CAR (1)
8:16 Taylor 2 run
(Harcrow kick) 0 - 7
CAR (2) 1:18 Acker 1 pass from
Harcrow (Harcrow
kick) 0 - 14
STJ (3) 5:42
Redding 4 run
(Finklea kick) 7
- 14
STJ (4) 8:28
Redding 2 run
(Finklea kick)
14 - 14
CAR (4) 0:57 Taylor 3
run
(Harcrow kick)
14 - 21
November
22, 1985. Billy McGee Stadium.
Game conditions: see below
Saint James' greatest football season to date came to an
unlucky end in game number 13 as they traveled to Pickens
County for the
first time ever and fought hard in a 21 - 14 defeat to the
Carrollton Indians. Carrollton was an unbelievably
surprising team in the playoffs. They had faced
primarily 3A and 4A teams in the regular season and finished with a 3
- 6 record overall, including two area victories and a win
over a small Mississippi school. However, the Indians
chose the right time of the season to get hot as they held off
the determined Trojans on a cool rainy late fall
evening. (Carrollton would be defeated 17 - 0 at
eventual undefeated 1A State Champion Sand Rock, one of the
greatest small school teams in Alabama High School Football
history, the following week in the semi-finals.)
Trojan Jeff Stevenson fumbled on the second play of the game,
with Timmy Kilpatrick recovering for the Indians at the Saint
James 31 yard line. Six plays later Dan Taylor, who led
Carrollton with 81 yards rushing, scored his first of two
touchdowns and the Barry Harcrow kick gave the Indians an
early 7 - 0 lead.
The Indians drove 39 yards in 7 plays for their second
touchdown just before halftime. On fourth down from the
Trojan one, a pass which should have been intercepted fell
into the arms of Kennedy Acker, and he wrestled it away from
the defender for the score. Harcrow's extra point gave
Carrollton a 14 - 0 lead at halftime.
The halftime coaches' chat apparently fired up the
Trojans. After stopping the Indians on three plays,
Saint James took over and drove 52 yards in eight plays for
their first score of the game. Johnny Redding, who
rushed for 110 yards on 11 carries despite only picking up 27
yards in the first half, scored the first of his two
touchdowns, and Gavin Finklea's extra point cut the lead in
half. After another Indian punt, Saint James responded
with a second arduous drive of 14 plays and 58 yards before
the Redding two yard touchdown run and Finklea's extra point
tied the score at 14 with just over eight minutes remaining in
regulation time.
The tams traded punts, and Carrollton took over on their own
21 with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game. After
a 21 yard run by James Brown and a one 1 yard gain, Taylor ran
for 10 yards and a first down in Trojan territory. The
Indians picked up 15 more yards on the next play on a
defensive pass interference penalty. Taylor ran for
seven more yards and Walter Minor carried for 22 before being
stopped at the Trojan three. Taylor scored on the
following play with less than a minute remaining to seal the
victory.
Dan Taylor, who led Carrollton with 80 yards rushing, scored
twice, including the game-winning touchdown in the last minute of the
game. Carrollton's only four first downs in the second
half were on the final scoring drive of 79 yards. Carrollton
rushed for nearly 150 yards in the slop, while the Trojans ran for 144.
Minor rushed for
49 yards on 12 carries, in addition to Taylor's 81 yards, in
the Pickens County mud.
Even though the Trojans went down to defeat, they went on to
celebrate an 11 - 2 season, by far the most successful in the
team's short history, which included their first playoff
victories ever (at home and on the road).
Thanks in great part to Lewis Williams of the Pickens County Herald
for supplying recap information.