Yoemen Sports Network

In their final three games of the non-district schedule, Cameron simply had too many mistakes to pull out wins.  That trend did not change on Friday night in McGregor as the Yoemen turned the ball over four times and could not score from the 1-yard line on three occasions in a 31-25 upset loss to open 10-3A play.  

“I feel like they wanted it more than us tonight,” said Yoe head coach Tommy Brashear.  “They had the lead most of the night and that kept them up and we were never able to deflate it.”

Cameron (1-4, 0-1) outgained the Bulldogs in total yardage, 465 to 338, but it was the big, momentum swinging plays that proved to be the difference.    

That started early in the second quarter when Cameron had a second and goal from the one.  A quick pass from Yoe quarterback Zack Andress was intercepted by Tanner Ledesma and returned for an over 100-yard touchdown.  

Lady Yoe volleyball drops two on the road

The Cameron Lady Yoe had a rough go of it in their past two matches, falling to Academy (3-0) and Rockdale (3-0) on the road while not taking a set. Cameron now sits at 1-6 in 20-3A entering the final game of the first round of district. That match will take place on Friday when Cameron travels to Lexington for a 4:30 p.m. start.

Academy Stat Leaders (L 11-25, 9-25, 20-25)

Kills: Tucker (5), Wimmer (2), Adams (1), Brunson (1)

Sets: Tucker (41a, 5A), Denio (30a, 6A), Leftwich (1a), Wimmer (2a, 1A), Workman (1a), Brunson (1a), Bolivar (1a), Vargas (4a)

Digs: Tucker (6), Denio (11), Wimmer (10), Vargas (8), Brunson (4), Bolivar (4), Leftwich (4), Workman (2), Adams (2)

Blocks: Leftwich (4), Tucker (1)

Aces: Wimmer (1), Brunson (1)

Rockdale (L 16-25, 17-25, 14-25)

Stats were not submitted to the Herald by press time.

Cameron Yoe (1-3) Vs. McGregor (2-2)

The Cameron Yoemen have now lost three straight games. The last time that occurred was back in 2011 when the Yoemen finished 6-4 and had an area round playoff finish. That team did struggle somewhat on the offensive side of the ball much like this year’s team has done throughout the early portion of the schedule. The key difference is that the 2011 team was very young, grooming a sophomore quarterback while playing multiple underclassmen at key positions. This team has veteran players with experience in the big games, so that leads me to believe a corner will soon be turned. A great time to start would be this Friday at McGregor for the 10-3A opener. I do believe the Bulldogs are actually down a notch from their 4-6 team from a year ago. I am going to go ahead and double up on my prediction from last week.

Josh’s Pick: Cameron Yoe by 21.

The Cameron Yoemen look at the season in three different parts. The first part of that season - the pre-district schedule - is now over. The second part will begin this Friday night when the Yoemen travel over to McGregor for the 10-3A league opener.

Cameron finished non-district with a disappointing 1-3 record, but that is not changing any of the expectations for this year’s team.

“I know we are off to a 1-3 start and we do not accept losing as an option,” said Yoe head football coach Tommy Brashear. “We knew our pre-district was going to be tough. We obviously expected to win more games, but I feel like we have gotten better from playing tough competition and that should help us in the long run.”

McGregor finished their non-district with an even 2-2 mark. The Bulldogs have wins over Sunnyvale (15-7) and Marlin (23-17) while suffering defeats to Groesbeck (23-10) and Mart (43-22).

Three of the four districts that make up 3A DI region III will begin play this week. The lone other district - 12-3A - will begin the following week. In general, it has been somewhat of a struggle for some of what were expected to be the top teams within their respective districts. Are the preseason top dogs still the favorites? Will a sleeper come up to surprise someone? Those are questions that we will have answered over the next couple of months.

9-3A

This district does have three undefeated teams, but the one to focus on is Malakoff. The Tigers are off to yet another hot start with a 3-0 record. The only concern here is that Malakoff had a 137-40 scoring advantage in 2016, and that has fallen to 126-108 in these same games. I’m not sure this team is quite as talented as last season, but they will be a contender. The sub-varsity program went undefeated as a whole last year and has still yet to lose a game this season.

Cameron did not have much to lose on Friday night three hours away from home at Bay City.  After 48 minutes of regulated play, the score between the Yoemen and Black Cats was deadlocked at 23.  Bay City had scored on their opening possession of overtime to go up by 7.  Cameron responded with a score of themselves to cut the deficit to one with the point after attempt upcoming.

After taking a timeout to discuss his options, Yoe head football coach Tommy Brashear decided to go for the two-point conversion and the win.  Things just did not go as the Yoemen would have liked as the pass fell incomplete in the right corner of the end zone to allow Bay City to escape homecoming with the dramatic 30-29 victory.

It was a tough one for the Yoemen (1-3) to lose, but the call in crunch time is one that Brashear does not regret.  

Cameron Yoe (1-2) Vs. Bay City (2-0)

The big positive from week three is the fact that the Yoe defense managed to hold China Spring to just three touchdowns while being on the field more than you would have liked.  The Cougars did break off a few big plays, but for the most part Cameron did a solid job up front in the run game.  The Yoemen simply had too many miscues on offense to beat a quality team on the road.  I believe this may be the game where we start seeing the offense get into somewhat of a groove.  On a scale of 1 to 10, my concern level right now is a low 3.  Another struggle this week would be surprising.  Bay City is 2-0, but this should be a game Cameron wins, and wins somewhat comfortably.  

Josh’s Pick: Cameron Yoe by 21. 

Around Milam County

Buckholts (1-1) Vs. Bryan Allen Academy (2-1)

The Cameron Yoemen have played in a many of stadiums in their history.  On Friday night, the program will get to check another off the list when they make the 167 mile trip Black Cat Memorial Stadium - home of Bay City.  

The long road trip definitely has its challenges logistically, but could also prove to be beneficial in certain areas.  

“There are pros and cons to it,” said Yoe head coach Tommy Brashear.  “I think the pro is that you are getting your kids ready to travel like they may have to travel during the playoffs.  The past couple of years we have been fortunate and have not had to travel too far, but some years we have had to travel far.  I like that about it.  With that said, I will not be keeping them on schedule with such a long trip.  It wears on your kids and coaches.  It’s a long day and long hours and makes for a longer weekend when watching film on Saturday.”

Sometimes winning a match can spark some confidence in a team.  After dropping their first two district matches of the year to Rogers and Franklin, the Lady Yoe were looking for a much-needed victory.  The third time was the charm as ladies picked up a comfortable win over Hearne on Friday afternoon from Yoe Gym, 25-21, 25-15, 25-18.  

Stat Leaders

Attacks: Kenzie Wimmer (31, 3K), Qua Workman (20, 7K), Gracen Dach (13, 2K), Darci Denio (12, 3K), Lauryn Leftwich (10, 5K), Alexis Vargas (9), Madison Brunson (7, 1K), Terryn Adams (6). 

Sets: Darci Denio (89a, 11 A), Alexis Vargas (6a, 1 A), Madison Burnson (5a, 1A), Lauryn Leftwich (2a, 1A)

Passes: Alexis Vargas (16), Kenzie Wimmer (15), Gracen Dach (9), Tiffany Bolivar (5), Madison Brunson (4), Qua Workman (4), Terry Adams (3)

Sub-Varsity Football Report

The Yoe freshmen (24-6) and JV (35-8) both picked up dominant wins over China Spring to improve their season records to a perfect 3-0.  This week, the freshmen will travel over to Waco to take on the Cadets at 7:00 p.m.  The JV will travel to College Station’s middle school to take on the Cougar JV B team at 5:00 p.m.  

The junior high teams split action last week.  The 7th A (6-0) and 7th B (28-6) teams both picked up wins over China Spring, while the 8th A (30-0) and 8th B (30-8) both suffered losses.  

The Young Yoemen are now set to play their home opener on Thursday.  Groesbeck only has two teams compared to the Yoemen’s four.  The 7th B and 8th B will scrimmage each other starting at 4:30 p.m.  The 7th grade A game is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. with the 8th A to follow shortly thereafter.  

Routes to Bay City