Yoemen sting the Hornets in district opener
The Yoemen kicked off district play by stinging the Caldwell Hornets 54-27 on Friday night at Yoe Field.
Aided by five takeaways, the Yoemen rallied from an early deficit to win their first district game and move to 1-0 in district play and 3-1 on the season.
They meet rival Rockdale for the Battle of the Bell Friday night in Rockdale. Rockdale is coming off a 49-40 loss to McGregor last Friday.
Caldwell received the opening kickoff, and Dontavien Johnson put the Hornets on the board first by capping a 10-play, 65-yard drive with a 5-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 6:58 left in the opening quarter.
A good return on the ensuing kickoff gave the Yoemen the ball at the Caldwell 33, but quarterback Zane Zeinert would be sacked for a 7-yard loss on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Hornets at their 39.
On the next play Caldwell’s Jace Aly coughed up the ball for the first turnover of the night to give the ball back to the Yoemen.
Zeinert connected with Phaibian Bynaum and he scampered for a 33-yard touchdown, but the Yoemen’s 2-point conversion failed, leaving the Hornets up 7-6 with 4:03 left in the opening quarter.
Caldwell answered when Jamar Hewitt broke free for a 51-yard touchdown run, and the Hornets converted a 2-point conversion for a 15-6 lead.
The Yoemen went three-and-out on its next drive, but the Yoe defense came through again by pouncing on the Hornets’ second fumble. Zeinert connected with Za’Korien Spikes for a 24-yard score on the opening play of the second quarter, cutting the Yoemen’s gap to 15-13 with the extra point.
The Yoemen took the lead on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Zeinert to Jaidyn Sanchez with 1:10 left in the half. A bad snap on the extra point attempt kept the score at 19-15.
The Yoemen found the end zone on their opening drive. Bynaum scored from 4 yards out on a four-play drive that after a 29-yard pass from Zeinert to Kason Goolsby that got Yoe to the Caldwell 9.
Spikes intercepted Ryan Roehling’s pass and returned it 46 yeards to set the Yoemen up for another touchdown. They led 33-15 with 10:50 left in the third quarter.
The Hornets answered on their next drive. With the help of three Yoe penalties, Caldwell drove from its 13 and cut the deficit to 33-21 on a 3-yard run by Johnson after a failed 2-point try.
Bynaum ran it in from a yard out to cap a short drive after Caldwell failed to recover an onside kick, making the score 40-21.
After the teams traded possessions, the Hornets tried to rally when Johnson scored from 3 yards out to cut it to 40-27. But Bynaum put the game away for good, returning the ensuing kickoff for a 60-yard touchdown to put Yoe up 47-27 with 10:04 remaining in the game.
Zeinert, who finished with 242 yards passing, added a 37-yard touchdown throw to Spikes to make the score 54-27.
Bynaum finished with 67 yards rushing on 13 carries.
STATS
Yoe: First downs – 20; Rushes/yards – 28 for 109; Passing yards – 247; Passes – 13-24-1; Punts – 4 for 33; Fumbles/Fumbles lost – 2-0; Penalties – 10 for 85
Caldwell: First downs – 13; Rushes/yards – 44 for 142; Passing yards – 131; Passes – 6-13-2; Punts – 3 for 29.3; Fumbles/Fumbles lost – 5-3; Penalties – 10 for 59
Yoe: Rushing: Keshon Johnson 4 for 2, Phabian Bynaum 13 for 66, Pharrell Hemphill 3 for 21; Passing: Zeinert 13 of 24 for 247 with 1 interception; Receiving: Zakorien Spikes 2 for 61, Kason Goolsby 3 for 39, Jaidyn Sanchez 5 for 92, Bynaum 2 for 47
Caldwell: Rushing: Ryand Roehling 3 for -11, Jace Aly 5 for 16, Dantaveon Johnson 7 for 25, Jamar Hewitt 15 for 79, Malachi Jones 7 for 21, Nicholas Johnson 4 for 10, Zach Heaton 3 for 2; Passing: Roehling 6 of 13 for 131 and 1 interception; Receiving: Larry Davis 1 for 13, Zach Heaton 1 for 28, DeAntre Burns 3 for 89, Jace Aly 1 for 1