(College Station)  For the 2000 Cameron Yoemen, the high school football season came to a grinding, bitter halt Friday at Kyle Field, when the Marlin Bulldogs nipped the Yoemen in overtime 27-26.  Four quarters just wasn't enough, for the 7,000 fans that packed into the lower levels of Kyle Field.  

And it came down to the simple process of extra points to find the difference in this game.  Marlin struggled with the PAT task first, when the Bulldogs scored the first points of the night, a 1-yard touchdown dive by senior quarterback Jeremy Modkins.  A turf-related injury to the regular kicker, DeMarcus Smith, forced Desmond Watson into the kicking role, and he missed his first chance of the game and left Marlin with a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Yoemen answered back in the second quarter, when sophomore tailback Tyrone Miller broke free and rumbled 29 yards for Cameron's first points of the night.  A Daniel Wilfert extra point gave the Yoemen the lead at 7-6, and following a Brian Bailey interception, Cameron would take a 14-6 lead.  That drive was set up by another Tyrone Miller run.  This time though, Miller took a Jason Young handoff on a fake punt.  Shorty after the Miller run on 4th down, senior fullback Cedric Wells bulled into the Marlin secondary and rumbled 45 yards for his first of 3 touchdowns on the night.

Both defenses then stiffened through much of the second quarter, until Marlin drove late in the first half and converted two crucial 4th downs enroute to a Desmond Watson scoring catch from Modkins, which also came on 4th down.

Then another pivotal play went the way of Marlin, when the Bulldogs opted to go for two to tie the game.  As Modkins dropped back, he looked right and threw in the direction of Watson once again, and momentarily, the Yoemen had thwarted the 2-point conversion, as Jacob Locke appeared to intercept the pass, but on the way to the ground, Watson, who caught four passes for 75 yards wrestled the ball away and the game was tied at 14 at halftime.

After the break, the Yoe defense would take the field first to try to shut down Marlin's high powered offense and set a second half tone, and looked as if they might do just that, but on 3rd and long, Modkins hit Bulldog receiver Carolos Bailey for a long pass play that would set up another Modkins touchdown run, and give Marlin a 20-14 lead.  Another missed field goal by Watson left the Yoemen with just a six point deficit.  And the Yoemen answered back in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to a 30-yard pass play to defensive standout Terrance Brooks, who caught a Billy Pittman pass over the middle and rumbled for a first down, which would set up another Cedric Wells touchdown run that would tie the game at 20.  But then the Cameron extra point kicking woes hit the Yoemen, when kicker, Daniel Wilfert, who missed just four extra points all season pulled the kick just right of the Kyle Field uprights, and the game was still tied at 20.

The Yoe defense came up big in the final 3 minutes of the game, stopping Marlin from scoring.  The game nearly ended with nine second left when Modkins heaved a long pass down field, but was dropped by Marlin receiver Davison Nutt, which would have won the game in regulation.  The Yoe defense then held Marlin on a 4th down and kneeled to kill the clock and send the game into overtime.

Marlin was eliminated in '99 in the quarterfinal round by Robinson in a very similar game, 13-7.  And for a moment, it looked as if Cameron would knock them out for the second straight year, as the Yoemen got the ball first.  But the Yoemen were pushed back into a 3rd and 20 situation, but quarterback, Billy Pittman made a miracle scramble and avoided a sack and turned in a 32 yard run that would put the Yoemen on the verge of scoring.  Cedric Wells banged in for a score and the Yoemen led 26-20.  But another missed PAT by Wilfert left the door open for the Bulldogs, who would get a chance for redemption against the Cameron defense.  

After a series of runs, Marlin faced a 4th and inches from the Yoe 3-yard line, and Marlin Coach, Jerry Malone turned to one of his stars, Moe Smith, who got the ball on a toss and dashed untouched into the end zone to tie the game at 26 in overtime.  And once again, Kyle Field erupted....this time however it was the Marlin faithful that roared over the field.  After a timeout, Marlin elected to try a kick for the win, despite having gone 0 for 2 on extra point kicks on the night.  This time, however, Malone and the Bulldogs turned to Smith, who had not kicked all night to try the PAT.  Cameron coach Randy Sapp countered with the best personnel for a block.  

Smith's kick was good, and just like that, the year ended for the 2000 Cameron Yoemen, who owned the statistics in the game, but will end their year at 11-3.  Cameron owned the ground game against the Bulldogs, running for 217 yards on 44 attempts, while Pittman was 2 of 8 passing for 69 yards.  Modkins on the other hand completed 10 of 21 for 142 yards and a TD pass, with one interception.  Meanwhile, Marlin will advance to the Semi-Final round of the Division II 3-A playoffs.