ckets handily defeated the Bonham Purple Warriors in Bonham Friday, 55-13. The Jackets amassed 538 yards, finding the end zone on eight of nine possessions. 

The Bonham defense was relatively porous, with little resistance once a block or screening body confronted defenders. 

On the offensive side of the ball, each of Bonham’s two scores involved a big pass play. The Warriors’ first score came on an end zone fade route to a tall receiver, and the second score was set up by a go-route which went for 42 yards. 

The Yellowjacket defense came to play and largely stifled the home side. For most of the game, Bonham employed a full-house backfield, which provided Mineola with excellent practice in defending multiple blockers at the point of attack. 

The other feature of  the Bonham offense which showed some life was a fullback dive play to the weak side. 

Those unique situations aside, the Jackets dominated the line of scrimmage and the game. 

Braydon Alley continued his amazing year. He carried 18 times for 241 yards, a 13.4 yard average.  Alley exhibited solid head work and explosive speed with his opening carry of the night – an 82-yard TD-run – and his toughness with a 9-yard carry through multiple tacklers near the goal line late in the first half.

Colton McMahon also had a stellar night. He had four catches for 130 yards and carried six pitches out of the backfield for 57 yards. 

Alley and McMahon each found the end zone thrice, while Trevor Singletary carried twice for scores near the goal line.   

Every game offers the opportunity to witness a single play which is noteworthy for its design or execution or physicality. Last Friday in Bonham there were two such plays.  

The first came on a third down and 20 from the Mineola 19-yard line. The Jackets put two receivers wide right and showed a run-left alignment at the line of scrimmage. At the snap the team feigned a run blocking scheme to the left, and McMahon – who was in the slot to the right, simply curled into the area vacated by the inside linebacker. Alley hit him in stride with a short pass over the middle and McMahon split the widely-dispersed defense for an 81-yard score.

The second came on defense. On a fourth down and one late in the game, Bonham was near mid-field trying to salvage some positivity from the night. Senior Bryson Myers lined up as a nose tackle. At the snap, Myers used textbook “2 technique” to impact the center at chest level. Myers first straightened up the center, then drove him back and crushed him into the turf. This caused a logjam in the Bonham backfield, and Blaine Harris cleaned up the tackle for no gain.    

Mineola will face an animal of different stripes as Winnsboro comes to town Friday. Few people will give the Jackets much of a chance against an undefeated Red Raiders squad, but it bears remembering that the Mineola-Winnsboro rivalry is a long one. 

It’s October, the weather has changed, and the timing is just right for putting a memorable rivalry game into the county record books.