Yellowjackets look to reload after successful 2020

Posted 8/26/21

The 2021 version of the Mineola Yellowjackets will share many of the characteristics of recent teams – well-coached positional play, a relentless work ethic and playing through the very last …

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Yellowjackets look to reload after successful 2020

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The 2021 version of the Mineola Yellowjackets will share many of the characteristics of recent teams – well-coached positional play, a relentless work ethic and playing through the very last tick of the clock are among them. There will of course be changes, as it is hard to replace some of the recently-departed graduates. 

A look at the Jackets going into the 2021 campaign gives a pretty good idea of what to expect. 

The offensive and defensive schemes will remain largely in place.

“We are a run-heavy, multiple-threat offense,” stated Head Coach Luke Blackwell. The Jackets use the run to set up the passing game, and as Mineola football watchers can attest, the team will seek out numerous ways to exploit every single gap along a defensive front. 

That offense will benefit from the well-established production of quarterback T.J. Moreland and halfback Dawson Pendergrass. Added to the mix this year will also be tailback Jaxon Holland and wide-out Brady Shrum, both of whom have burning speed and surprising strength.

As Mineola so adeptly does, the offense will be modified to make maximum use of this year’s unique mix of runners and receivers.

Blackwell explained, “We do not force a single system onto our players. What we do is teach a base offense and then modify it to make the best use of the young men we have at each position.”

Blackwell, a former Jacket defensive coordinator, smiled when discussing the way ahead on the defensive side of the ball.

“Our philosophy is simple,” he stated, “we endeavor to get 11 helmets to the ball.”  

Returnees Drew Robertson, Oliver Barnes and Coy Anderson, among others, will contest every yard.

The Jackets will employ an even front with four down linemen. The remainder of the defense will likely be adjusted based on the offensive system of the opposition.  

Now in his fourth year at Mineola, Blackwell’s philosophy has permeated the Yellowjacket athletic programs and has produced memorable moments across the whole spectrum of Mineola athletics.

“It is in the critical moments of any game that our emphasis on effort, attitude and toughness pays off,” Blackwell noted. 

The Jackets will need every bit of those qualities this year. District 5-3A DI remains a very strong district. 

Every moment between the start of practice to the kick-off of the first district game – Sept. 24 against Winnsboro at Meredith Memorial – will be spent preparing the team for that game. 

Blackwell explained how the three pre-district games (at Canton, hosting Wills Point and at West Rusk) are all designed to best prepare the Jackets for district play. 

“We are in the heart of East Texas football country and there are no easy opponents,” admitted Blackwell. Following the district opener, the Jackets travel to Bonham and return home to host Mt. Vernon. 

The long trip to Pottsboro follows. Mineola hosts Howe, takes a short ride up to Rains and ends the regular season with Commerce coming into town. 

Preparing the Jackets for success never ends. The real progress, Blackwell admitted, is the work put in by his coaching staff and the relationships they build among the athletes.

“We have quality people on the staff and they are the critical piece of the puzzle in putting it all together,” he said.

Blackwell explained that athletics happens to be a great vehicle for teaching young men and women the skills they will need to succeed in life – as parents, as professionals, as human beings.

“In everything we do, we can control the amount and intensity of our effort, we can control our willingness to learn, and we can control our mental toughness,” Blackwell noted. 

“This is what Jacket football and Mineola athletics is based on,” he added. With those ingredients at work on a team full of eager, young athletes, it should be an exciting year.