Yoemen Sports Network

It took nearly the whole half, but the Cameron Yoemen finally got on the board with 34 seconds remaining in the second quarter of Friday's road tilt at China Spring. That is when Yoe quarterback Zack Andress found Iverson Westbrook open for an 8-yard pass, knotting things up at 7. That score did not end up igniting much momentum, as the Yoemen did not gain another first down until towards the end of the third quarter and did not cross the goal line again until the final moments of a 21-14 loss.

"It was a defensive struggle,” said Yoe head football coach Tommy Brashear. “I think people expected a lot of points in this game. I was expecting more than 14 points on our side, but we did not execute offensively. The good thing about it is, the mistakes we are making are fixable. They are things we can correct and fix. We have to take some urgency to it to get it fixed”

Cameron Yoe (1-1) Vs. China Spring (1-1)

Both of these teams suffered surprising losses in week two. Cameron just had one too many mistakes against a quality football team to pull out a win. China Spring only mustered up 14 points in a 17-14 loss to Huntsville. The Cougars totally dominated this Huntsville team a year ago. Is China Spring as good as they were last season? I don’t believe so. However, they are still a strong football team. This will be a winnable game for the Yoemen, but more than anything, you want to see a clean, well-executed performance this week. Cameron’s rushing attack has been impressive in the first few games. Having that big-strike passing game come along will only make the Yoemen that much harder to stop.

Josh’s Pick: Cameron Yoe by 3.

Around Milam County

McDade (1-0) Vs. Buckholts (0-1)

Upsets happen every week in high school football. This past Friday, both the Cameron Yoemen and China Spring Cougars, both ranked highly within their respective divisions, were each upended by underdogs. The Yoemen lost a back-and-forth affair to Gatesville (31-26) while China Spring was upended at home by Huntsville (17-14).

Overall, China Spring sits at 1-1 on the season after taking down Lorena in their opener, 35-7. The score says it all in the loss to Huntsville as only two touchdowns were produced by Mark Bell’s squad. In 2016, China Spring had a 35-0 lead on Huntsville in the first half before coasting to the 55-8 final.

China Spring finished their 2016 campaign with a state semifinal loss to eventual 4A DI state champ Carthage, 26-20. A lot of that talent has now moved on.

For a good portion of the teams in this area, Friday meant that there was much more emphasis placed on winning matches. That was the starting point for a lot of districts, including 20-3A, home of the Lady Yoe. Cameron had a rough start to their opening slate of games with both Rogers and Franklin on the road. Both teams were in the playoffs last season and Cameron did not have much luck in those matches.

Rogers

After losing to Rogers in five sets earlier this season season, Cameron would have another shot at the Lady Eagles to open up district. Things did not go as well this go around, as Rogers was sharp in a 11-25, 11-25, 15-25 sweep.

Carley Tucker, Gracen Dach and Zenzie Wimmer each had two kills in the match for Cameron.  

Franklin

Cameron played a much more competitive second match, but fell to the Franklin Lady Lions on the road Tuesday, 29-27, 25-27, 11-25 and 21-25.

Westbrook out for 8 weeks

After leading the NFL in preseason receiving yards, a former Yoe receiver is now out for an extended amount of time with injury. Dede Westbrook was placed on the injured reserved list last week before Jacksonville’s season opener at the Texans. The muscle injury will have Westbrook sidelined for eight weeks. He is scheduled to return to the lineup during a week 9 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jacksonville did manage to win their opening game over Houston, 29-7.

Cross Country finds success at Lexington

Cameron sent all runners in the program - both junior high and high school - to compete in the Lexington meet this past weekend. Cameron had plenty of positives, with multiple runners finishing higher up in the standings.

Yoe Field had seen its fair share of thrilling finishes over the years.  In 2017, there may be none that tops what we saw when Gatesville traveled to Cameron on Friday night.  

Down 31-26 with 1:27 to go in the fourth, the Yoemen had one more chance to try and pull out a win.  Cameron proceeded to march down the field quickly, ending up at the 1 after a 27-yard pass from Zack Andress to receiver Ka’Zirrius Holt.  

If you look at the all-time record books, there is a short-list of teams that can actually say they have a winning record versus the Yoemen. The Gatesville Hornets are one of those lucky few programs. Even with Cameron’s 69-31 win last season, Gatesville still holds a slight 11-9 edge in the all-time series.

It’s something Yoe head football coach Tommy Brashear knows about first-hand.

“Those Gatesville kids always play hard, and I think sometimes we go in their underestimating them,” said Brashear. “They shouldn't, because those kids play hard. I spent a couple of years over there, and they are hard-nosed and physical. It is a very tough win to get.”

Gatesville (1-0) Vs. Cameron Yoe (1-0)

For the second year in a row you have to feel good about the way the Yoemen looked in their season opener.  Was everything where you would have liked it to be?  Not quite.  However, for the first game out, I don’t believe you could have asked for much more.  My biggest takeaway from that game was the rushing attack.  There appears to be big improvements up front on the line, which led the way to over 200 yards rushing.  Cameron is at their best offensively when there is about a 50/50 split in production on the ground and through the air.  Bellville is still not quite there on the offensive end, but it was a solid performance by the Yoe defense.  Gatesville will be improved this season as shown in their week one win over Connally, 38-14.  The Hornets line up in a variety of formations and can run and throw, so this should be a stiffer challenge for the defense.

Lady Yoe pick up two wins

As the non-district schedule comes to an end, the Lady Yoe continue to gain momentum. Cameron picked up a pair of wins this past week, downing McGregor on Friday in five sets before taking down Marlin on Tuesday in four. Cameron’s overall record now improves to 9-17 with district 20-3A set to begin. The Lady Yoe will travel to Rogers on Friday for the opener. Varsity begins at 4:30 p.m. Cameron had previously played Rogers to a 15-13 fifth set loss during the tournament season.

McGregor Stats (21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 15-3)

Kills: Carley Tucker (18), Kenzie Wimmer (7); Sets: Denio (74), Tucker (55); Passes: Wimmer (32), Tucker (12), Gracen Dach (12); Digs: Lexi Vargas (25), Tucker (15), Denio (14); Aces: Denio (10). Denio had a streak of 13 consecutive service attempts to put Cameron up 13-0 in the fifth and final set.

Marlin Stats (25-8, 23-25, 25-11, 25-13)

Heading into 2017, Yoe head football coach Tommy Brashear wanted to see an increase in his team’s overall strength.  In turn, the belief was that Cameron’s rushing attack would improve.  In last season’s game at Bellville, Cameron had just 51 yards rushing, with a good portion of that coming from quarterback Zack Andress.  

A year of conditioning appears to be paying dividends as Cameron ran for 202 yards - nearly five times last year’s total - in a 40-14 win over the Brahmas to begin the 2017 season.  

“I am excited about our opportunities in the run game,” said Brashear following the win.  “That is something we harped on in the off-season.  We knew we had to get stronger and get a little movement up front.  Get yard or two when you need it.  I thought the passing game looked better today as well.  We are coming a long and definitely a week better.”