With 84 combined points, one would expect a high school football game to be a wild free-for-all. That just wasn’t the case Friday as Mineola traveled to Arp and came up short, 49-35. 

The game had exciting moments, but most of the night was spent between the tackles as the teams combined for 800 yards most on the ground.

The first quarter belonged to the Arp offensive line. The Tigers enjoyed a large right side of their line and an athletic left side. They leveraged this to great advantage.

Arp’s scheme was straightforward – double team at the point of attack, wall everyone else off and lead into the hole. A short passing game featuring a variety of wide receiver screens prevented the Yellowjackets from shoring up the box.

After one quarter Arp had scoring drives of 84 yards and 48 yards, while the Jackets had not yet started their engines.

Just before the quarter break, Mineola began to move. In a key play at midfield, quarterback Zane Phillips hit wide receiver Colton McMahon who made an excellent leaping catch for a first down at the Arp 40. 

The catch ignited the offense. They began to hammer the ball downfield four yards a pop. A robust carry by Braelyn Geremonte through the middle put the ball inside the 10. Two plays later Aidan Shepherd carried a direct snap over the goal. 

The teams traded scores in their next two possessions, and the score stood 21-14 with 1:45 left in the half.  

Arp was moving, but Mineola cornerback Steven Reyes played the quarterback’s eyes and stepped in front of an in-route for an interception. Two plays later, Mineola’s Phillips came under an intense rush and threw an errant pass which Arp intercepted.

The Tigers moved 47 yards with four consecutive pass completions and took a 29-14 lead into halftime. 

The Yellowjackets stormed out to start the second half. They recovered an on-side kick and moved 48 yards in six plays for the score, with Geremonte slicing through the middle from twelve yards out.

Mineola effectively used misdirection in the backfield to great advantage.

Defensively, the Jackets also picked up their intensity. Gabriel Thompson, Blaine Harris and Geremonte combined to register the first play for a loss. 

Arp absorbed the defensive aggression and continued marching down field. On a critical fourth-and-8 the Tigers quarterback executed a jump pass while on the move for a 17-yard pick-up. The Tigers scored four plays later.

The story of the second half was established, Arp answered each time Mineola scored. 

The Jackets next scored on a gorgeous catch in the end zone by McMahon who took an arching pass from Phillips over the left shoulder and just managed to tap his foot in the corner of the end zone.

Arp answered with an 8-play scoring drive and stopped Mineola with their second interception in the Jackets next possession. Arp scored again after a long run through the heart of the defense.  

The Jackets were not done. They scored with 3:11 remaining to close within two scores. Geremonte’s run featured three sharp cuts around left end. 

The Tigers killed the remaining time to secure the victory.

The Jackets travel to North Lamar High School Friday before beginning district play Sept. 27 when they host Mt. Vernon.