Yoemen Sports Network

Yoe rolls over Katy St. John XXIII, 48-0

Though Katy St. John XXIII was somewhat of an unknown because of their opponents, they had to be taken seriously as they walked into Yoe Field in Friday night with a perfect record of 5-0.  A short few hours later they sat at 5-1 as the Yoemen totally dominated the Lions from the opening snap to the final whistle in a 48-0 shutout win.

“I was proud of the way we came out from the beginning, playing hard and executed well,” said Yoe coach Tommy Brashear on the win.  “I'm not sure how many first downs they had, but it couldn't have been too many. We thought we had a good scheme going in, which was a similar one we had used with Wall.  The less they are thinking and the more they are playing, the better off they are.”

At the end of the day, winning is the most important thing for a football team once district play gets underway, and that is exactly the way the Yoemen are going to look at Friday's 39-26 district opening win over Troy on Friday night. 

It was closer than any other Cameron and Troy game has been since the two entered district back in 2010, but at the end of the day Cameron is 1-0 in 10-3A play, which is something they did not accomplish last season.  

"We got the win and that's the most important thing," said Yoe coach Tommy Brashear.  "It's a win, but you almost feel upset in some ways because we feel like we had a lot of mis-opportunities and there were a lot of things that we could have done better and that we could have fixed.  The kids' effort was great and they are playing good as a team.  I feel like they are a little disappointed in themselves as well, but at the end of the day we accomplished our goal and we are 1-0 in district."

Katy St. John XXIII (4-0) Vs. Cameron Yoe (3-1)

Cameron is coming off of a 39-26 district-opening win over Troy.  It was and important win because Troy is more than likely not going to finish any worse than third place in the district, meaning Cameron now should not finish any worse than second.  Even though it was a win, you could tell there was disappointment in the air as it was somewhat of a struggle throughout, which is something that is uncommon for this Cameron and Troy series.  Troy is still fairly predictable in what they're going to do, but the Yoemen had quite a few problems in stopping Troy's top running-back, which rushed for nearly 300 yards.  Troy is improved but I would not consider them a great or elite 3A DI football team quite yet.  Remember, offense wins games, but defense wins championships and that unit will decide how far this team can go in 2018. 

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.  

Josh Pratt's Week 6 Football Rankings

Friday’s home opener versus Giddings was a roller coaster rides for everyone involved. After trailing at the half, 13-0, the Yoemen responded, scoring 21 straight points to take a 21-13 lead into the fourth quarter. However, it was Giddings with the late response, scoring on a 75-yard pass followed by a 24-yard Mark Orocio field goal as time expired to escape Yoe Field with an undefeated 4-0 record in tact.

The kick came after what was a 30 minute lightning delay. Giddings was in the position due to a controversial penalty on the Yoemen a few plays earlier. Giddings had set up for a 38-yard field goal attempt, but the kick was wide left. A personal foul penalty was called for leaping over the the line of scrimmage.

Regardless of the late call, the Yoemen will look back on a few critical points that put them in the position late, which would include another slow start and four turnovers.

This Friday night, football games across Texas start becoming very important. For a good portion of the state, district play gets underway this week as the jostling for playoff positioning begins. Both Cameron (2-1) and Troy (3-1) have both been impressive in their non-district schedules and each is expected to be somewhere in the playoff picture come November.

Yoe coach Tommy Brashear feels good about where his team stands at this point of the season after starting at 2-1. “The slow starts in the last two games has bothered me and we have to get out of that and fire and all cylinders,” Brashear said. “But, as far as the team goes, I feel they are a team-oriented group of guys, and in the years we have been successful that is the kind of the guys we’ve had.”

Bees upend Cameron in the fifth set

Heading into volleyball action on Tuesday, Cameron knew they could be competitive with Academy, which sat at a perfect 5-0 in 19-3A play entering the night. Cameron had previously taken Rockdale and Troy - which were second and third in the standings entering the night - to five-set thrillers. That trend continued as the Lady Yoe took a 2-1 set lead over the Lady Bees before dropping the final two sets in a tough, 3-2 loss.

Academy (6-0) took the opening set 25-15, but the Lady Yoe responded with a 25-15 win in the second and 25-22 win in the third. Academy won the fourth, 25-21, and then the fifth set, 15-6.

“The Call”

Last week, Cameron played an exciting game with Giddings, which is top 10 in 4A DII. Unfortunately, the game was decided by a penalty called late in the game. On Giddings’ first field goal attempt late in the fourth, the kick had sailed wide left and it appeared the Yoemen had won the game. However, the umpire had different plans, throwing what was called a personal foul penalty for leaping over the line.

The rule: “ARTICLE 11. 11 b. It is a foul if a defensive player moves forward and tries to block a field goal or try by leaving his feet in an attempt to leap over the frame of the body of an opponent. It is not a foul if the player was aligned in a stationary position within one yard of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped.”

The player called for the foul was in a stationary position and was on the line of scrimmage at the snap of the ball.

Josh Pratt’s 3A DI Top 25 Football Rankings