ROLLIN’ AHEAD

Crawford has six-TD night, Jackets’ defense continues strong play

Posted 10/19/16

The Mineola faithful were not in their usual attire Friday night. Even on the field, a bright color stood out amongst the orange-clad Yellowjackets. Mineola celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month …

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ROLLIN’ AHEAD

Crawford has six-TD night, Jackets’ defense continues strong play

Posted

The Mineola faithful were not in their usual attire Friday night. Even on the field, a bright color stood out amongst the orange-clad Yellowjackets. Mineola celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month by donning pink on the field and in the stands as part of a “pink-out.”

The soothing pink hues did nothing to stop the Mineola Yellowjackets (5-2, 3-0) from continuing their dominating district run with a 42-6 romp of the Mount Vernon Tigers (4-3, 3-1). The win places the Yellowjackets in sole possession of the district and they can clench the district title with two more wins in their three remaining games.

“It’s not our first rodeo with this stuff,” said Head Coach Joe Drennon. “Our kids have done this for a few years now and they know what to do.”

Jeremiah Crawford led the offense in an efficient manner and appears to be in playoff mode. Crawford accounted for six touchdowns on the evening, splitting them evenly through the air and on the ground.

The Yellowjackets grabbed a quick two-touchdown lead in the first quarter off the arm of Crawford. Kourtland Sinches began the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Crawford – the seventh-straight game scoring on their opening possession – and Kartney Hampton reeled in a beautiful rainbow spiral from Crawford for a 69-yard touchdown reception.

Mount Vernon scored early in the second quarter off a Kevi Evans 16-yard touchdown run but the PAT was blocked by Mineola. The Tigers would not see the end zone for the rest of the night.

Crawford capped the first-half scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run with less than a minute left in the half.

“This team we just played was really good,” said Crawford. “I know one of the guys, Kevi (Evans), and they’re a real talented team but our defense is playing championship level right now. I can’t look forward and tell you what’s going to happen because we play play-by-play and practice practice-by-practice. We get better each day and each game.”

Crawford continued his superman-like effort in the second half with touchdown runs of 2 and 27 yards in the third quarter and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Frankie Meason early in the fourth quarter. Crawford finished the night 4-7 for 98 yards with three touchdowns and 13 rushing attempts for 99 yards and three scores. Curtis London, starting his third consecutive game, finished with 137 yards on 10 carries.

Defensively, the Yellowjackets are playing with pluck and grit. The Jacket defense is averaging four points per game in district play and continues to dominate their opponents after allowing 72 points in their first two games against 4A competition. They have forced turnovers and are controlling the line of scrimmage during this stretch and look to continue their decisive play heading into the backstretch of the regular season.

“We played good teams at the beginning of the season to be ready for district and beyond,” said Cameron Sorenson, who finished with 12 tackles and was perfect on all of his PATs. “This is where we want to be, beating teams in this fashion and looking to play long into December.”

The Yellowjackets sit atop 3A-District 7 with a chance to win the district and lock up their playoff spot within the next two weeks. With three games remaining, Drennon knows it is not the time to relax or become complacent.

“The one thing we can’t do is get complacent, thinking all we got to do is show up and go through the motions,” Drennon said. “Our kids work hard every day so I’m not concerned with complacency.”

“When we come out on the field, the thing I want to do is execute and then do the things we’re taught to do. As far as playing hard and giving effort, our kids do that every day.”

Mineola visits the Grand Saline Indians (3-4, 1-2) Friday. The Indians have a prolific offense scoring at least 21 points in every game and being held for less than 30 points only twice. With a win, the Yellowjackets’ stranglehold on the division will tighten with the playoffs looming only four weeks ahead.