The good news is the Mineola Yellowjackets showed off a promising offensive attack in their season opener. The rest of the story was not so good.
The ’Jackets fell 89-49 to an explosive Hooks Hornet team last Friday at Meredith Memorial Stadium in front of a large home crowd.
Mineola fell behind 27-7 in the first quarter, but the ’Jacket offense went to work in the second. Mineola roared back with 28 points, but Hooks answered with 22 of its own to take a 49-35 lead into the locker room.
The Hornets continued to pour it on in the second half, scoring 40 more points. Mineola added 14 points in the third quarter but was unable to keep pace with the high-powered Hooks offense.
One of the bright spots for Mineola was senior running back Aiden Shepherd, who toted the pigskin 18 times for 195 yards, averaging just over 10 yards per carry.
His biggest play was a 76-yard run. Shepherd also caught two passes for 49 yards, giving him 244 total yards for the contest.
Freshman quarterback Braxton Moore stood strong in his varsity debut, completing 10 passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior Beckham Bowker was one of his top targets, catching two passes for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The 49 points and several big plays were good signs for a Mineola offense breaking in a freshman quarterback. The ’Jackets showed they could move the football and battled back after falling behind early, but the defense could not slow the Hornets enough to get Mineola back into the game.
The Yellowjackets will now turn their attention to New Diana in search of their first win of the season.
The Eagles opened their season with a big 53-21 win over New Boston.
Mineola travels to New Diana Friday for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.