Yoe suffers three tight losses in league 7-on-7

The Cameron Yoemen competed well on Monday in their league play with big-school competition. Cameron held their own with the big schools of Temple, Copperas Cove and Belton, but in the end could not hold off late surges and finished the day with an 0-3 record.

Cameron now moves to 2-7 overall in the league (two wins over Copperas Cove) with one more week to play in Temple on Monday at 5:30 pm.

“It’s frustrating because we could have beat every team that we played today,” said Yoe football coach Tommy Brashear on the three last-second losses. “We were a little sloppy.” “I see signs of getting better and then a little sloppiness, like not running the route like we should or not reading the defense correctly. We are dropping some passes that we shouldn't and forcing some balls.”

Game Breakdowns

Temple (L, 26-24)

The Yoemen had their most productive 25 minutes of offensive production in the opening loss to the Temple Wildcats. After Temple easily drove down the field on their opening drive, Cameron responded as quarterback Braden Brashear hooked up with Kobe Young for a 40-yard touchdown pass to tie it at six.

Ki’Zirrius Holt had a big game, coming in with an interception on the following possession followed by a touchdown later to tie the game once again at 12.

Brashear found Kadrian Hammond later to put Cameron up for the first time, 18-12, and then again to Holt over the top for a 45-yard score to go up 24-19. However, with 40 seconds left on the game clock, Temple punched in a score and bled out the clock on the extra point attempt.

Copperas Cove (L, 19-14)

The Yoe defense managed to get three stops in this match, but ended up falling in the end to Copperas Cove for the first time in three tries.

Both teams traded empty possessions out of the gate before Cove took the early 6-0 lead. Anthony Layne - in at quarterback for game two - connected with Holt for a touchdown and extra point attempt to go up 7-6.

Young got in on the action later, catching a big third and 12 pass before finishing it off with another 7-yard TD reception to go up 14-6.

Cove managed to score at the three minute mark, got a stop, and then scored again over the top on a wheel route to pull off the win.

“We did some good things and ran some good routes as well,” said Brashear. “Defensively, we made some stops when we needed them and sometimes we didn’t. We just have to be consistent and put it all together.”

Belton (L, 26-20)

Belton has not lost a game in this league all year, and the Yoemen perhaps gave the Tigers their biggest scare from Yoe Field.

Both squads traded punches throughout most of the game, with Belton holding 7-6, 13-6 and 20-13 leads.

Down late, the third Yoe quarterback - Kirk Lara - managed to locate Young in the back of the end zone to tie the game up at 20.

However, Belton had the ball last and scored as time expired on the last play of the game.

Nico Vargas had an interception with three minutes remaining to give the Yoemen a chance.

Moving Forward

After next week, the Yoemen will have completed two full months of 7-on-7 play, attended camps, and will continue to workout through July to prepare for the start of two-a-days at the beginning of August.

“We have one more week of it in Temple and we have had good turnouts in our summer workouts, so that is in encouraging,” Brashear said. “I am getting antsy and I’m ready to get them out here and coach them myself.”

Brashear noted that a host of Yoemen recently attended the Todd Dodge camp, while Kadrian Hammond and Davion Bynaum have both attended college camps.

“It’s relaxing but it’s getting geared up and it’s an exciting time of the year,” said the third-year head coach.