By Zack Cunningham/sportsreporter@trcle.com

The Cleburne Yellow Jackets or Yellowjackets, however you want to spell it, are back in the win column after a 35-12 opening victory over Fort Worth South Hills on Friday night at Yellow Jacket Stadium.

The Jackets racked up 287 yards of total offense against the bigger Scorpions, who tallied 186.

Cleburne head coach Phil Young said the defensive effort and tenacity by his squad was the key difference in the win.

“It’s always good to get a win,” Young said. “South Hills is very well coached and they’re a very physical football team. They’ve improved so much.

“They hit us in the mouth some, but our kids kept gang-tackling. That was what impressed me the most was how our kids came off and hit guys who were bigger than them.”

Neither squad scored in the opening period although the Scorpions had a few chances in the opening frame after picking off Cleburne quarterback Taylor Calahan on the Jackets’ opening drive.

But both defenses held firm until the second quarter as Calahan punched it in with a 3-yard run with 11:54 remaining to give Cleburne the lead.

Young said the senior responded to adversity well in his first varsity start.

“On that first pick, they made a good read and had a good break on it,” Young said. “He needed to get that under his belt, and he calmed down. He was composed and we worked on a few protection issues [after that].”

South Hills tried to answer back and went 31 yards in 11 plays against a stiff Jacket defensive front before being forced to punt.

Cleburne went three-and-out on its next possession, and the Scorpions got the ball back on the Jacket 49.

But what happened next changed the complexion of the game, Young said.

Jacob Nelson met the Scorpion ball carrier head on and ripped the ball out of his hands and then barreled down to the South Hills 25, dragging several Scorpion defenders with him and carrying one on his back.

“That was a big momentum turner,” Young said. “They had some momentum and we came in there and made a big play.

“It took one play like that to get it started and then the offense got it going.”

Two plays later, the Jackets were in the end zone after a 9-yard scoring scamper by Cody Hicks.

South Hills failed to respond again after going three-and-out and punted the ball away to Cleburne.

After taking over on the Scorpion 48, the Jackets drove 52 yards in six plays, and Calahan threw his first touchdown of the season after finding Bubba Oakes alone in the end zone from 29 yards out.

The Jackets led 19-0 at halftime.

“Offensively, we started off a little slow, but we responded well,” Young said. “We didn’t lose our composure. We were slow out of the blocks, but we got rolling a little bit. Our coaches made good adjustments and it was a good win.”

L.J. Holmes was instrumental in the win, gaining 68 of his 110 rushing yards in the second half.

On Cleburne’s first drive of the third quarter, Holmes rushed three times for 35 yards, including a thrilling 3-yard scoring scamper that ignited the crowd again.

On the run, Holmes appeared to be stopped for a loss, but stopped and turned on a dime to avoid several more Scorpion defenders and twisted his way into the end zone to put the Jackets up 28-0 after an earlier safety gave Cleburne a 21-0 advantage.

Hicks scored the final touchdown of the game for the Jackets and finished with 82 yards rushing on 12 carries.

Calahan finished 7-of-11 for 84 yards with the one interception, and Brodrick Martin caught four passes for 47 yards.

Both teams combined to put the ball on the ground five times, with the Jackets losing one and South Hills failing to keep possession on both of its fumbles.

The Scorpions got on the board midway through the third quarter as Antwan Bradshaw broke free on a kickoff and took it 85 yards for the score to bring South Hills to within three scoresa at 28-6.

Jeovony Pastrano helped South Hills get into double-digits towards the end of the fourth quarter at the 4:54 mark with a 6-yard scoring run that capped off the scoring.