Elder Squiers brother marks his first high school TD
Injuries with unclear return dates have caused some schedule shuffling that had Yellowjacket football looking a bit different last week. The varsity Jacket players observed their listed bye week on Friday, October 3, while the JV and junior high teams were tasked with hosting Irion County on Thursday, October 2.
The Junior Jackets (seventh and eighth graders) fell to the Hornets 22-31. The JV—made up of just seven sophomores and one senior last week— promptly avenged that loss with a 54-8 win over the JV Hornets. Menard also took the win, 27-6, when the two teams met in Mertzon in August. “Our boys played well,” said head coach Clay Holland. “And it was evident they had gotten much better from the start of the year.”
The varsity Jackets are currently tending to several injured players, so the bye week was convenient timing to rest those athletes prior to the onset of district play this week. The health uncertainties prompted Holland to look ahead and plan accordingly regarding last Thursday’s regularly scheduled JV game, which was switched to a varsity contest for Menard on paper: “We decided to change our schedule around to make sure we got games in,” said Holland. “We wanted to give our JV players (who will have to be on the sidelines these next few weeks) ownership of our season and give them something to be excited about while resting our varsity players.” Since the game was billed as a varsity contest, the young players enjoyed a rare chance to soak in the varsity experience— the band, cheerleaders, a big crowd, and—possibly the top perk— running through the giant inflatable yellowjacket at the start of the game. Holland is appreciative that the sides could agree on this arrangement to get this game for the underclassmen.
Due to the inherent small numbers of a six-man program, JV games tend to be limited once district play starts, so this was a chance for those younger players to get some valuable time on the field.
Right now, the Jackets are unable to commit to fielding a full team for the non-district Rocksprings matchup in the next to last week of the season. “Irion County agreeing to change this game [October 2] gave us the opportunity to potentially change the [October 30] Rocksprings game to a JV contest and still be able play it if we have the numbers.”
Last week the JV Jackets took the field against Irion County JV with a lineup of seven sophomores plus Korbin Squiers, a senior who played on offense. Squiers suffered an ACL/meniscus knee injury in an August summer workout and missed the first half of the season. He missed his entire sophomore football season in McCamey due to a patellar tendon rupture on his opposite knee.
Squiers had some good offensive blocks Thursday night, but the highlight of the evening was scoring the first touchdown of his high school football career. His teammates, coaches and family cheered enthusiastically before Korbin returned to the sideline to ice the bum knee. There was not a bystander prouder than #0 Hunter Squiers, Korbin’s younger brother who plays on the varsity squad.
“[Last week] We asked some of these players to play positions defensively they have never practiced or played. There were mistakes, but I was happy with the effort and coachability of the youngsters,” said Holland. Those young guns will suit up with the varsity this Friday, October 10 to host Leakey in the first district 15 game of the season. Kickoff is at 7 p.m., with MHS Hall of Fame inductions to be presented just before opening formalities.
The junior high team had a tough loss to a big, well coached Hornet squad. Holland points to repeated blocking errors that caused issues for the Junior Jackets. “We would show glimpses of climbing back into the game, but we beat ourselves in some areas with turnovers and assignment football,” he said. The Junior Jackets look to get back on track in Leakey on Thursday at 5:00. There will not be a JV game this week.
Leakey (3-3), Medina (5-1), Nueces Canyon (2-4) and Eden (5-1) join Menard (6-0) to make up district 15, class A, division 1.