Yoemen fall to Academy, 32-28
The Yoemen suffered their first district loss at the hands of the Littler River Academy Bumblebees 32-28 on Friday night in Academy.
Cameron kicked off to start the game. The Bumblebees started fast as Cameron allowed a log run play to put Academy in the red zone. Little River appeared to get on the scoreboard first by scoring on a 12-yard touchdown pass but that did not count as it was later called back due to a penalty. Later in the drive, the Bumblebees scored on a 3-yard touchdown for a 7-0 game and to take the lead.
Cameron got a boost with a nice kickoff return by Trayjen Wilcox (88) as he ran all the way to the Cameron 39-yard line. The Yoemen offense responded with a 24 yard pass to from Ryan Muniz (7) to Pharrell Hemphill (4), followed by an 18 yard run by Kason Goolsby (3). Cameron then scored on a 4-yard touchdown run by Muniz to tie the game at 7. The first quarter ended tied at 7.
Academy marched down the field and eventually scored on a 1-yard touchdown run for a 14-7 lead. Cameron answered back on offense with a 24-yard pass by Muniz to Jaidyn Sanchez (2) for a first down, then a spectacular 51-yard touchdown pass from Muniz to Hemphill to tie the game once again at 14.
Academy marched down the field and the Yoemen defense bent but refused to break as they allowed a 32-yard field goal for a 17-14 deficit. Cameron came back on offense and Muniz threw a 19-yard pass to Goolsby, followed by a 14-yard catch by Wilcox to put Cameron in the red zone. The Yoemen failed to capitalize on the red zone opportunity as Muniz threw an interception. The Cameron defense stood tall and forced a three and out but unfortunately Cameron was penalized for a roughing the kicker call and gave the ball right back to Little River. That would be all for the first half as the score would stay 17-14.
Cameron received the ball to start the second half and started hot with a 25-yard catch by Sanchez from Muniz. The Yoemen kept it up with a 28-yard catch by Hemphill and scored the first points of the second half with a 2-yard touchdown run by Phaibian Bynaum (5) for a 21-17 score and took the lead for the first time in the game. Cameron’s defense backed up the offense and forced a fourth and 4 for Academy. The Bumblebees went for the fourth down conversion and the Yoemen would stop them, forcing a turnover on downs. Cameron couldn’t take advantage of the turnover and eventually was forced to punt the ball back to Academy. The third quarter ended with Cameron leading 21-17.
Cameron started the fourth quarter forcing a three and out for Academy. The Yoemen came out on offense with a 22-yard run by Bynaum and he later ran for a 10-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 28-17. Academy started to rally as they scored on a 27-yard touchdown for a 28-25 game after a successful two-point conversion. Cameron tried to drain the game clock but was unable to do it for long as they were forced to punt. However, on a crazy play, the punt by Muniz was blocked but he recovered it and ran for a first down. That miracle play was short lived as Cameron later attempted and failed a fourth and 1 conversion giving the ball back to the Bumblebees. Shortly after that, Cameron allowed a 21-yard play then a 26-yard touchdown to give the Bumblebees a 32-28 lead with less than two minutes left in the game. Cameron tried to make a game winning drive but came up short and would lose 32-28 in heartbreaking fashion.
“We gave up two scores in the final five minutes of the game,” Coach Rick Rhoades said regarding the Academy comeback. “We just did not win the match up battle that we needed to on defense to win the game. They got us in some bad matchups in pass coverage and took advantage of it.”
Ryan Muniz played well with 248 yards and a touchdown along with a rushing touchdown as well. Pharrell Hemphill had 103 receiving yards and a touchdown, and the running game was a bit off as Phaibian Bynaum ran for only 34 yards and a touchdown.
“I was hoping we would do a better job running the football,” Rhoades said. “I felt like we could have made some plays to put the game away and we didn’t.”
On defense, both Colton Barbo (34) and Fabian Salomon (35) recorded 11 tackles and Keshon Johnson (36) had the teams only two sacks.
The next game will be Homecoming week for Cameron as they will host the Troy Trojans. Rhoades believes his team can play better and make the plays that they need to win the game.
The game and pregame festivities will be tomorrow and kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.