Harvey moves opener to Saturday

It’s not very often that you have weather cause havoc with regards to the scheduling of a football game. With the torrential rains and damage brought on by hurricane and tropical storm Harvey, football was the last thing of some people’s minds. Dozens upon dozens have cancelled school and their week one games due to severe flooding and shear damage brought on in the south and south eastern region of the state.

Bellville was one of those areas near Houston that was hit hard. However, the Brahmas were able to start practice on Wednesday, allowing the team to travel to Cameron a day later than expected to kick off the 2017 season.

“With Hurricane Harvey we had to do some moving around,” said Yoe head coach Tommy Brashear. “Bellville has been hit hard. Their coach told me they had over 30 inches of rain since it hit. They have a lot of flooding and people out of their homes and things like that.”

Brashear said that Bellville head coach Grady Rowe wanted to maintain the season opener, so both teams worked together to make something happen.

“He was really wanting to keep and maintain the game, so we moved it to Saturday at 11:00 a.m.,” said Brashear. “Earlier in the day gives them a little more time to prepare. We would rather not play on Saturday, but under the circumstances it is appropriate. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the people involved that Harvey has affected.”

Before rain settled in, Bellville managed to get in both of their scrimmages against Navasota and Columbus. The Brahmas just could not practice on Monday or Tuesday or this week.

Overall, Bellville is returning a total of 9 starters from last year’s regional semifinal team. 2016 results: Cameron Yoe (L 33-10), Bay City (W 14-6), Stafford (W, Forfeit), Sealy (W 35-7), Wharton (L 28-23), Taylor (W 41-14), Royal (W 55-0), Tarkington (W 58-8), Madisonville (W 63-14), Shepherd (W 41-19), Orangefield (W 45-21), Salado (W 34-14), West Orange-Stark (L 49-7).

West Orange-Stark went on to win the 4A DII state final a few weeks later.

Offense

Bellville will have plenty of holes to fill on the offensive side with 9 of the 11 starters gone to graduation.

That includes running-back Mac Briscoe, which ran for 2,131 yards, or nearly half of the Brahmas offense in 2016.

Changes appears to be on the horizon with regards to the scheme. The slot-t will still be seen, but it will not be the only thing on the play card.

“On offense, they are trying to evolve to a spread team,” said Brashear. “They are still running some of their slot-t, but they are spreading it out some and getting into the gun. The run plays they run out of it are similar to what they did in the slot-t. It’s a different dynamic and it’s different for us to work on.”

As of now, it all appears to be a work in process.

“I will say that it appears they are trying to feel their way at what they’re really good at,” said Brashear. “It’s kind of hard to get a good feel on them.”

Defense

During non-district play, Bellville should hang their hats on a defense with a total of 7 starters returning from a unit that gave up just under 20 points per ball game.

“They have a defensive end and two guys returning in the secondary that are pretty good players,” said Brashear. “Those look like their playmakers on the defensive side of the ball. They have a defensive tackle coming up from JV that is a pretty solid.”

Brian Reese (77 tackles), Grayson Mays (DE, 75 tackles), and Diego Muniz (DT, 74 tackles) will be players to watch.

Expect Bellville to line up in both three and four man fronts, depending on the down and distance and if the run or pass is anticipated.

Keys to the Game

The Yoemen had plenty of success on the road last season at Bellville, but this is a new year and both teams have new faces.

At this point, it’s a feeling out process.

“This team is a little different and we are trying to figure out what we are good at,” said Brashear on the Yoemen. “We have a lot of kids back, but we have some new faces. Last year we only rushed the ball for 53 yards against them. I feel like our rushing game is much improved this year. I am optimistic about the run game. Last year, we got into situations where we had to throw the ball.”