Mineola 35, Yoakum 14

By Michael Wright
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: December 16, 2016

Mineola Yellow Jackets (13-2) vs. Yoakum Bulldogs (11-4)
8 p.m. Thursday, Arlington's AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium - The Mineola Yellow Jackets scored the last 21 points to beat the Yoakum Bulldogs in the Class 3A Division I Championship game. This was Mineola's first championship in their 2nd big game. They lost in the 2014 championship game. Yoakum fell to 0-2 in championship games. The lost in the 1952 Class 2A Championship game.

Mineola got the opening kickoff and drove the ball 80 yards to get the score. They converted a 4th down conversion along the way and quarterback Jeremiah Crawford got the score with a 1 yard run. Yoakum responded with a nice drive of their own going 82 yards. They also converted on a 4th down play. Their score came on a halfback pass from Henry Enoch to receiver Jordan Moore. That evened the score at 7 with 56 seconds left in the 1st quarter. The quarter ended with Mineola on the Yoakum 6 yard line.

Yellowjacket running back Chantz Perkins ran it in on the first play of the 2nd quarter. Mineola now led 14-7 with 11:53 left until halftime. Yoakum got a big 45 yard kickoff return by Josh Moore but they fumbled and Mineola defensive lineman Kourtland Sinches recovered. They were not able to capitalize though as they were stopped on a 4th down conversion at the Yoakum 16. The Bulldogs got a big 64 yard run from Enoch. On the next play, Jordan Moore scooped up a fumble and carried the ball in the ends zone. With 5:09 left until half, the score was tied at 14. Mineola converted on a 4th down play and Crawford went through a big opening and scored from 40 yards out. The score was now 21-14 with 2:20 left and that was how the 1st half ended.

Only 4 passes were thrown in the 1st half and one of those was a trick play. Mineola had 237 yards rushing and Yoakum had 140. Crawford had 144 yards and Perkins had 91 for the Yellowjackets. Enoch had 115 for the Bulldogs.

Yoakum punted on their first possession and Mineola took over on their own 24. Crawford had another big run going 65 yards to put him over 200 for the game. He was tackled on the 6 but he scored on the next play to give the Yellowjackets a 28-14 lead with 8:26 left in the 3rd. The quarter ended with Mineola at the Yoakum 19 yard line.

Yoakum was almost back in the game when they recovered an apparent fumble and ran it back 95 yards for a touchdown. The play was called back though as the defender was out-of-bounds as he touched the ball. On the next play, Crawford scored from 5 yards out. The Yellowjackets led 35-14 with 8:41 remaining in the game. After a Yoakum punt, the Yellowjackets were able to run out the clock.

Mineola finished with 438 yards on the ground. Yoakum had 193 total yards. Crawford finished with 282 rushing yards while Perkins has 128.

Lone Star Gridiron

Attendance: 20,344

Players of the game:
Offensive Player of the Game - Jeremiah Crawford, Quarterback Mineola
Defensive Player of the Game - Kourtland Sinches, Defensive Lineman Mineola