Yoe advances to semifinals of Burnet SQT, falls to China Spring

The closer we get to June, the hotter the temperatures get. That did not slow down the Yoemen, which joined 14 other teams in the Burnet 7-on-7 state qualifying tournament over the weekend. It was not going to be easy to qualify, but the Yoemen almost made that happen, advancing out of their pool while winning a quarterfinal game. The Yoemen needed to defeat China Spring in a semifinals to advance, but ran out of steam in a 20-12 loss.

“We played them the first time and they did not have all of their people,” said Yoe head coach Tommy Brashear, who’s team had beaten China Spring in an earlier SQT, 20-0. “They were still playing baseball and things like that and I was worried about that coming into this game. I was worried that our kids thought they had this and we have already beat them once.”

Cameron had began the day with a loss to Midlothian Heritage, 40-26. Losing a pool game generally makes it extremely difficult to advance on, but Heritage had already qualified for the state tournament and could not advance any further.

That set up a do or die match with Llano to decide who would be moving on to the quarterfinals. Cameron trailed at the half, 21-18, but went on an offensive tear in the final 20 minutes of the 53-33 win.

Cameron opened the scoring when Anthony Layne found Kobe Young for an early 6-0 lead. But, Llano scored moments later to go up 7-6 and also scored with just five seconds on the first half clock to take control at the break.

The teams alternated scores to begin the second half, with Braden Brashear finding Young twice, while Llano also punched in two scores to go up 33-32. However, the Yoemen scored the final three times as Brashear hit Young, Thomas Melton and Za’Korien Spikes to sieze control.

Ki’Zirrius Holt had an interception for the defense in the first half.

In the quarterfinals, Cameron drew traditional football power Stephenville, but ended up building a 26-7 lead in the second half and coasted to the 32-20 final.

The Yoe defense intercepted Stephenville twice, as Billey Collier and Holt both took the ball away. On offense, Brashear hit Young twice to go up 13-0 before finding Holt to go up at the half, 20-7.

Young caught his third touchdown of the game, this time from Layne, pushing to score to 26-7. Kadrian Hammond had a TD reception while Spikes hauled in Cameron’s third interception in the final moments.

In the semifinal with China Spring, Cameron fell behind early as the Cougars methodically

scored on two of their first three possessions to go up 14-0. Right before the half, Nico Vargas intercepted a pass and Holt hauled in a score to cut the led to 14-6.

Cameron’s defense would hold on four straight possessions, but the offense was just not up to the task in the finale, with five interceptions in the contest.

“Some of those balls were the quarterbacks fault and some were the receivers not running the right routes,” Brashear said. “It was a defensive struggle and you don’t see that much in 7-on-7. Our defense did good against them. They honestly could have done a little better on their side too. We have to overcome adversity and play the next play. If we can do that , then we can be pretty dang good.”

Cameron is not currently scheduled to compete in another state qualifying tournament, but there are still some options that Brashear could potentially look at. In the meantime, Cameron will be jumping into the 5A/6A league over the next four weeks with the likes of Copperas Cove, Belton and Temple.

“We have a June league with some really good competition with Cove, Belton and Temple,” said Brashear. “You better show up or they’re going to take it to you. I really like that league because there are no pushovers.”

Games will begin on Monday, June 4 in Copperas Cove. Action will shift to Belton on June 11, move to Cameron on June 18 and then in Temple on June 25. Games will begin at 5:00 pm each Monday.