Yoemen fall to Lorena

_{The Cameron Yoemen football team lost on Friday to the Lorena Leopards 42-20.} 

_{Cameron received the ball to begin the first half. They started off slow as the Leopards forced a three and out for Cameron. The Yoemen defense didn’t stay on the field for very long as they allowed a 39-yard touchdown run on the very first play of the drive for an early 7-0 Lorena lead. The bad luck for Cameron continued as they fumbled the kickoff return and the ball was recovered by Lorena.} 

_{The Yoemen defense gave up a 7-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 deficit. Cameron could not move the ball on offense as they were forced to punt after another three and out. The Yomen defense started to show some life and forced Lorena punt on a three and out. The offense for Cameron responded with a 31-yard pass from Ryan Muniz (7) to Pharrell Hemphill (4) to put them in the red zone. That would be all for the first quarter as the Leopards still led 14-0.} 

_{The Yoemen continued the same drive from the first quarter and put themselves on the scoreboard with a 2-yard touchdown run by Fabian Salomon (35) for a 14-7 deficit for Cameron. The Yoemen defense responded to that touchdown with an interception by Hemphill. Cameron took advantage of that turnover with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Muniz to Jaidyn Sanchez (2) for a score of 14-13 with a missed extra point. The defense for Cameron continued to play well as they forced a punt for Lorena on a sack by Colton Barbo (34). That would end first half wth the score 14-13 in favor of Lorena.} 

_{Early in the third quarter, the Yoemen tried to hold down the Leopards on a fourth and 8, but Lorena was able to complete the fourth down conversion. Later in the drive, Cameron allowed a 1-yard touchdown run for a 21-13 game. Cameron continued their struggles on offense and was forced to punt the ball back to Lorena. The Leopards came out with a 3-yard touchdown run for a 28-13 score with Cameron trailing. The score would remain 28-13 at the end of the third quarter.}

_{The Cameron defense continued to struggle as they allowed Lorena to complete a fourth and 2, then later on that drive they gave up a 26-yard touchdown run on a fourth and 1 for a 35-13 game. The Yoemen offense tried their best to answer back with a score of their own but was unsuccessful and was forced to punt again.} 

_{“We were behind the chains most of the game, some of that was due to Lorena’s defense and some of that was due to penalties that we committed,” Coach Rick Rhoades said. “Once we got behind by 14, we felt we needed to score fast and Lorena did a good job of stopping our passing attack.”} 

_{The Leopards would get their final score of the game on a 33-yard touchdown run for a score of 42-13. Cameron showed some life late in the fourth quarter with a 14-yard pass from Muniz to Sanchez and a 28-yard run by Phaibian Bynaum (5). Bynaum finished the possession with a 20-yard touchdown run for a 42-20 deficit and that would be the final score for the game. The biggest problem was the running game as Lorena ran through the Yoemen defense. Cameron allowed 271 total rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.} 

_{“We did not tackle very well and at times we were misaligned defensively,” Rhoades said.} 

_{They were still able to get the quarterback as they got two sacks, one from Colton Barbo and the other from Fabian Salomon, and they also had three quarterback hurries. On offense, Ryan Muniz passed for 76 yards and a touchdown.  Trayjen Wilcox had 25 receiving yards, Pharrell Hemphill had receiving 31 yards, and Jaidyn Sanchez had 39 receiving yards and a touchdown. Up next, Cameron will play their last game of the regular season at home against the McGregor Bulldogs.} 

_{Rhoades believes one of the biggest challenges will be to contain the Bulldog quarterback, Chad Lorenz, who has shown to be a force with both running and throwing the ball.} 

_{“We have to be able to slow down McGregor’s quarterback, he has rushed for over 1,100 yards this season,” Rhoades said. “We also have to be more consistent offensively.”} 

_{With a win against the Bulldogs, the Yoemen would clinch the third spot in the playoffs. The game will be played on Friday and kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.}