Yoemen Sports Network

Rockdale (5-2/2-1) Vs. Cameron Yoe (6-1/3-0)

Thankfully Cameron has implemented their run-heavy “Bubba” package this season as it was needed in last week’s win over Academy. The conditions on the field were about as bad as you could have expected and operating out of the spread was not going to work on this night. I can see why Academy wanted to play in the mud, as it neutralized Cameron’s speed and agility, which is something that Academy is still lacking.

Rockdale is coming off of a surprising 21-17 loss to Troy at home last week. Rockdale did have their opportunities to win that game, but not finishing off drives and making a mistake here or there proved to be costly.

Lady Yoe Volleyball drops two to end 2018

The season came to and end for the Lady Yoe on Tuesday as they fell to Lexington at home in three sets, 25-21, 29-27, 25-11. Cameron had been in the playoff pictures until a three set loss to Academy (25-11, 25-13, 25-18) on Friday. The ladies would have had a chance to still get into the postseason with a Rogers loss, but the Lady Eagles had other plans, sweeping Lexington to end any playoff hopes.

Cameron finished the 2018 season with a 18-21 record and 5-9 mark in 19-3A, good enough for sixth in the district.

Final 20-3A Standings: 1. Academy (13-1), 2. Troy (11-3), 3. Lexington (10-4), 4. Rogers (7-7) 4. Rockdale (7-7), 6. Cameron Yoe (5-9), 7. Franklin (2-12), 8. McGregor (1-13).

Rockdale defeated Rogers on Tuesday to force what will be a play-in match for the fourth and final seed. The two teams split the regular season series.

It was not all that long ago that Cameron based out of one offensive formation - the spread. The Yoemen still use the spread as their main offensive set, but field conditions on Friday night from John Glover’s Stadium in Academy were less than ideal for that type of game plan.

This season, Cameron has implemented a “Bubba” package, which brings more bodies tight and relies on a more physical running attack. It proved to be the difference, as the Yoemen scored all of their touchdowns out of the bruising set on this night in a 35-16 win over the Bees.

Nico Vargas (15 rushes, 65 yards) and Anthony Steamer (18 rushes, 159 rushes) accounted for over 80 percent percent of Cameron’s total yards and all five touchdowns in the win.

Cameron Yoe (5-1/2-0) Vs. Little River Academy (3-4/2-1)

The biggest concern for Cameron last week versus Jarrell was simply to show up and play the caliber of football they knew they could play.  It was evident pretty early that was not going to be a problem as the Yoemen racked up 40 first-half points and ended up steamrolling the Cougars for the homecoming win.  Jarrell did have a few key players out, but so did the Yoemen. Nico Vargas continues to impress at running-back and it was a pleasing sign to see Davion Bynaum and his speed return for some carries as well.  Additionally, the Yoe passing game was on point and the Brashear to Hammond connection will be difficult to stop. The defense was once again lights out.

It’s going to be a tad bit colder and rain is in the forecast, but football is going to be played this Friday as Cameron travels over to Academy to take on the Bees in 10-3A action. Cameron comes into the contest at 2-0 in district play while the Bees are at 2-1.  

“I feel like Academy is going to be more of a challenge for us,” said Brashear on this week’s matchup.  “I think they are a little better on the offensive and defensive line (compared to Jarrell) when I look at film.   A lot of those guys are back from last year and they were pretty good on the defensive line.”

Academy is back in the playoff hunt this season and are also led by a new head coach in Paul Williams.  Williams was previously the defensive coordinator at Academy before taking over for Mike Nichols, which is now an assistant principal and athletic director at the school.  

Lady Yoe win two to stay in playoff hunt

After falling to Rockdale last Tuesday on the road, it was due or die time for the Lady Yoe as they knew they would probably have to win out to have a chance at getting into the postseason.  So far so good, as Cameron managed to sweep Rogers (25-21, 25-21, 25-22) on Friday at home while taking down Franklin (25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22) in the big Dig Pink game on Tuesday from Yoe Gym.  

Darci Denio, which is a senior on this year’s team, said that their goal of making the playoffs is not changing despite needing to make up ground the last few matches of the season.  

“The focus is to win out,” said Denio.  “The goal is to make the playoffs and we know we are capable of it.  It’s just we need the consistency and we have been working on that in practice.  I think it will carry on in other games.”

Heading into Friday's game, the main concern for the Yoemen was making sure they would show up to play a Jarrell team they had previously dominated the past two seasons.  By the time the game had reached halftime, all of those concerns had been put to bed, as the Yoemen had a commanding 40-0 lead which eventually led to a 54-7 final. 

The Yoemen (5-1/2-0) did just about everything right on this night, scoring at will on the Jarrell (3-4/1-2) with 481 yards of total offense while the defense had a shutout going until the final moments.  

"I told the kids at the end that I felt like we played a really good, four-quarter game tonight," said Yoe coach Tommy Brashear.  "I thought we had great effort and played hard.  There were a couple of big plays given up on defense, but I did feel they played really well tonight.  We still missed a few tackles, but we are tackling better overall."

Cameron clips McGregor at home in five

It's not about how you win, but that you end up taking care of business in district play.  At times, it did not look like Cameron was going to be able to pull off a victory over the Lady Dogs of McGregor on Saturday from Yoe Gym, but the Lady Yoe managed to break their five streak curse in a 25-19, 23-25, 22-25, 26-24, 15-11 win.    

Cameron, which swept McGregor easily on the road the first half of district play, found themselves in a 2-1 hole before rebounding to take the final two sets.  McGregor led 22-18 in the fourth set before a rally, which was finished off by a Carley Tucker kill and McGregor error, led to the match going five.  

Ever since their 11-1 season in 2015, the Jarrell Cougars had fallen on hard times.  In 2016, Jarrell finished winless at 0-10, and this past year was just 1-9.  Both years the team was winless in district play and was not in position to compete for a playoff spot.  That may be changing in 2018 as the Cougars have already picked up a district win over Lago Vista and may be in the hunt for the fourth and final playoff spot out of 10-3A.  

"They are doing something better this year," said Yoe coach Tommy Brashear.  "They are in the second year with Coach Davidson.  I do feel like he is a guy that is trying to get that program turned around.  He is not the athletic director there and they are really a basketball school, so that is a struggle for him in that sense.  But, I think think he has support to get it turned around."

Jarrell (3-3/1-1) Vs. Cameron Yoe (4-1/1-0)

Last week, Cameron simply did what was expected against Katy St. John XXIII. We knew going into that game that Cameron was going to have the advantage at pretty much every position and it showed as the Yoemen dominated in every facet of the contest.  One big takeaway is that Cameron had no major injuries, which is something no team wants to have to stare in the face in the middle of district play.

Jarrell is making strides this season as they have already surpassed their win total from a year ago and have already defeated Lago Vista (31-15) for what was their first district win in two years.  With that said, I simply do not see this team competing with Cameron or Rockdale after their blowout loss to Troy a week ago, 45-2. The big game for the Cougars will be when they play Academy, which should decide fourth place in the district.