The clock struck midnight on one of the Cinderellas of this year’s Texas High School football tournament as Yoakum fell to Mineola by a score of 35-14.
It was Yoakum’s second state appearance ever, and first since 1952. They were led by senior running back Henry Enoch, they just didn’t have enough magic left in the jar to pull off one more upset.
The Bulldogs thought they had made it a one score game with 8:47 left in the 4th quarter. Mineola had 4th and 1 from the Yoakum 6-yard line, Chantz Perkins, the ball carrier, got to the five yard-line and then got stripped. Ethan Owens recovered, and took it to the house for what everyone thought was a touchdown.
The referees ruled that Perkins had reached the line to gain and Owens had a foot out of bounds when he recovered the loose ball. The call on the field was a Mineola first and goal from the five. On the very next play, Jeremiah Crawford ran it in for a touchdown putting the game out of reach.
“That quarterback, he ripped us up pretty good,” said Yoakum head coach Bo Robinson. “He made some great plays, and our kids kept fighting, we just kind of got behind the eight ball and couldn’t get back. But give Mineola credit, they played an outstanding game.”
The Bulldogs were able to answer the two first half Mineola touchdowns, with touchdowns of their own. The first was a beautiful 25-yard throw back pass to Jordan Moore from Enoch, then Enoch rattled off a 64-yard run. Moore finished it off with a one-yard run to tie the game up at 14 with 5:09 left in the first half.
The next drive was where the game shifted, Mineola answered with another touchdown of their own, a 40-yard run by Jeremiah Crawford making it 21-14 with 2:20 left in the half. Yoakum wasn’t able to score on their last possession of the half and then their first possession of the second half.
“It’s always great to be in this game,” Robinson said. “It’s awesome, because that means you’ve accomplished your number one goal, to get here.”
Brought to you by:
