Greater Athens January 2023 | Page 30

Kemp Yellowjackets

The Kemp Yellowjackets bettered their 2021 win total by one and showed flashes of good things to come this season .
Coach B . J . Rider said cutting out errors was a key to Kemp success . That ’ s not only fumbles and interceptions , but penalties that can impede the offense and take away large gains .
The Quitman game in week three was an example of a game the Yellowjackets could have won , but lost down the stretch .
Kemp outgained Quitman and the Dogs coach , Shane Webber said , “ We stole one , basically .”
Kemp kicked a third quarter field goal to cut the lead to 20-17 , but couldn ’ t punch in the go ahead score .
The following week , against the Rice Bulldogs , Kemp put it all together in a 34-0 rout . Thee defense clamped down on Rice all evening , while senior quarterback Deacon Thompson led the offensive attack .
Unfortunately , Malakoff was next on the schedule , with the Tigers rolling past the Yellowjackets 63-0 .

Kemp ends on a season high

Season : 2-8 , 1-5 8-26 Westwood 14-41 9-2 Blooming G . 21-42 9-9 Quitman 17-20 9-16 Rice 34-0 9-23 Malakoff 0-63 9-30 Mexia 21-28 10-7 Groesbeck 0-34 10-21 Fairfield 21-49 10-28 Teague 0-53 11-3 Eustace 54-0
28 | Greater Athens Magazine | January 2023
Teague followed with a 28-21 win over Kemp . Kemp struck first , but a second half Teague score knotted the game at halftime .
Mexia took he lead 21-14 in the third quarter , then traded scores with Kemp in the fourth quarter to secure the victory .
Finally , in the last win of the season , against Eustace , Kemp put together its best performance of the season . The defense smothered the Bulldogs in a 54-0 romp of their U . S . Highway 175 rival . Thompson was sharp , hitting on 6 of 8 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown to Laramie Greathouse .
But Thompson ’ s running was even more deadly than his passing . He exploded for 201 yards on just eight carries . Four of his totes produced touchdowns .
Daron Brown also scored on the ground and gained 33 yards on two carries .
The win finished the Yellowjacket season with a 2-8 record . They were 1-5 in district .