Glass half full: The Yoemen clinched a playoff spot three weeks ago and cruised into the postseason.
Either way of looking at it doesn’t change the fact that now the Yoemen (5-5) will have a tough test when they face the undefeated, sixth-ranked Waco La Vega Pirates (10-0) in a Class 3A Division II bi-district game at 7:30 tonight at Leo Buckley Stadium.
“We get the opportunity to play and that’s what it’s all about,” Yoe coach Mike Mullins said. “Is it an easy task? No. It will take a monumental effort to get a win. But you never know what’s going to happen in the playoffs.”
Yoe got a 20-17 win at Hutto to open District 18-3A play, then followed it with a 35-17 win over Taylor, which gave the Yoemen a playoff spot just two games into district play.
“For us to have locked up a spot after two games, that may have hurt us,” Mullins said. “Some of the young guys may have been thinking, ‘We are already in the playoffs no matter what we do.’ I’m not sure what their mental makeup was.”
Yoe followed with a 43-21 loss at Milam County rival Rockdale in the annual “Battle of the Bell,” allowing 403 rushing yards, then ended the regular season last week with a 63-14 home loss to No. 2 Liberty Hill.
“I thought we played hard against Liberty Hill,” Mullins said. “But we turned the ball over six times, which resulted in 42 points for them. It’s hard to recover from six turnovers against any team. But to give a team like Liberty Hill short field, it’s pretty much a done deal.
“You never want to (lose twice at the end of the year). But we have to forget those two. It’s a new season now, and we’re happy to be where we are.”
But to stop the Pirates, the Yoemen will have correct the problems they had from the previous two games by avoiding turnovers and stopping a powerful rushing attack, led by running back Chris Parr.
Parr has 1,259 yards and 11 touchdowns on 133 carries. His brother, Kourtney, had added 502 yards and 11 scores on 69 carries. Kourtney Parr ran for 176 yards and three TDs in La Vega’s 42-26 first-round playoff win over Yoe a year ago, also in Killeen.
“They are both really good,” Mullins said “They have speed up front, and they can get in behind their big linemen.”
When the Yoemen have the ball, they’ll be facing a defense that Mullins calls quick and fast.
Yoe will approach the Pirates with a balanced offense attack that has 1,586 yards rushing and 1,448 passing. Mullins doesn’t know what approach will work best against La Vega, but he hopes to keep a good balance.
“In that district (17-3A), China Spring was able to pass the ball effectively at times,” he noted. “We have to do a good job protecting our quarterback so we can throw the ball. We have some guys who can catch.”
Sophomore Steven Townsend has established himself as a solid quarterback for the Yoemen, completing 140 of 240 passes for 1,411 yards and 20 TDs.
He doesn’t focus on any single receiver - Jamal Williams, Brandon Freeman, James Wells and Thomas Limmer all have at least 20 catches.
Sophomore Wells is the featured back and has 1,089 yards rushing and seven scores on 155 carries.
The emergence of the sophomore backfield has been a more-than-welcome sight for Mullins, who is also thankful he has several strong senior leaders to prevent the sophomores from being overwhelmed in their first playoff test.
“When you have to replace 17 starters you always have reservations about how the young kids will come along,” Mullins said. “There were a lot of questions to be answered because a lot of these guys haven’t experienced the speed of the game.
“We have some seniors who have been here three years. They are the glue. They’ve been in some big games and I wish I had more of them. They are good and take care of business and they keep the younger guys under task.”
The winner of tonight’s game will meet the winner between Madisonville and Crockett next week.
mhood@temple-telegram.com
