Yoemen defeat McGregor
The Cameron Yoemen football team came up victorious against the McGregor Bulldogs 44-19 on Friday. The win puts the Yoemen in third place in District 11-3A with one remaining week to play. The Yoemen have a bye week this week.
Cameron received the ball to start the game and soon had an early trip to the red zone with a 26-yard catch by Charlie Mayer (22) on a pass by Ryan Muniz (7). The Yoemen ended the drive with a 22-yard field goal by Landen Greene (9) that sailed through the uprights for an early 3-0 lead. The Yoemen defense had success early too as they stopped a fourth and 5 on the Bulldogs opening drive. The offense responded with a big 39-yard scramble by Muniz, which was followed by a 20-yard touchdown run by Phaibian Bynaum (5) making it a 10-0 lead. The first quarter ended with the score 10-0 in favor of the Yoemen.
After the Yoemen defense forced another turnover on downs for the Bulldogs, Cameron came out on offense with a 19-yard pass from Muniz to Jaidyn Sanchez (2). Later in the drive, they increased their lead on a 36-yard touchdown run by Bynaum to make the score 17-0. McGregor got on the scoreboard with a 69-yard touchdown pass for a 17-6 game.
Cameron blocked the extra point to keep the score at 17-6. The offense for Cameron came back out and responded with a 19-yard screen catch by Sanchez. The Yoemen could not reach the end zone but still came up with points as they would get a successful 39-yard field goal by Greene for a 20-6 lead. McGregor came out on their next drive and responded with a 20-yard touchdown run to make it a 20-13 score.
The Yoemen offense could not respond to the Bulldog touchdown as they were forced to punt the ball. McGregor marched down the field and tried to get a field goal with 13 seconds left in the half but Cameron stood tall and blocked the field goal to keep the halftime score at 20-13.
The Yoemen defense came out strong to start the second half as they forced McGregor to punt on their opening drive. The defense had to come right back out as Cameron fumbled the punt return and it was recovered by McGregor. They allowed the Bulldogs to score on a 27-yard touchdown pass for a 20-19 lead after a muffed extra point by McGregor. The mistakes for the special teams continued as Cameron fumbled the kickoff return and it was recovered by McGregor.
The Cameron defense held the Bulldogs and they settled for a 31-yard field goal attempt that was missed and Cameron would take over on offense. The offense responded with a spectacular 56-yard run for Bynaum, followed by an 11-yard touchdown run for Fabian Salomon (35) for a 27-19 lead, which would be the score at the end of the third quarter.
The Cameron defense started the fourth quarter stopping a fourth and 6 for McGregor that led to a turnover on downs. The Yoemen offense took over and got a 16-yard run by Bynaum but didn’t go much farther and was forced to punt. The luck on special teams seemed to change as Cameron recovered a fumble on the punt. It wouldn’t lead to much as the Bulldogs forced a three and out and Cameron had to punt the ball.
The Yoemen defense came up big as the forced a McGregor three and out. The offense answered with a 28-yard run by Bynaum, putting them in position to score three points on a 28-yard field goal by Greene for a 30-19 lead for the Yoemen. The defense continued to remain aggressive with an interception by Mayer. The offense complimented the turnover with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Muniz to Pharrell Hemphill (4) to extend the lead to 37-19. The Cameron defense did not stay on the field long as they got another interception off a tipped pass that was caught by Colby Arney (75). The offense responded with a 37-yard touchdown run for Bynaum for a commanding 44-19 lead, which would be the final score of the game as Cameron shut down the Bulldogs in the second half, only allowing one touchdown the entire half.
“We played better technique and were able to create turnovers,” Coach Rick Rhoades said. “We also won the field position game in the second half.”
Ryan Muniz had a good game as he passed for 176 yards and a touchdown along with running for 71 yards. Pharrell Hemphill had 60 receiving yards along with a touchdown. The running was phenomenal as Phaibian Bynaum rushed for 235 yards and three touchdowns and the offense as a whole had 357 yards and four touchdowns.
“McGregor was playing with five people in the box the majority of the game, when a team does this, we have to be able to run the ball and we were able to so there was no need to throw the ball a lot,” Rhoades said.
The Yoemen will meet the Hallettsville Brahmas in the first round of the playoffs on Nov. 12.
Rhoades believes they can win the game as long as they can play great defense and create turnovers, be more consistent on offense, and win the special teams battle. The details on the playoff game are still to be announced.