Yoemen Sports Network

On Tuesday from Yoe Gym, Cameron played Snook for the second time this season. Their first matchup was just a few days ago in the Salado tournament. In that game, Cameron simply could not get anything going on the offensive end in a 36-17 loss. Cameron nearly doubled their point total the second go-around, but Snook also had an improved shooting night in a 47-32 win over the Lady Yoe.

Cameron shot just 7-29 from the field on the night, and only mustered one bucket in the second and third quarters.

“We kept trying to do a few different things offensively to try to find our shot,” said Lady Yoe coach Corey Cunningham on offensive adjustments. ‘When we played Snook on Friday, it was the same thing. We had 17 points that game, so we are just trying to find our shot and experiment with that for district.”

Sicory Smith caps off successful freshman season at Blinn

Former Yoe star receiver Sicory Smith made headlines this past week with his performance in Blinn’s bowl game Smith caught 7 passes for 147 yards in the Buccaneers’ 43-41 loss to #6 Snow in the El Toro Bowl. That performance earned the freshman offensive MVP honors for the game. Smith hauled in 23 passes for 536 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2017. The 7 scores were tied for first on the team with sophomore Dandre Reed.

Thorndale boys basketball tournament

Defense wins championships. It’s a phrase you hear a lot on the gridiron, but the same principles are being applied by first year Yoe basketball coach Nick Burns on the hardcourt. On Tuesday, Cameron proved that they were capable of playing high quality defense in a 55-30 win over the Holland Hornets.

The Yoemen, which improved to 2-0 on the season with the victory, allowed only 9 first half points and managed to turn over Holland 29 times throughout the game.

“Defense is Coach Burns’ bread and butter,” said returning post La’Rondre Booze, which had 13 points on the night. “He wants us to run up and down the court. All we do in practice is run so we can have better defense in games. He likes a fast paced game and playing defense.”

Falls City (10-2) Vs. Milano (11-1) - Friday - Buda’s Shelton Stadium - 7:00

Both of these teams have had little to no problems with their two first round opponents. Falls City has cruised by Agua Dulce (65-14) and Rocksprings (44-16) while Milano had no problems with the likes of D’Hanis (41-0) and Woodsboro (56-20). The Beavers are a program that’s had plenty of success in the playoffs, with a state finalist appearance in 2013 and a state championship victory in 2010 over Windthorst (32-7). This season, Falls City has thrown for over 2,250 yards and have run for nearly 3,000, so this team is diverse and can beat you in a variety of ways. The winner of this game will probably be looking at Burton next week in the state quarterfinals. Burton beat Milano in district earlier this season, 36-31.

Josh’s Pick: Milano by 3.

Rockdale (9-3) Vs. West (10-2) - Friday - Belton’s Tiger Field - 7:30

It’s no secret that Cameron is going to be on the bubble when the UIL announces the conference cutoff numbers for the bi-annual realignment sometime in December. Cameron turned in an enrollment number of 488 back in October. The cutoff number two years ago from 3A DI to 4A DII was 479, so if that number were to remain the same, Cameron would be moving back up a classification. Cameron moved down to 2A (now 3A) in 2010 and has been there ever since. At one point Cameron sat in the mid 350s, but growth has made that number steadily rise the past few years. At this point, I want to explore the different likely outcomes if Cameron stays put or moves up.

Staying in 3A - Football

Local high school regional semifinal pairings

6A

Coppell (11-1) vs. Round Rock Cedar Ridge (11-1) Saturday 7:00pm at Waco’s McLane Stadium
Sachse (12-0) vs. Pflugerville Hendrickson (9-3) Saturday 2pm at Waco ISD Stadium

Lake Travis (10-2) vs. Los Fresnos (9-3) Saturday 1:00pm at Los Fresnos’ Aguilar Stadium
Mansfield (11-1) vs. Waco Midway (12-0) Friday 7:00pm at Waco’s McLane Stadium
Austin Westlake (12-0) vs. Edinburg Vela (12-0) Friday 7:30pm at Portland’s Akins Wildcat Stadium

5A

Cedar Park (11-1) vs. Manvel (11-0) Friday 7:30pm at Waller’s Waller ISD Stadium

Temple (9-3) vs. Port Arthur Memorial (9-1) Friday 7:00pm at Prairie View’s Panther Stadium

Hutto (11-1) vs. Fort Bend Marshall (9-2) Friday 7:30pm at Cypress’ Cy-Fair FCU Stadium
College Station (10-2) vs. Port Neches-Groves (10-1) Saturday 1:00pm at Humble’s Turner Stadium

4A

In August, Cameron fans were thrilled to see their Yoemen rated as the preseason number one team in class 3A. The expectations were for this football team to not only compete for a district championship but yet another state title. After last Thursday night, reality set in as neither of those two goals were going to be accomplished. In their fourth try, the Teague Lions took control early and dominated the rest of the way through in a 40-14 win to end Cameron’s frustrating 4-7 season in the bi-district round of the class 3A playoffs.

“We knew coming in that they were a tough team,” said Yoe coach Tommy Brashear following the loss. “We played several of those guys since they were freshmen. We knew coming in that they were going to try and run the ball at us and we had a hard time stopping the run tonight.”

Lady Yoe breaks even in own tourney

The Cameron girls basketball team participated in their first tournament of the season and managed to break even over the two days with a 2-2 record. Cameron won over Milano (51-21) and took a loss to Taylor (44-21) on day one. On Saturday, Cameron fell to district rival Rockdale (39-18) before bouncing back to edge Sealy (32-31).

In all games Cameron’s defense managed to lead the way, forcing a plethora of turnovers while only allowing just 34 points per ball game.

“Our defense is coming around and it’s getting stronger every week,” said Cameron coach Corey Cunningham. “I think that is going to be key for as district rolls around. With our offense not clicking quite yet, we are going to have to hold teams in low figures.”

Cameron Yoe - 4-7 - Bi-District Finalist

Though Cameron had two weeks to prepare for Teague, it really did not seem to matter as the Lions just totally dominated that game from beginning to end. My number one key was to disrupt things up front defensively and make someone other than the Lion running-backs beat you, and that simply did not happen on Thursday night. There is just no way around saying that this will go down as one of, if the not most disappointing season in program history. There have been teams to finish with worse records, but with the preseason ranking and the amount of talent of the roster, it was just a real surprise at how this year played out. Cameron now loses a good crop of 21 seniors and will have major question marks at quarterback, running-back, defensive line and defensive back heading into 2018. It will be interesting to see if there is a bounce back when August rolls around.

“He can block, tackle, score the touchdown, snap the ball, and kick the extra point. Hell, the boy will fill up the Gatorade cooler, walk the dog, and paint your back porch.” - The words from the character of L.V. Miles in Friday Night Lights when describing his nephew Boobie Miles.

Much like Odessa Permian, the Cameron Yoemen, with their rich tradition, have had some players like Miles come through the system. None may be as versatile as Nico Vargas. Vargas may or may have not have painted porches or walked any dogs, but this sophomore has shown his ability to play football, and play it at a high level.

In just his second year of varsity football, Vargas leads the Yoe defense with 138 tackles and 9 tackles for loss. Even with the big-time defensive numbers, #25 still finds some time to get a series or two in on offense, totaling 177 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 33 carriers at running-back.