Yoemen take down Troy, set for playoffs
The Cameron Yoemen defeated the Troy Trojans in their regular season finale on Thursday night, 35-14
Troy received the ball to start the game. The Yoemen defense held tough and forced Troy to punt. Cameron responded on offense with a 27-yard run by Trayjen Wilcox (7) on an end around trick play. Cameron finished the drive with a bruising 1-yard touchdown run by Kardarius Bradley (8) to take a 7-0 lead. Troy tried to put together a successful drive and marched down the field. However, the Yoemen defense held strong and forced the Trojans to punt. The first quarter ended with Cameron leading 7-0.
The second quarter started with an incredible 22-yard catch by Armando Reyes (6). During that drive, Cameron faced a fourth-and-9. They attempted a fourth down conversion and came up short. Cameron forced Troy into a fourth-and-1 conversion and Cameron stopped them for a turnover on downs. Cameron responded positively on offense with a 20-yard run by Reyes, then an 18-yard touchdown pass from Braylan Drake (1) to Wilcox to make it a 14-0 lead.
Troy marched down the field and scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass, making the score 14-7. The Yoemen tried to answer on offense, but didn’t have success as they went thee and out. The Trojan offense completed a 30-yard catch, then scored on a 20-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 14 just before halftime.
Cameron received the ball to start the half. They started the scoring with an amazing 20-yard touchdown pass from Drake to the outstretched hands of Charlie Mayer (22) to give Cameron a 21-14 lead. Cameron came back out on defense and forced Troy to punt. The offense quickly responded with a 21-yard run by Bradley, then a 20-yard touchdown pass from Drake to Ja’qualyn Fields (4) for a 28-14 lead.
The Yoemen came back on defense and were relentless, forcing Troy to punt on a three and out. Cameron came back on offense and responded big with an incredible 57-yard catch by Reyes. The Yoemen would be stalled and attempted a 28-yard field goal, but came up empty. The Yoemen went on defense responded and responded with another three and out for Troy. Cameron continued to stay aggressive on offense and scored with an 11-yard touchdown catch by Connor Jeter (17) to increase their lead to 35-14. The Yoemen defense remained a brick wall and forced another Troy three and out. The third quarter ended with Cameron leading 35-14.
Drake started the fourth quarter with a 47-yard pass to Kason Goolsby (3). They would give the ball up on a fumble that was recovered by Troy. The Yoemen defense stepped up again and forced Troy to punt. However, the defense had to come back on the field due to an interception thrown by Drake. The defense backed up their quarterback and forced Troy to punt. After a 14-yard run by Bradley, the Yoemen began to drain the clock and would win 35-14 in a game where the Yoemen defense was dominant in the second half, keeping the Trojans scoreless in the second half.
“We were without three starters because they didn’t show up to practice, so we played the first half without three defensive starters,” Coach Rick Rhoades said. “So that was a big adjustment. Now, if they do what they’re supposed to do and don’t miss practice anymore, we can be pretty good defensively.”
Kardarius Bradley had a great game, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown. The receivers as a whole were phenomenal with 268 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
“We were able to run the ball a little bit, and that slows down the rush,” Rhoades said. “When we can run the football, that slows down people’s rush, and gives us time to throw the ball when we throw it. We had some receivers that ran really good routes and Braylon was able to hit them when they were open. And I thought Kardarius had a good night running the football. I thought our offensive line played very, very well.”
Braylan Drake had an unbelievable game, throwing for 268 yards and four touchdowns, throwing to eight different receivers and threw a touchdown to four different receivers.
“Braylon had a typical Braylon night,” Rhoades said. “I think he made one bad throw the whole night long, and that was that interception. When he came to the sideline, he knew what he did wrong. Braylon has played very well for us all year long, and this was a typical Braylon Drake night. He’s a big part of why we’ve been successful offensively this year.”
Up next for the Yoemen will be the Bi-District round of the playoffs. They will face a familiar opponent, the Yoakum Bulldogs, a team they defeated 62-28 in week two of the season. However, Coach Rhoades feels that win belongs in the past and sees them as a whole new team.
“That was week two, now we’re in week 11 and that week two victory means absolutely nothing,” Rhoades said. “In fact, to me, they kind of have the advantage because they have the revenge factor. So, we got to come back and get ready to play and we got a big opponent we got to get ready for.”
The game will be on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and will be played at Bastrop ISD Memorial Stadium at Bastrop High School.