Yoemen Bring Bell Home
The bell is back home in Cameron after the Yoemen traveled to take on the Rockdale Tigers on Friday, Oct. 25, for the Battle Of the Bell. The Yoemen soundly defeated Rockdale, winning 35-10 to bring the bell back to Cameron.
“It’s a good feeling,” Coach Aaron Babino said. “That’s something to try and build this program on. Glad we got the bell back and let’s go from there. I think we also possibly clinched a playoff berth tonight, but we just wanted to make sure we got that bell, we got it, so now we just got to keep moving forward and getting better each week.”
The first quarter was tight and full of defense, as the game was still scoreless going into the second quarter. Cameron picked up their play and pulled away big in the second quarter, outscoring the Tigers 21-3 to go into halftime with an 18 point advantage.
The points for the Yoemen were from an 11-yard touchdown run by Andrew Castillo (34), a 3-yard touchdown run by Tim Grice (4), and a pick six interception by Antonio Vargas (5). A big factor for Camerons success in the quarter was their outstanding defense. They caught three of their four interceptions in the game in the second quarter and two of them led to points; one from Xavier Gilmon, one from Elijah Goodrum, and the pick six from Vargas.
“We knew we’d been good at stopping the run, we’ve been very suspect on the back end,” Babino said. “On the back end, we’ve been forced to have to discipline guys, and our guys did a really good job tonight with four interceptions, so we’re happy about that.”
Cameron kicked off to start the second half, and the defense kept up their momentum and forced a punt. The Yoemen offense came out and stormed down the field with a 52-yard run by De’marques Lopez-Pinchback (22). That was soon followed with a 10-yard touchdown run by Lopez-Pinchback to take a commanding 28-3 lead. The Yoemen defense continued their dominance with another interception from Vargas. Cameron could not do much with that turnover and went three and out to end the third quarter with Cameron winning 28-3.
Rockdale started the fourth quarter strong and drove the field to score on an 8-yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-10. Rockdale tried to catch Cameron off balance with an onside kick, but Cameron recovered it. The Yoemen offense did not go very far and was forced to go three and out. The offense quickly returned to the field after the defense forced and recovered a fumble. The Cameron offense took advantage of the turnover with an explosive 55-yard touchdown run by Lopez-Pinchback to take a 35-10 lead, which would be the final score.
Tim Grice was incredible, rushing for 50 yards and a touchdown. De’marques Lopez-Pinchback was unstoppable, rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns. What made the win even more impressive for Coach Babino was how they handled all the injuries in the game, especially at the quarterback position. Jacobe Scott (1) came in for Cade Hubnik (12) in the first quarter, then Grice filled in for Scott when he went down in the second quarter.
“We tell the guys all the time, next man up,” Babino said. “We always preach that the most important guys in any sport is the backup because you never know when your number’s going to get called. So, we always tell them when you’re not in on a play, make sure you get mental reps and visual reps every single time. And those kids stepped up tonight.”
With this victory, Cameron now has a record of 2-6 and a district record of 2-1. Their next opponent will be at home as they host the Franklin Lions. The game will be Friday, Nov. 1, and kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.