Strong start: Yoe picks up quality win over Mexia, 49-34

A key ingredient to the success of past Yoemen football teams has been improvement week to week.  It’s been something that Yoe coach Tommy Brashear has spoken of multiple times in the early going, and it appears that his team is following through.  On Friday, the Yoemen opened their 2018 campaign with an impressive win on the road, taking down Mexia in a high-flying offensive battle, 49-34.

“I felt like we were a week better this week and that is our goal,” said Brashear.  “We got out of it pretty injury free. You want to improve but you also want to stay healthy and I thought we did that.  I’m very pleased with our first game out. The kids’ effort was great. We still made some mistakes on both sides of the ball, but we did a lot of good things, too.  There is a lot to build on.”

It was a strong start for the Yoe offense, which put up big numbers while taking advantage of some shorter fields that were handed to them.  Altogether, there was 238 yards through the air with another 180 on the ground.

First-year junior quarterback Braden Brashear had a strong showing in the opener, coming through with 231 yards on 11-16-1 passing.  

“I made some mistakes but it went pretty well,” said B. Brashear”  “The line and receivers helped me out with some plays and I had really good protection all night.”
 

Brashear managed to target five different receivers on the night, with Kadrian Hammond leading the way with four receptions for 127 yards.  At the 11:16 make of the first quarter, Hammond caught a 55-yard touchdown pass over the top to give Cameron the early 7-0 lead.

Kobe Young, a junior, also had a solid showing, coming in with four catches for 83 yards.  

“I have a mix of good athletes and receivers that run really good routes,” said B. Brashear.  “It really helps me out when they make plays when I don’t always throw a great ball.”

Cameron ran the ball 27 times on the night, with Davion Bynaum getting a majority of the carries.  The senior, which totalled 110 yards on 15 runs, was able to show off his speed.

With Cameron up 28-12 late in the second quarter, Bynaum took a carry and got outside and in the clear, and was gone for a 58-yard touchdown run.  

Defensively, it was somewhat of a struggle against a team that was hard to simulate in terms of the speed and athleticism that Mexia presented.  The Black Cats had 386 total yards, with most coming on the ground. Running-back Jadrian Smith finished with 204 yards on 13 carries, with nearly half of it coming off of a 96-yard run early in the first quarter to cut the Yoe lead down to 7-6.

“Defensively, we had some miscommunication in the back end on what the coverage was a couple of times,” said Brashear.  “Those are things that are all fixable and things we can improve on and get better at and we will. We gave up some big plays, but these guys are skilled.  We made a lot of mistakes, but our effort was great.”

There were positive moments for the defensive unit.  Up 14-6 in the first, Mexia was forced to punt the ball deep in their own territory.  The snap went over the punters head, setting up the offense at the Black Cat two-yard line.  

Additionally, Hammond intercepted a pass in the endzone with just over four minutes left in the game to keep the lead at two possessions.  

“I just saw the ball and I was going to go get it” said Hammond.  “He was tall and I believe they were going to go after the one on one and see who was better.”

Cameron is now 1-0 for the fourth straight season, and the plan is to continue to build off of this positive momentum.  

“They handled this long trip amazing and were mature about it,” said Brashear.  “This group has the right mindset at this point in the season. We just have to keep that going and we can be pretty good.”

“It all starts in practice,” added Hammond.  “If you go hard in practice then you will go hard in the games.  Next week we are open so we are going to watch film and get better.”

Scoring

1st Quarter

Cameron: Kadrian Hammond 55-yard reception from Braden Brashear - Thomas Melton kick - 7-0 Yoe - 11:16

Mexia: Jadrian Smith 96-yard run - run failed - 7-6 Yoe - 9:23

Cameron: Thomas Melton 7-yard pass from Anthony Layne - Melton kick - 14-6 Yoe - 6:16

2nd Quarter

Cameron: Nico Vargas 2-yard run - Melton kick - 21-6 Yoe - 10:40

Mexia: Smith 17-yard run - kick failed - 21-12 Yoe - 8:58

Cameron: Ki’Zirrius Holt 10-yard pass from Brashear - Melton kick - 28-12 Yoe - 3:58

Cameron: Davion Bynaum 55-yard run - Melton kick - 35-12 Yoe - 0:56

Mexia: Smith 5-yard run - run failed - Prctoer run - 35-20 Yoe - 0:05

3rd Quarter

Mexia: Smith 5-yard run - fun failed - 35-26 Yoe - 7:27

Cameron: James DeBose 13-yard pass from Brashear - Melton kick - 42-26 Yoe - 2:08

4th Quarter

Yoe: Thomas Melton 8-yard fumble recovery for score - Melton kick - 49-26 Yoe - 9:46

Mexia: Javi Wright 36-yard pass from Procter - Procter run - 49-34 Yoe - 9:10

Stats

Cameron Yoe

First Downs: 18

Rushing: 27-180

Passing Yards: 238

Passes: 12-17-1

Punts: 4-167

Fumbles/Fumbles Lost: 3-1

Penalties: 8-55

Rushing: Davion Bynaum: 15-110; Nico Vargas: 7-44

Passing: Braden Brashear: 11-16-1, 231 yards

Receiving: Kadrian Hammond: 4-127; Kobe Young, 4-83

Mexia

First Downs: 12

Rushing: 32-251

Passing: 135

Passes: 8-16-1

Fumbles/Fumbles Lost: 4-2

Penalties: 10-85

Rushing: Jadrian Smith: 13-204; Jaden Procter 14-31

Passing: Jaden Procter: 8-16-1, 135 yards

Receiving: Joshua Beachum, 5-101

10-3A Results

Cameron Yoe 49, Mexia 34

Giddings 17, Rockdale 16

Rogers 35, Academy 21

Troy 15, Salado 6

Whitney 27, Jarrell 12

Blanco 20, Lago Vista 7

Weimar 43, Manor New Tech 0