Yoemen look to clinch number one seed at Manor New Tech

The big-name games in district 10-3A play are now behind the Yoemen. Cameron has already defeated Troy, Rockdale and Academy, which all have the inside track at the other three playoff sports, while the Yoemen, which are now 4-0, are in total control with two games remaining on the regular season schedule.

The first of those two games will take place this Friday night in Manor against a first-year program. The matchup itself is not all that exciting, but winning would be as it would clinch the number one seed in the playoffs for the Yoemen.

New Tech has struggled mightily in district play, starting out at 0-4 while being outscored 247 to 26. If it was up to the Titans, they would have been playing a JV only schedule this season.

“They filed with the UIL to just let them play JV this year,” said Yoe coach Tommy Brashear. “The UIL said no, you’re going to have juniors so you will have to play varsity. They knew their numbers were not going to be great even though they had a varsity and a JV most of the year. Now, he has a varsity only. A few weeks ago we saw a lot of new numbers and last week even more numbers and faces (on the varsity).”

Though the end result will not be in doubt on Friday, Brashear said his team needs to stay focused and play their game.

“My message to the kids was to not go over there and play down to their level and go through the motions,” said the coach. “We need to get better at what we do and look sharp and execute. Starters probably won’t be in the game very long and backups will get a lot of playing time. Whoever is in the game, we want to look sharp.”

Just this past week, New Tech was trailing 21-0 to Troy despite the Trojans not having taken an offensive snap.

Season results for New Tech: Weimar (L, 43-0), Eastside Memorial (W, 36-0), Austin Crockett (L, 49-8), Burnet (L, 46-0), Academy (L, 56-0), Rockdale (L, 70-6), Lago Vista (L, 65-6) and Troy (L, 56-14).

One positive for New Tech is their stadium, which is located where Manor High School used to play. New turf has been installed and the visitor stands are some of the largest in the district.

Offense

In their first year, Manor New Tech is averaging 8.75 points per ball game. New Tech did show signs of being able to move the ball earlier in the season, but things have slowed down the last few weeks as players have changed on the varsity level and the JV cancelled the remainder of their schedule.

“The guy that was playing quarterback was a good looking athlete,” said Brashear on Dominique Tasby, which did not play last week in the Troy loss. “I believe he was mentioned in Texas High School Football. He is a really good athlete, but as a whole they look more like a JV.”

New Tech will line up in the spread and will feature both one and two running back sets.

“They are multiple in terms of formations, but they keep it simple,” noted Brashear.

Defense

Through eight games, the Titan defense is giving up an average of 48 points per contest.

The defense has struggled to stop most offenses as there has been a running clock in a majority of games this season.

“Defensively, they run a 4-2 front,” said Brashear. “What we’ve seen on film, they like to go man on man. They also keep that pretty simple. Troy only ran 22 plays on offense so it’s a night where we just have to stay focused.”

Playoff Picture

Regardless of who Cameron gets in the first round of the playoffs out of 9-3A, Brashear was trying to lock down Waco ISD for the first round. Four of the five potential playoff opponents agreed to that, but one will not, which has complicated things.

“We were first for Friday at Waco ISD,” Brashear said. “Of the five teams, four of them, including Teague, agreed to play there. But, Whitney did not. As of right now, it’s up in the air where we’re going to play. I am going to call other people tomorrow and get on the list at other places. If it is Whitney, they want to flip home and home. They sound bound and determined to do that. He said he might consider Robinson. He said McGregor, but I will not play their because they are in his district.