Yoemen bounce back with win over Academy

The Cameron Yoemen bounced back from their defeat last week to take the buzz out of the Academy Bumblebees 37-19 on Yoe Field Friday night.

Yoe quarterback Zane Zeinert threw three second-quarter touchdown passes after a scoreless first quarter to dominate the scoreboard at the half.

Zeinert connected with Pharrell Hemphill on a 17-yard scoring strike to put the Yoemen on the scoreboard with a 7-0 lead with 10:13 to go in the half.

Two plays into Academy’s next possession, Iverson Brazeal intercepted a Kollin Mraz pass and took it back 24 yards to the Academy 25. On the next play, Zeinert found Zakorien Spikes alone in the end zone to go up 14-0.

Another turnover four plays into Academy’s next drive put Yoe at the 50. Three plays later, Zeinert connected with Spikes again on a 31-yard touchdown and the Yoemen carried the 21-0 advantage into halftime.

Yoe running backs Phaibian Bynaum and Keshon Johnson both went over the 100-yard rushing barrier for a combined 234 yards against the Bees.

In the second half, the Bees provided more resistance by forcing the Yoemen to settle for field goals.

Yoe’s Jesse Martinez connected on all three of his second-half attempts from 24, 24 and 31 yards. His first two gave the Yoemen a 27-0 lead before the Bees would put points on the board.

Jerry Cephus connected with Jaylin McWilliams for a 46-yard touchdown and a 27-7 score going into the fourth quarter.

After Martinez’s final field goal made it 30-7, the Bees came back with back-to-back touchdown passes from Mraz to Jayden Simmons. The first one went for 40 yards and the next one went for 73 yards behind the Yoe secondary 2 minutes later. The 2-point attempts after both scores failed, leaving the Bees trailing 30-19.

Yoe added a touchdown on a 19-yard jaunt by Bynaum to finish it off 37-19.

The Yoemen now sit it a three-way tie at 2-1 for first place in District 11-3A with McGregor and Rockdale. Lorena and Troy are both 1-1, and Academy moves to 1-2. Caldwell is 0-2 at the bottom of the group.

The Yoemen will head to Troy to take on the Trojans who are coming off a one-point loss to McGregor last Friday on Oct. 16 and then face Lorena at home and McGregor on the road to finish the season with a bye on Nov. 6.

For more photos of the win over Academy click here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=YoemenSportsNetwork&set=a.1015...