3A DI State Championship: Brock 43, Cameron Yoe 33

It didn’t take long for Brock to reach the top. Chad Worrell’s program claimed its first championship in its second season of sanctioned UIL football. The victory came at the expense of Cameron Yoe, a program that had won three straight state championships before the 43-33 loss in the Class 3A D1 game. Brock scored 22 points in the fourth quarter. It was an unlucky night for the defending champions. Cameron Yoe took a 20-7 lead a play after star running back Traion Smith hurt his leg. Smith had 133 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns before the injury. He was racing in for his third score before the injury stopped him at the Brock one-yard line. After the ensuing score following the injury, Brock scored outscored Cameron Yoe by 23 points. The Yoemen were chasing history in the game. A win would have made the school just the fourth to win more than three straight championships. Instead, Brock etched itself into the record books by winning a championship so early in the football program’s history. The Brock running game took control in the second half. Strong play by the Eagles’ defense forced Cameron Yoe to be on the field for long stretches, and Brock eventually capitalized. Cooper Warren scored two rushing touchdowns for the Eagles, while Leddy French and the other backs in the Brock stable grinded on the Yoemen defense. French ended the game with three touchdown rushes. Warren’s second touchdown of the second half put the Eagles up 29-26 and gave Brock its first lead since 7-6 in the first quarter. On the first play of Cameron Yoe’s next drive, quarterback Jacob Smitherman didn’t know the snap was coming and raced after it as it bounced behind him towards the end zone. He was shoved aside by Mikey Golden, who scooped up the ball and raced in for a Brock touchdown to seal the game. Cameron Yoe would go on a drive late to cut the game to three points, but Brock’s offense couldn’t be stopped and the Eagles hoisted their first football trophy after scoring a late touchdown to make the final lead 10 points. Game BallsTraion Smith – The senior running back didn’t play the second half and Cameron Yoe lost, but his team was winning when he left and his injury changed the entire complexion of the game. The Yoemen offense was centered around Smith, who broke 3,000 rushing yards on the year before his injury. He was also this team’s emotional leader. It wasn’t the same game without him. Cooper Warren – Leddy French gets a ton of the press, and he should, but it was Warren who came through in the clutch for Brock in the win. The fellow senior running back had two rushing touchdowns in the second half to help give Brock a lead for the first time since the first quarter. Mikey Golden – Brock took the lead with an offensive touchdown, but it was Golden’s fumble recovery for a touchdown that gave the Eagles a 10-point cushion and kept pressure off the offense to score after Cameron Yoe cut the lead to three late in the fourth quarter. Golden showed smarts and athleticism on the scoop-and-score.