STJ 10 7 7 17 41
November 8, 1996 Carlisle
Field. Game conditions: Clear,
windy, wet field (2" rain earlier in day) Game
Temperature: 52 Wind NW 12, gusts 24
Alan Olsen ran for a
touchdown and threw for three more, totaling nearly 270
passing yards, and Jay Robertson caught nine of those passes
for a school record 202 yards. Despite the Trojans
letting a 17 point lead slide away, they took control in the
second half and marched to a playoff-clinching 41 - 27 area
victory over the visiting Holtville Bulldogs.
Holtville muffed the
opening kickoff, the first of their eight fumbles during the
game on an extremely wet field, but held onto the ball.
For one play. The Trojans pounced on the next play's
fumble at the Bulldog 24. After a first down, Saint
James lost yardage on two consecutive carries and despite
gaining 10 yards on a third down pass completion, they had to
settle for a Keith Horn 27 yard field goal and an early 3 - 0
lead.
Holtville risked an early
fourth down and one on their own 39, and it failed. From
there, four plays later on fourth and six, the Trojans were
far more successful on their attempt as Olsen found Jason
Smith for a 35 yard catch and run touchdown. Horn's
extra point gave Saint James a 10 - 0 lead midway through the
first quarter.
The Bulldogs again failed
to make a first down and punted, but Saint James fumbled the
ball away near midfield. A 12 yard run by Holtville gave
them their initial first down of the game, but they later had
to punt, nailing Saint James at their own 13 to begin the
second quarter. Olsen, while being tackled by a Bulldog
rusher, somehow connected with Robertson for 30 yards and a
big first down. Two plays later, they connected again on
a well-developed screen pass for 46 yards and a
touchdown. Horn's extra point, just one of his seven
all-converted kicks on the night, gave the Trojans a 17 point
lead early in the second quarter and what seemed to be the
dawning of a surprisingly easy victory.
Not So Fast! Two
plays after an out of bounds kickoff, Blake Floyd, moved from
quarterback to fullback due to injuries, broke loose on a 51
yard run to the Trojan 9. On third down from the seven,
Holtville finally scored on a touchdown pass to Willie
Sanders. The extra point cut the lead to a then-still
comfortable ten point margin.
During the next Trojan
drive, a Robertson completion for a first down was negated by
offensive pass interference, and Saint James was forced to
punt. However, the snap was bobbled and the punter was
tackled at the Saint James 36. Holtville promptly
completed a 17 yard pass on the next play, but the ball was
knocked loose and wobbled around on wet ground for 10 seconds
before the Bulldogs pounced back atop the ball three yards
further downfield. From the 16, Tracy Salters carried
into the endzone on the next play, and despite a missed extra
point, the momentum clearly had switched to the side of the
Green as they had closed to within four points.
Saint James again drove on
Holtville but fumbled the ball away at the Bulldog 20.
With four minutes remaining in the half, Holtville drove 80
yards and used almost the entire clock. A 38 yard run
and 34 yard pass reception by Sanders were the big plays,
along with a pass interference penalty in the endzone with 49
seconds remaining. Holtville had used all of its
timeouts, but had enough time to run two plays; the second
being a quarterback sneak by Thomas just into the endzone for
a touchdown, and 20 straight points in less than 9 minutes had
gobbled up a 17 point Trojan lead and turned it into a 3 point
halftime deficit.
Once again, on the first
drive of the second half, the Trojans moved the ball readily
on the Bulldogs in the middle of the field, but an incomplete
pass on fourth down and four resulted in another change of
possession. However, two plays later, Holtville returned
the favor with their third lost fumble of the game.
After a five yard sack and a five yard run, Olsen sought
Robertson once again, and he responded by making the catch of
the season, even later confirmed by the referee's
off-the-record opinion, battling two defenders for a one hand
grab and a dragging foot to stay in bounds at the back of the
endzone for a 23 yard touchdown. Horn's extra point
returned the lead and the momentum to Saint James.
Holtville promptly drove to
the Trojan 22, overcoming a clipping penalty, but failed on
fourth and ten. A Smith run of 14 and another Robertson
reception of 14 pushed the ball back to the Bulldog side of
the field. Robertson's 22 yard reception moved the ball
into the red zone on the second play of the fourth quarter,
but Richard Meadows, in to give Robertson a well-deserved
rest, was tackled on a screen pass at the Bulldog three on
third down. Horn kicked his second field goal of the
game from extra point length, and the Saint James lead was
back to 7 at 27 - 20.
The Bulldogs fumbled on
their first play from scrimmage after an out of bounds
kickoff. A defensive personal foul penalty inside the
ten yard line was key, and on fourth down from the one, Olsen
managed to sneak behind the left guard into the endzone.
Horn's extra point gave Saint James 17 straight points for the
second time in the game, and a 34 - 20 lead.
After an unexpected, and
unsuccessful onside kick attempt, Holtville had a short field
to travel. The Bulldogs drove to the one yard line, but
a third down fumbled snap was unintentionally kicked backwards
to the 12 yard line, and a fourth down pass was well defended
by Saint James thwarting the drive. A Trojan punt four
plays later was returned to the 36 yard line, and Holtville
added a late touchdown as they brought in Blake Floyd, now
doubling as a defensive lineman with a number 51 jersey to
replace one ruined earlier in the game to score on a handoff
from one yard out. However, the drive cost the Bulldogs
their final timeouts of the game as the score was narrowed to
seven points with still 3:18 remaining, yet Holtville could no
longer stop the clock by the timeout route.
Saint James recovered the
Bulldog onside kick attempt, and frustration began to set in
on the Holtville side as their outside chance for a playoff
berth was quickly fading. A personal foul penalty
following Robertson's final catch, which put him over 200
yards for the night, moved the ball to the Bulldog seven, and
Jake McMillan, the Trojans' leading rusher for the game, took
the ball the remaining yards for the final Trojan touchdown
with 122 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Holtville drove to near
midfield on their final possession of the season, but Rick
Fidel intercepted a pass at the Trojan 35 and Saint James ran
out the clock looking toward a second playoff matchup in four
years against mighty Saint Clair County on the road the
following week.
SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME TEN
SAINT JAMES RUSHING 48 carries 183 yards 2 TDs (3.81 yards per carry)
19 McMillan 12 /
87 (1 TD) 7
Smith 21 /
74
32 Meadows 2 / 34
21
Harris
6 /
25
2
Sommerville
1 / - 3
63 McIntyre 1 / - 16
17
Olsen
5
/ - 18 (1 TD)
PASSING 13 completions 18 attempts 0 INTs 269 yards 3 TDs (2 sacks of, 17 yards)
17 Olsen 13 - 18 - 0 269 yards 3 TDs
RECEIVING
44
Robertson 9 / 202
(SCHOOL YARDAGE RECORD) (2 TDs) 7
Smith
1 / 35 1 TD
19
McMillan 1 /
12
32
Meadows
1 / 10 88
Woodham 1 / 10
TOTAL YARDS: 452
KICKS:
XP 5 / 5 FG 2 / 2
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0
/ 0
KICKOFFS:
8
(41,45,48,OB,46,OB,11,29)
PUNTS: 1 (32)
KO
RETURNS: 5
(12,14,0,0,0)
PUNT
RETURNS: 0
FIRST DOWNS:
18 (10 rushing, 7 passing, 1 penalty)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
FUMBLES: 2, lost 2
TURNOVER MARGIN: + 2
PENALTIES: 4 / 32
TIME OF POSSESSION: 26:41
HOLTVILLE
RUSHING 34 attempts 135
yards 3 TDs (3.97 yards per carry)
PASSING
10 completions 17 attempts 1 INT 204 yards
TOTAL
YARDS: 339
KICKS:
XP 3 / 4 FG 0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 /
0
KICKOFFS: 5
(44,36,23,42,14)
PUNTS: 2 (31,27)
KO
RETURNS: 6
(3,15,18,19,0,4)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (9)
FIRST
DOWNS: 12 (4 rushing, 7 passing, 1 penalty)
FUMBLES:
8, lost 3
PENALTIES:
5 / 63 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 21:19