Yoemen fall to Lorena to open district play
The Cameron Yoemen football team hosted the Lorena Leopards on Friday. The Yoemen were defeated by Lorena in soul crushing fashion 43-41.
Cameron received the ball to start the game, but couldn’t go anywhere and went three and out. Cameron was able to pin the Leopards at their own 4-yard line on a fantastic punt by Cody Webb (16). Lorena still marched down the field with help from a 42-yard run. Lorena scored the first points of the game on a 5-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead. The Yoemen responded on offense in a big way on an incredible 51-yard touchdown catch by Kason Goolsby (3), shaking off a tackler to tie the game at 7. The Lorena offense bulldozed the Cameron defense with a 45-yard run then a 16-yard run. The first quarter ended with the game tied at 7.
The Yoemen stood tall on defense to start the second quarter and forced fourth and 5. Lorena went for the fourth down conversion and scored on a 7-yard touchdown to make the score 15-7 after a successful two-point conversion.
Cameron’s defense returned to the field after an interception thrown by Braylan Drake (1). Lorena made use of the turnover with a 57-yard touchdown run to make the score 22-7. Cameron tried to respond on offense but couldn’t go very far and was forced to punt. The Leopards extended their lead on a 7-yard touchdown run to give Cameron a 29-7 deficit.
The Yoemen tried to answer back on offense but didn’t go very far and were forced to punt. The Yoemen defense held strong and forced a Lorena three and out. Ja’Quorius Hardman (6) gave the team and the fans new life with an incredible 62-yard punt return touchdown to make the score 29-14. The defense stepped up big and forced a Lorena fumble that was recovered by Cameron. The Yoemen offense took advantage of the fumble with a perfectly placed 21-yard touchdown pass from Drake to Hardman to close the gap to 29-21, which would be the score going into halftime.
Cameron kicked off to start the second half and forced Lorena to punt on their opening possession. Unfortunately, the Cameron defense had to return to the field after a fumble recovered by Lorena. The Leopards marched down the field with a 16-yard run, and scored on a 23-yard touchdown pass to give Cameron a 35-21 deficit. The Yoemen responded on offense with a 15-yard run by Drake, and Drake soon followed that with a 36-yard touchdown pass to D’auntray Bradley (5), making the score 35-28. The Cameron defense returned to the field and held strong, forcing Lorena to punt. Cameron went back on offense and drove down the field with a 17-yard catch by Kardarius Bradley (8). The third quarter ended with Cameron trailing 35-28.
Cameron started the fourth quarter with a 14-yard catch by Goolsby, which was followed with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Drake to Goolsby to tie the game at 35. The Leopards offense came up big and retook the lead with a 23-yard run, and scored on a 7-yard touchdown run for a 43-35 Cameron deficit after a successful two-point conversion. Cameron came back out on offense and marched down the field in hopes to tie the game. They scored on a 6-yard touchdown pass to D’auntray Bradley to make the score 43-41. They attempted to tie the game with a two-point conversion, but fell short. Lorena would recover the onside kick and went on to win the game 43-41.
Despite throwing the interception, Braylan Drake played a great game, throwing for 218 yards and a whopping five touchdowns. D’auntray Bradley had a great game as well, catching three passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns.
Along with the big punt return touchdown, Ja’Quorius Hardman was also very impactful, catching two passes for 32 yards and a touchdown. Kason Goolsby had a fantastic game, catching four passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
With this loss, Cameron has a record of 1-4 on the season, and move to 0-1 in district play. Cameron will not be playing this week as it will be their bye week. Up next, the Yoemen will travel to take on the Little River Academy Bumblebees. The game will be on Friday, Oct. 6, and kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.