After a loss at Commerce, things just don’t get any easier for the Mineola Yellowjackets as they host the 10th ranked Winnsboro Red Raiders Friday night per Dave Campbell’s Texas Football rankings.
The Raiders are 7-1 on the year and 3-1 in district, with their only loss coming against Malakoff. They are coming off a huge 59-23 win over their Franklin County rival, Mount Vernon. According to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football rankings, Malakoff is now ranked second in Class 3A Division I, and the Raiders have risen to tenth in the state.
The Commerce Tigers have moved into the Top 25, coming in at 22nd this week after defeating Mineola 60-6 last Friday night. Commerce is now 6-3 overall and 3-2 in district action. Mineola dropped to 3-5 on the year and 1-3 in district play.
The Yellowjacket offense never got rolling in Commerce. Freshman quarterback Braxton Moore has continued to grow in his first varsity season. He completed 13 passes for 111 yards, including the Jackets’ lone score on a pass to Carson Threlkeld in the second quarter to cut the Tiger lead to 20-6. The Jackets recovered an onside kick but could not turn it into a scoring opportunity.
The Commerce defense was in fine form. After the onside kick, a bad snap turned into a fumble return for a Tiger score. Commerce would score on another fumble return and add an interception return in the third quarter.
Mineola running back Braelyn Geremonte was able to grind out 91 yards on 18 carries and added four catches from Moore for 22 yards.
The Tigers’ Ky’Mani Graham led the Commerce offense, rushing for 141 yards on just nine carries and scoring twice. He averaged 15.7 yards per carry. Tiger quarterback Donavan Maria completed four of five passes for 98 yards and two scores.
Commerce defender and wide receiver Brandon Anderson had a great night on both sides of the football. He had three receptions for 74 yards, averaging almost 25 yards per catch, and returned an interception to paydirt to give him three TDs on the evening.
Winnsboro will face the Jackets and the Rains Wildcats to finish out the season and will be heavily favored in both contests. The Raiders have been scoring at a 44-point-per-game clip, and other than Malakoff, only Commerce has played them close this year. The Raiders have given up an average of just over 14 points a game and have recorded two shutouts along the way.
Coach Josh Finney has built a powerful legacy at Winnsboro with consistently strong teams that do well in the playoffs.
Playing their final game at Meredith Memorial Stadium are seniors No. 3 Jabari Jones, No. 4 Aidan Shepherd, No. 12 Braelyn Geremonte, No. 21 Zak Deatherage, No. 24 Miles Potts, No. 40 Sebastian Klodnicki, No. 53 Koen Mannis, No. 65 Grayson Dupont and No. 75 Oliver Becton.
The final home game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Meredith Memorial Stadium.