There is no way to sugarcoat it – the De Kalb Bears steamrolled the Mineola Yellowjackets in the Jackets’ season opener Friday at Meredith Memorial Stadium. De Kalb scored on its first five possessions and cruised to a 48-20 win. 

The Bears did it largely on the ground, first testing the seams at the corners of the Mineola defense. Once they got the Jackets thinking about shading to the outside, the Bears came back with strong runs off-tackle or draws. 

A surgical passing attack kept the Mineola defense from shoring up against the run. 

The visitors were simply a stride ahead of the home side throughout the first half. The Bears were the quicker and more aggressive team.

The lone bright spot for the ‘Jackets in the first half was a 77-yard kickoff return by halfback Aidan Shepherd. With the score 26-0 and the Jackets being stonewalled on offense, Shepherd provided signs of life in the home side. 

Fielding a De Kalb kickoff on the bounce at the 23-yard line, Shepherd first closed directly upfield, then cut hard right and accelerated through the flanking coverage team. Once through the initial wave of tacklers, Shepherd used his speed to separate from the pursuit. After the initial two cuts, his path to the end zone was efficiently straight.

De Kalb answered with a 15-play, 59-yard drive, finding the end zone with a wide receiver screen. It made the score 34-6 at the half. 

After the intermission, there was only one option for the Yellowjackets – fight. They did.

The Yellowjackets moved 52 yards in five plays to score in the opening drive of the second half. Quarterback Zane Strange connected with wide-out Colton McMahon on a 20-yard scoring strike. 

McMahon influenced the De Kalb defensive back with a slight hesitation before sprinting past him. Strange found McMahon in stride in the back of the end zone. 

The Mineola defense also came to play in the second half. Though De Kalb scored twice, the Jackets forced two punts and a turnover-on-downs. 

Mineola’s final score came on a long drive which featured a 28-yard scamper by Shepherd through the left side.  Strange crashed into the end zone after carrying the ball around the right end from 12 yards.    

To their credit, the Jackets tallied 174 difficult yards in the second half and gave themselves some team confidence with which to go forward. 

Friday, Mineola hosts the Scurry-Rosser Wildcats – a team that won 3A-II District 7 last year, losing in the second round to Comanche. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m.