wells, 7-101; Sicory Smith, 4-31; Garrett Roeder, 1-19; Jordan Young, 2-13; Iverson Westbrook, 1-6

McGregor

First Downs: 15

Rushing Yards: 29-112

Passing Yards: 178

Passes: 12-30-4

Punts: 4-29.2

Fumbles/Fumbles Lost: 0

Penalties: 6-46

INDIVIDUAL

Rushing: Alex Parsons, 6-42; Cedric McLeain, 9-39; Kyle Sadler, 9-14; James Lane, 1-11

Passing: Cedric McLeain, 12-30-4, 178 yards

Receiving: Jared Lorenz, 3-64; James Lane, 3-39; Nathan Raibourn, 1-36; Aaron Osbourne, 3-36

10-3A Scores

Cameron Yoe 44 McGregor 20

Franklin 42 Troy 14

Rockdale 48 Rogers 9

Up Next

Franklin (5-0, 1-0)

The Yoemen will travel to Franklin next week for one of the biggest showdowns in the state.  The Lions have yet to loose a game, with the closest victory being over Waco Connally in week four, 48-42.  Other results include wins over Navaosta (38-22), Caldwell (52-13), Lorena (34-21) and Troy (42-14).