The Mineola Yellowjackets faced another quality foe last Friday and suffered a 54-27 defeat at the hands of the Scurry-Rosser Wildcats.

The Yellowjackets came out ready to play on an excellent night for football at Meredith Memorial Stadium. The Jackets took the opening kickoff and drove 43 yards with a nice mix of run and pass.

The drive stalled at the 21-yard line, and the ensuing field goal attempt was just grazed by the hand of the rusher off the right edge. It was enough to push the kick wide of the post.

The Wildcats then moved 79 yards in 14 plays for the opening score of the night.

A great defensive play by Steven Reyes for a big sack was not enough to overcome the missed tackles committed by the defense on this series. Scurry-Rosser scored with a power lead over the left side. They would use this play for two more scores.

The Jackets fought back. A hard run by Braelyn Geremonte gave the team a first down in Wildcat territory. On a fourth-and-7 from the Wildcats’ 25-yard line, a Zane Philips pass just missed Colton McMahon at the goal line. 

Scurry-Rosser made the Jackets pay for their poor tackling, as they moved 75 yards in six plays for a score. The key play came on a 40-yard post pattern which put the ball at the goal line. Early in the second quarter the score stood 14-0.

The next two plays were disastrous for the Jackets.

On Mineola’s first play from scrimmage the ball was jarred loose by a tackler closing the runner hard from the blind side. The Wildcats took over at midfield.  

Scurry-Rosser met no resistance as they carried the pigskin around the right end for a 50-yard score. 

Mineola hardened their resolve and got on the board with 2:00 on the clock before half.  Aidan Shepherd – the workhorse out of the Jacket backfield – carried the ball off the left side from nine yards out. 

The last two minutes saw three more scores. Scurry-Rosser scored on a fake wide-receiver screen ‘go’ route. Colton McMahon then took the following kick-off 95 yards untouched for the Yellowjackets’ second kick-off return touchdown of the year. The Wildcats had yet one minute left on the clock and they moved 54 yards for a score with :35 seconds remaining in the half to lead 35-14. 

The Yellowjackets managed two scoring drives (of 51 and 65 yards) in the second half, but gave up three scores. Two of those Scurry-Rosser scores came after Mineola fumbles. 

Mineola totaled 431 yards; Scurry-Rosser tallied 550. Had the Jackets made the tackles that they missed on the night; the outcome of this game could have been significantly different.  

The Yellowjackets travel to Arp Friday for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off against the Tigers.