Yoe set to host undefeated private school in week six

It will be a new experience on Friday night, as the Yoemen will be playing Katy St. John XXIII for the first time in program history as the Lions travel over to Yoe Field.  St. John XXIII comes into the game with a perfect 5-0 record, which is the best start in program history.  

For this private school, it is another non-district game, but for Cameron it's a non-district contest slated in the middle of district, which was something that was not originally planned.  Cameron was supposed to play Whitney in week two and have their bye this week, but a late cancellation by the Wildcats left Yoe coach Tommy Brashear scrambling to find a game.  

"We have been selling the kids that there is no difference," said Brashear.  "We have played a district game already and we have reached our goal at 1-0.  It's a non-district game this week but we still want to be a week better.  We are playing a team that has quite a few guys that play both ways and don't have as many kids and aren't quite as big of a school, but you can't look at it that way.  We have to go out and work hard.  We had a good practice today (Monday) and we have to get ourselves better."

This private school has played some more unknown teams to the Cameron community, including Bay Area Christian (W 17-7), Fort Bend Christian Academy (W 34-3), Westbury Christian (W 24-21), Wallis Brazos (W 21-14) and Lutheran South (forfeit win).  

The only public school on that schedule was Wallis Brazos, which is a 2A DI school, who sits at 2-2 on the season.  

"They are not as talented as some of the others guys we have played, but the scheme they run on offense is difficult," said Brashear.  "So, we have to be very disciplined and play assignment football and take care of business there."

St. John XXIII is coached by Clay Richardson, which brings over years of head coaching experience from California.  

A bio from the school website: 

"Clay Richardson comes to SJ23 and Katy via California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California, where he coached the last 14 seasons and served as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach the last 11.  He possesses over 17 years of coaching experience and is one of only two coaches to be directly involved with all six Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship teams at CLU. Additionally, he has guided numerous SCIAC All-Conference and Offensive Player of the Year recipients over his coaching career."

Brashear noted that when he first spoke to Richardson, he felt it would be a rebuilding year for his team, but that has not been the case in the early going.  

"Apparently he did real well out there and he seems to be a good guy when I talked with him on the phone," Brashear said.  "When we talked, he said he would be happy to go 5-5 as they were in a building situation."

Offense

In four games played this season, St. John XXIII has scored a total of 98 points or 24.5 points per ball game.  

The numbers themselves don't jump out to you as overly-impressive in this day and age of high-paced offenses, but that is not their style.  The Lions will be basing primarily out of the flex bone offense, which is something Cameron has not seen since 2013. 

"The only people that we have played that run this offense in the past is Wall in the state championship game," Brashear said.  "I was talking to the defensive coaches over the weekend when we were doing our game plans, and we don't feel like they are quite as sold on the offense.  They will get out of it and do a few different things, so they are not strictly flex bone yet, but that may be where they're headed."

Brashear noted that quarterback play has been a strength for the offense, which will be happy to get three to four yards a carry. 

"Army runs it and they took Oklahoma to late in the game and a lot of it had to do with controlling the clock and the scheme on offense that they have," Brashear said.  "They are dangerous because of that.  I think we will be fine, but you have to play assignment football and do your job."

Defense

St. John XXIII has only given up 45 total points on the season, or 11.25 points per contest.  

It's somewhat hard to tell how this unit will approach Cameron's offense as they have not seen a teams that is quite as diverse as the Yoemen.  

"They run a 3-4 defense like us with a cover look in the back end," Brashear said.  "They like to keep their outside backers a little tight to help in the run game.  They have not played anyone that can throw the ball around as much as we do, so I anticipate their outside backers will widen, and when they do that it will open up the run game."

Brashear noted that both the defense ends, number 55, Jake Baudler, and number 60, Alex Sickafoose, both stand at over six foot tall and weigh over 230 pounds, making them the anchors of this defensive unit.