Yoe hosts Giddings in big-time showdown

The Cameron Yoemen will finally get to play under the lights at Yoe Field this Friday night when Giddings travels to town. Home openers in Cameron are always special, but this game appears to have a little extra zing to it, as Cameron, which comes in ranked eighth in the latest Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Rankings, and Giddings, ranked sixth in the state in 4A division II, will be meeting up in what could be the top matchup in Central Texas for week four.

“It’s our home opener and of course we want to do well and it should be a really good game,” said Yoe coach Tommy Brashear. “We have been playing pretty well and they have obviously been playing really well as they are 3-0 already. They have beaten some pretty well-known programs. When you seem them on film you can tell that they are well-coached and are a physical football team.

Brashear remembers back to his playing days in the 90s when the two were in the same district.

“When I grew up, we always played Giddings as we were in the same district,” Brashear said. “When I first came back to Cameron we were in the same district and had some really good battles. I kind of like the tradition of playing some of these schools we have played in the past. I called them and some other people trying to get some of these traditional schools we have played on the schedule.”

Altogether, Cameron and Giddings have played a total 25 times with the Yoemen holding the lead, 19 games to 6. Cameron won 11 straight from 1917 to 1991 before the Buffaloes finally won back-to-back contests in 1994 and 1995. Since the 1994 season, Cameron holds a 7-5 advantage. The last meeting between the two teams was way back in 2005, with the Yoemen edging out the win, 21-20.

Giddings does sit at a perfect 3-0 on the season and has picked up some impressive early season wins over Rockdale (17-16), Wimberley (63-13) and Taylor (24-14).

The Buffaloes are coached by Wade Griffin, who is in his first year in charge of the program. Griffin was the head coach at Elgin from 2011 to 2013 where he compiled a 26-10 record. He then left for Fort Worth Brewer for four seasons, finishing with a 20-23 record.

Griffin replaces Chris Jones who left Giddings for Pecos after spending seven years in charge of the program.

Giddings is predicted to finish in second place out of 12-4A DII behind Bellville and ahead of Caldwell, La Grange, Smithville and Brookshire Royal. Giddings is returning a total of six offensive and six defensive starters from last year’s squad.

Offense

Through three games, the Giddings offense is averaging 34.6 points per ball game. The Buffaloes are going to line up in a variety of formations, and they could be the most physical team Cameron has lined up against.

“They don’t do a whole lot on offense, but what they do, they do well,” Brashear said. “It is a very big challenge coming to us Friday and it should be a good test to see where we are. I say that every week, but each week brings a different challenge.”

Running back Ja’Darius Johnson and receiver Jaylon Joiner are the top two returning offensive starters and they have proven to be a handful in the early going.

“They look like they want to run the ball the most,” said Brashear. “They have a big running back that can run the ball well and we will have to tackle well. They have a receiver that is built like Hammond is for us and they like to throw to him on some play action and fades. They also have some role players that are pretty good but those are their main weapons.”

Defense

In three games, the Giddings defense has been stingy, giving up just 14.3 points per contest. Brashear noted that this defense is going to be similar to what they saw a week ago.

“They are similar to Gatesville in their defense but have some differences in the coverage area,” said Brashear. “In my mind they have a few more weapons and are a little more dangerous.

Giddings is expected to line up in the 4-3 formation if they follow the same tactics used in their win over Taylor, which also runs similar spread formations to Cameron. A lot of times, those three linebackers will be coming on blitzes.

“They are very aggressive so we may try to take advantage of that,” Brashear said. “They are going to play some straight man and press us sometimes with the corners. You never know until you get into the game, but I really think this will be the best defense we’ve seen this year. They have size, strength and a little speed to go with it.”

Brashear noted that the defensive ends for Giddings were exceptional and that junior, 6’3” Kyle Campos would be a player to watch.

Keys to Victory

Brashear noted that the first big key to a win this week would be to take away the run and force more predictable passing situations.

“Similar to the Gatesville game, we have to stop the run and force them to beat us with the pass,” said Brashear. “They pass the ball better Gatesville, but that is not their bread and butter. We have to get them in passing situations.”

On offense, it may take an early aggressive passing attack to loosen things up for the rushing game.

“We have to be able to take care of the ball and be balanced,” Brashear said. “With their 4-3 defense, they are going to want to keep their outside backers tight, so we need to get the passing game going to widen them so we can open up the running game. I’m interested to see if we can run it when they put five in the box with that stout defensive line they’ve got.”