Anytime a team wins by 68 points it is a one-sided affair, and one would expect to see domination on the field and in the statistics. The Mineola Yellowjackets wrapped up their season with a 68-0 win over the visiting Rains Wildcats Friday in as one-sided a football game as one will see. 

Just how one-sided? Mineola gained 739 yards from scrimmage while holding Rains to 130. The Jackets scored on nine of their ten possessions. The Mineola defense forced one defensive score, two additional turnovers, four punts and four turnovers-on-downs. 

There were big plays aplenty by the Jackets. Kipton Neighbors legged out long scoring runs of 41, 70 and 90 yards. Braelyn Geremonte also scored on a run of 56 yards. Mineola runners needed only the slightest seam in the Wildcat defense to accelerate through to the secondary and outpace the field to the end zone. 

Neighbors also connected on two long scoring passes – a 37-yard slant to Geremonte and an 82-yard bomb to Beckham Bowker. 

The Bowker score put the Jackets up 42-0 just before the halftime whistle. 

The Rains squad was simply overwhelmed in the first half. Rains was assisted by an over-exuberant Yellowjacket team – the over-exuberance accounting for a string of penalties by the Jackets. It was the only negative of the night for the home side.

Mineola’s defense held the Wildcats to 53 yards from scrimmage in the first half. But for a 62-yard reverse in the second half, Rains would have had only 15 positive yards in the second half.  

The Mineola defense was anchored by great play up front and rallying to the ball by the linebackers and secondary. After the reverse by Rains, the Mineola defense forced a turnover-on-downs after Rains had a first-and-10 from the 8-yard line. 

Earlier in the game, the Wildcats had returned a kick-off to the Mineola 15-yard line. The Yellowjackets forced a fumble four plays later having yielded not a yard.

Late in the third quarter, Neighbors hit Aiden Shepherd with a short toss which Shepherd turned into a 40-yard catch and run. Shepherd, Jabari Jones and Austin Blalock alternated carries and gave the Jackets a first down deep in Wildcat territory. 

Jose Silva came out of his tight end position, did a quick out route, and Neighbors tossed him a chest-high pass. Silva made the catch and turned up field to score. It was an emotional moment for the Jackets as the team rushed out and mobbed the senior linebacker in the end zone.  

It would have made for a perfect ending to the homecoming night, but there was more to come. A 9-play 47-yard drive led to the end zone with under one minute to play. 

On the last snap of the game, Kolten Garrigus cut in front of a pass on a wide receiver screen, made a clean interception and sprinted 50 yards for the final score of the season.