The Gatesville Fightin’ Hornets learned quickly from last week’s loss, while the Cameron Yoe Yoemen may have thought there was nothing to learn from their win.

After blowing a fourth-quarter lead against Mexia last week, the Hornets held on Friday night to pull out a 16-14 victory over the Yoemen at Yoe Field.

“This was a huge win,” said Gatesville coach Kyle Cooper, whose squad improved to 1-1. “It was a program win. To beat a team like Cameron with the tradition they have over the last 20 years or so is huge. Everybody did a good job - not just the players and coaches, but the fans, the band and the cheerleaders. This was a win for everybody.”

But it almost wasn’t a win at all because the Yoemen (1-1), who overcame a two-score deficit to defeat Waco Connally last week, looked like they were going to mount a second straight comeback.

Trailing 16-7 and starting a drive at their 39-yard line with 4:23 left to play, Yoemen quarterback Steven Townsend connected with Brandon Freeman twice. After Yoe got the benefit of a Gatesville penalty, Townsend hit Freeman for a 31-yard touchdown pass with 3:35 remaining. With the extra point, the lead was cut to 16-14 with 3:35 left.

And then the Yoemen got a big defensive stand, forcing the Hornets to punt from their 35.

“I thought if we could get a bad snap or a bad punt, we had a chance,” Yoe coach Mike Mullins said. “But crap, he punted it like 55-yards and then we get a holding penalty.”

And that about summed up the frantic last drive for the Yoemen after Gatesville’s C.L. Riddle boomed the punt just inside the 10 and the Yoemen returned it to the 19.

With no timeouts and only 1:19 left, the Yoemen had to hope for a miracle. The hope died after the holding penalty kept them near the 20, and Gatesville’s Ross Wallace intercepted Townsend’s final throw.

“Gatesville did a good job controlling the ball all game,” Mullins said. “You have to give them a lot of credit.”

The Hornets, who notched their third win under Cooper, got a key break early that made the difference in the game.

After Townsend hit Freeman for a 40-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive, the Yoemen tried a short, high boot on the ensuing kickoff. As the kick bounced backward, several Yoe defenders over ran it and Gatesville’s Seth Meaders caught it on the hop and returned it to the Yoe 22.

Gatesville methodically moved the 22 yards in eight plays, capping the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Shane Clark.

Things got worse for the Yoemen when Gatesville had the same type of high kick and the Yoemen failed to cover it, giving the Hornets the ball on the Yoe 35.

Both coaches agreed of the kicking game: “That was huge.”

Added Mullins: “We worked on that, but kids will be kids, and that’s one of those things we will continue to work on.”

Gatesville moved down the field but had to settle for the first of three Hunter Worley field goals.

“We still have some work to do,” Cooper said. “That’s one thing we’ll begin working on on the bus home. We have to get the ball in the end zone when we get it down there.”

And once the Hornets took the lead, they never gave it up. They took a 10-7 lead into halftime and a 13-7 lead into the fourth quarter, and more importantly, held on late when Yoe was threatening.

“We talked about not being scared to make a play when your time comes.” Cooper said. “We didn’t think that happened against Mexia, but it happened tonight.”

And Mullins said his team may have still been too emotionally high after last week’s win.

“I sensed it during the week,” he said. “I thought we’d get over it, but again we are playing with some young kids that have to get used to the success and taking the bad that goes along with that. We are going to be alright.”