Yoakum football: Yoakum excels at both sides of the ball to defeat Cameron Yoe
By Alvin Gomez/Special to the Herald/Times
The Yoakum Bulldogs faced a familiar foe this past Friday night with Cameron Yoe coming to town. The Yoemen arrived looking to continue their two-game winning streak over the Dogs but they quickly found out that these Dogs are not the same as last year. Yoakum used a four- touchdown performance by quarterback Zach Taylor as well as a two-interception night on defense by Qyion Williams, one of which was returned back 70 yards for a touchdown, for a 41-20 victory. The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 on the season and will begin preparations for the 114th DeWitt County Showdown this Friday night in Cuero at Gobbler Stadium.
Cameron Yoe opened the game with possession at its own 37 and used a balanced attack to drive down to the Bulldogs' 38 .After no gain on first down from the Dogs' 38, Yoeman quarterback Drake found his receiver over the middle for a touchdown. The extra point tacked on gave Cameron Yoe an early 7-0 lead.
Yoakum's opening possession would start at their 25. It was a short drive but productive one t Taylor, on a second-down play, found receiver X'Zavier Barnett who raced into the end zone for a 70-yard touchdown. After a Sanchez extra point, the Bulldogs would tie the game at 7-7 early on in the first quarter.
Cameron Yoe taking over after the kickoff from their 33, drove down to the Bulldogs' 40 before facing a fourth-down play. On the ensuing fourth down, the Yoemen would put the ball on the ground and Bulldogs' defender TyJuan Garza pounced on it to give the Bulldogs excellent field position.
Yoakum, now starting their drive at the own 40, used three good running plays to make their way just past midfield. On first down, Taylor would launch a well-thrown ball to freshman receiver Kennan Dilworth who hauled in the pass and sprinted into the end zone for a Bulldogs' touchdown. This time Alexis Hernandez's extra point gave the Dogs a 14-7 lead with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Cameron's next drive would not fair as well as their last one as the Bulldogs defense stepped once again. This time it was Bulldogs' defensive back Williams snagging his first interception of the night and making a "house call" of 70 yards weaving between Yoe players all the way for the touchdown. The extra point try was no good however, only extending the Dogs' lead this time to 20-7 with 1:02 left in the first quarter.
Cameron began their next possession at their own 35, driving down to the Dogs' 37 before being forced to punt. Yoakum now taking over deep inside their own territory at their 10 were able to get to their 19 before a critical fourth down decision by Yoakum head coach Bo Robinson was made to go for the first down. Taylor eluded a couple of Yoe defenders to get a fresh set of downs for the Bulldogs. On the next play from scrimmage, Taylor would break through the line on a designed run getting to the sideline and out running Yoe defenders for a 76-yard touchdown. The Hernandez extra point gave a commanding 27-7 lead with 7:25 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
Yoakum and Cameron would trade punts on the next two possessions. Cameron taking over with 2:29 remaining in the first half at their own 27 were able to drive down to the Yoakum 49 where Drake found a receiver over the middle for a 51-yard touchdown. The Yoemen now narrowed the lead with the successful extra point to 27-14 just before halftime.
Cameron would come out in the second half trying to seize momentum by executing an onside kick that they recovered at the Yoakum 31. They would need five plays to reach pay dirt as Drake hit his receiver from 18 yards out for the Yoemen touchdown. The extra point was unsuccessful so the Bulldogs' lead was now 27-20 with 9:49 left in the third quarter.
Yoakum now would answer the flurry of points scored by Cameron with a scoring drive of its own. The Bulldogs' offense began at their own 24 and needed six plays to score. The highlight being a 41-yard touchdown reception by Barnett who broke through three would be tacklers and sprinted into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night. The touchdown pass would also be number three for Taylor. The Sanchez extra point made the score 34-20 with 7:04 left in the third quarter.
Cameron took over at their own 30, tried once again to test Williams, who would win the battle once more as he made a leaping interception of Drake and maintained possession as he fell to the ground. This interception would be Williams' second of the night.
Yoakum could not capitalize on the turnover though and were forced to punt. Cameron Yoe now taking over at their own 23 once again were bitten by the turnover bug as Dogs' defensive back Trae Cuellar intercepted Drake stopping a Cameron drive that look promising and gave the Bulldogs possession at their own 18 with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Yoakum now would use a 10-play, over-four-minute drive to score their last touchdown of the night. The exclamation point for the night was done by Garza who rumbled in from 1 yard out for the touchdown. Hernandez tacked on the extra point to give the Bulldogs a 41-20 lead with 10:36 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs would use a ball-control approach the rest of the game limiting the Cameron's possessions and the defense would step up when they did have the ball forcing a final fumble recovered by the Dogs with 2:10 left in the game. The Dogs' offense taking over at the Yoe 42 would then run three plays bleeding out the remaining time for the victory.
Taylor led Yoakum with 221 yards passing on 8-of-11 for three touchdowns and ran for 142 yards and one touchdown. The Bulldogs ran for 243 yards on 32 attempts, averaging 7.6 yards a carry.
Barnett had four catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
On the defensive side, Zarion Cuellar and Chase Polk had eight tackle each; Williams had two picks and Trae Cuellar had one. Garza recovered one fumble.
Cameron Yoe opened the game with possession at its own 37 and used a balanced attack to drive down to the Bulldogs' 38 .After no gain on first down from the Dogs' 38, Yoeman quarterback Drake found his receiver over the middle for a touchdown. The extra point tacked on gave Cameron Yoe an early 7-0 lead.
Yoakum's opening possession would start at their 25. It was a short drive but productive one t Taylor, on a second-down play, found receiver X'Zavier Barnett who raced into the end zone for a 70-yard touchdown. After a Sanchez extra point, the Bulldogs would tie the game at 7-7 early on in the first quarter.
Cameron Yoe taking over after the kickoff from their 33, drove down to the Bulldogs' 40 before facing a fourth-down play. On the ensuing fourth down, the Yoemen would put the ball on the ground and Bulldogs' defender TyJuan Garza pounced on it to give the Bulldogs excellent field position.
Yoakum, now starting their drive at the own 40, used three good running plays to make their way just past midfield. On first down, Taylor would launch a well-thrown ball to freshman receiver Kennan Dilworth who hauled in the pass and sprinted into the end zone for a Bulldogs' touchdown. This time Alexis Hernandez's extra point gave the Dogs a 14-7 lead with 2:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Cameron's next drive would not fair as well as their last one as the Bulldogs defense stepped once again. This time it was Bulldogs' defensive back Williams snagging his first interception of the night and making a "house call" of 70 yards weaving between Yoe players all the way for the touchdown. The extra point try was no good however, only extending the Dogs' lead this time to 20-7 with 1:02 left in the first quarter.
Cameron began their next possession at their own 35, driving down to the Dogs' 37 before being forced to punt. Yoakum now taking over deep inside their own territory at their 10 were able to get to their 19 before a critical fourth down decision by Yoakum head coach Bo Robinson was made to go for the first down. Taylor eluded a couple of Yoe defenders to get a fresh set of downs for the Bulldogs. On the next play from scrimmage, Taylor would break through the line on a designed run getting to the sideline and out running Yoe defenders for a 76-yard touchdown. The Hernandez extra point gave a commanding 27-7 lead with 7:25 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
Yoakum and Cameron would trade punts on the next two possessions. Cameron taking over with 2:29 remaining in the first half at their own 27 were able to drive down to the Yoakum 49 where Drake found a receiver over the middle for a 51-yard touchdown. The Yoemen now narrowed the lead with the successful extra point to 27-14 just before halftime.
Cameron would come out in the second half trying to seize momentum by executing an onside kick that they recovered at the Yoakum 31. They would need five plays to reach pay dirt as Drake hit his receiver from 18 yards out for the Yoemen touchdown. The extra point was unsuccessful so the Bulldogs' lead was now 27-20 with 9:49 left in the third quarter.
Yoakum now would answer the flurry of points scored by Cameron with a scoring drive of its own. The Bulldogs' offense began at their own 24 and needed six plays to score. The highlight being a 41-yard touchdown reception by Barnett who broke through three would be tacklers and sprinted into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night. The touchdown pass would also be number three for Taylor. The Sanchez extra point made the score 34-20 with 7:04 left in the third quarter.
Cameron took over at their own 30, tried once again to test Williams, who would win the battle once more as he made a leaping interception of Drake and maintained possession as he fell to the ground. This interception would be Williams' second of the night.
Yoakum could not capitalize on the turnover though and were forced to punt. Cameron Yoe now taking over at their own 23 once again were bitten by the turnover bug as Dogs' defensive back Trae Cuellar intercepted Drake stopping a Cameron drive that look promising and gave the Bulldogs possession at their own 18 with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Yoakum now would use a 10-play, over-four-minute drive to score their last touchdown of the night. The exclamation point for the night was done by Garza who rumbled in from 1 yard out for the touchdown. Hernandez tacked on the extra point to give the Bulldogs a 41-20 lead with 10:36 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs would use a ball-control approach the rest of the game limiting the Cameron's possessions and the defense would step up when they did have the ball forcing a final fumble recovered by the Dogs with 2:10 left in the game. The Dogs' offense taking over at the Yoe 42 would then run three plays bleeding out the remaining time for the victory.
Taylor led Yoakum with 221 yards passing on 8-of-11 for three touchdowns and ran for 142 yards and one touchdown. The Bulldogs ran for 243 yards on 32 attempts, averaging 7.6 yards a carry.
Barnett had four catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
On the defensive side, Zarion Cuellar and Chase Polk had eight tackle each; Williams had two picks and Trae Cuellar had one. Garza recovered one fumble.