STJ 7 0 7 9 23
September 12, 1997. Carlisle Field,
Montgomery. Game conditions: Clear, slight
haze, calm wind Game Temperature: 84
Dakus Sankey scored the first three Flying Squadron touchdowns, and Jason Bowen had a hand in the next two, helping Highland Home pull away in the fourth quarter for a 41 - 23 victory over Saint James in the Trojans' season home opener.
Saint James appeared dominant in their first drive. After an endzone kickoff, it took the Trojans only 8 plays to traverse 80 yards. On the third play from scrimmage, quarterback Alan Olson lifted a pass to Rick Fidel and he took off down the sidelines for 58 yards before the ball was knocked loose by a potential tackler, but was fortunately recovered by the Trojans' Lucas Harris. Jason Smith and Jake McMillian alternated runs of 7, 4, 1, and 5 before Smith got the call for the final 6 yards and the touchdown. Jason Edwards' extra point gave Saint James a 7 - 0 lead with 8:29 remaining in the first quarter.
Highland Home struck back on a more sustained 14 play drive. An 11 yard run by Gary Merriweather and a 21 yard run by Sankey moved the ball down to the Trojan 24. On third and 11, Jason Bowen completed a pass to Lamaya Wilson for 12 yards to keep the drive alive. Five plays later, Sankey snuck in from the one for the touchdown. Bowen completed a two point conversion pass to Michel Berry and the Squadron had a lead they would not relinquish at 8 - 7.
A Trojan fumble on the first play of the next drive gave Highland Home a quick chance to score again and they promptly converted. On the second play of the second quarter, Sankey scored again, this time from 13 yards out. A two point run failed, and the Squadron lead was 14 - 7 with 11:10 remaining in the half. Neither team threatened to score again until the last minute of the half when Sankey broke loose on a 32 yard run down inside the Trojan 20, but a clipping penalty and a lost fumble on the following play thwarted the Squadron scoring opportunity.
It took Highland Home only four scrimmage plays to score at the beginning of the third quarter. After a pooch kickoff was fair caught at the 35, a 3 yard run by Sankey, 3 and 13 yard runs by the quarterback Bowen, and a 46 yard TD jaunt by Sankey had the Squadron in the endzone again. A two point pass attempt was incomplete, but the lead had grown to 20 - 7 for Highland Home.
The Trojans fought the turnover bug in the third quarter, fumbling and throwing a long interception to end their next two drives. However, Highland Home could not capitalize. After taking over from a short Squadron punt at midfield, a Smith run of 19 yards, McMillian runs of 7 and 9, and Smith runs of 5, 8, and 2 gave Saint James their second touchdown. The Edwards extra point was good and the gap closed to 20 - 14 with 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Squadron punted once more and Saint James was on the move again. An Olson pass to Fidel advanced the ball to the Squadron 35, and a play later a face mask penalty, 1 of 11 such committed by the Squadron, forwarded the ball to the 15. Saint James, which had been penalty free in the first three quarters, then committed one of their own. Two later incomplete passes led to an Edwards field goal attempt of 33 yards, which was good, and the Trojans had closed to within 3, 20 - 17,with still 7:39 remaining in the game.
However, after a poor kickoff was fielded at
the
Squadron 42, it took only 5 plays before Bowen took a
quarterback sweep
25 yards into the endzone for the Squadron. A two
point pass was
batted down, but the lead had jumped to 26 - 17, a two score
margin, with
4:11 remaining in
the game. Highland Home's Kunta June intercepted a
pass on the
next Trojan play from scrimmage, and returned it 35 yards to
the Trojan
22. Six plays later it was again Bowen on the sweep
for 9 yards
and another touchdown. This time the two point pass from
Bowen to
Berry converted, and the lead increased to a comfortable 34 - 17.
On the Trojans' next play from scrimmage, Jason Edwards was called in to quarterback and was granted a rude awakening as his first toss was intercepted by Larry Broadnax and returned the distance, 28 yards, for a touchdown. Lamayn Wilson came in to attempt an extra point by kicking, the only such Highland Home attempt of the game, and converted, rounding out the Squadron scoring at 41 - 17 with 1:31 remaining.
The Trojan backups managed a score against
the Squadron backups on the last play of the game.
Speed McDonald
had
a pair of 14 yard runs, and Michael Reid had a 15 yard run
and caught a
15 yard pass from third string QB Craig Bowman to put the
ball on the
15
yard line with 4 seconds and no Trojan time outs remaining.
As
the
clock restarted from the first down stoppage, Bowman just
managed to
beat
the clock by lifting a pass to Stephen Stringer for a 15
yard
touchdown.
No extra point was attempted as it was deemed unnecessary, so the Squadron
headed back to Highland Home after giving the Trojans their
first loss of the season.
SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME TWO
SAINT JAMES RUSHING 40 attempts 169 yards 2 TDs (4.23 yards per carry)
7
Smith
23 / 104 (2
TD)
19 McMillan 10 / 35
44 McDonald 2 / 28
35 Reid
1 / 15
2
Bowman
1 / 1
63
McIntyre
1 / - 2
17
Olson 4 / - 12
PASSING 5 completions 12 attempts 3 INTs 128 yards 1 TD (2 sacks of, - 10 yards)
17 Olson
3 - 8 - 2
111 yards
(2 sacks, -10 yards)
12
Edwards
0 -
1 - 1
2 Bowman
2 - 3 - 0 17 yards
(1 TD)
RECEIVING
1 Fidel
2 / 104
80
Stringer 1 /
15 (TD)
7 Smith
1 / 7
35 Reid
1
/ 2
TOTAL
YARDS: 297
RETURN TO THE SAINT JAMES 1997 FOOTBALL HOMEPAGE