Yoemen fall to Rockdale in Battle of the Bell
The Cameron Yoemen football team traveled to take on the Rockdale Tigers on Friday, Oct. 20, for the Battle of the Bell. The Yoemen gave the bell back as they were defeated by Rockdale 47-21.
Cameron received the ball to start the game, and Rockdale forced a fumble on the kickoff return and returned it for a touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead. The Tigers kept their momentum going through the entire first half, going into halftime leading 27-7.
Cameron kicked off to start the second half hoping to start a comeback. The Yoemen defense held strong and forced a punt. Cameron marched down the field with help from a 20-yard pass from Braylan Drake (1) to Ja’Quorius Hardman (6). Cameron scored on a 5-yard touchdown run by Drake to close the gap to 27-14.
The Yoemen tried to surprise Rockdale with an onside kick but failed to recover it. The Tigers stormed down the field and scored on an 8-yard touchdown run to give Rockdale a 34-14 lead. Cameron tried to answer on offense and faced a fourth and 3. The Yoemen went for the fourth down conversion and were successful. Unfortunately, their drive was stalled as they faced a fourth and 10 and failed on the conversion. The third quarter ended with Cameron trailing 34-14.
The Tigers offense continued their success early in the fourth quarter with a 27-yard pass, which was soon followed with a 10-yard touchdown run to make the score 41-14. The Yoemen responded right away with an impressive kickoff return for a touchdown by Kason Goolsby (3) to make the score 41-21. Rockdale came back out on offense and delivered the dagger to Cameron with a 61-yard touchdown run to increase their lead to 47-21, which would be the final score in the game.
Despite throwing two interceptions, Braylan Drake had a good game, throwing for 276 yards and a touchdown along with rushing for a touchdown. D’auntray Bradley also had a great game, catching eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown.
With this loss, Cameron has an overall record of 2-6 and a district record of 1-3. Up next, the Yoemen will host the Franklin Lions. The game will be on Friday and kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.