GAME 10:    SAINT JAMES 73, @ Holtville 0

November 7, 1997.  Boykin Field, Holtville.  Game conditions:  Partly cloudy  Game Temperature:  47, Wind Chill 35  (Wind NE 10)

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In undoubtedly one of the most bizarre high school football games ever, and certainly so in Saint James history, the Trojans scored 11 touchdowns on only 10 offensive possessions as they wrapped up an area title with a 73 - 0 victory over a grossly-overmanned Holtville Bulldog team.  Most of the juniors and seniors had left the Bulldog team by their final game of the season for various reasons, but kudos are well-deserved to the underclassmen who fought for their school despite enormously adverse conditions on, of all things, Senior night at Holtville.

The tone of the night for Holtville was set on their second offensive play as a fumbled pitch was recovered by the Trojans at the Bulldog four yard line.  After a defensive  offside penalty, Jake McMillan scored the first of his four touchdowns on a two yard run.  The extra point was blocked,  but St. James had a 6 - 0 lead exactly one minute into the game.

The Trojans took over on their own 42 after the first of Holtville's five first half punts.  McMillan rambled for 44 yards on first down.  Michael Reid carried for 5, McMillan for 3, and McMillan again for 6 and the touchdown.  Jason Edwards kicked this point well over the concession stand, directly behind the north endzone goalpost, for a 13 - 0 lead with 7:55 remaining in the first quarter.

Trojan Nathan Yates returned the next Holtville punt 57 yards down to the Bulldog 9 before he was stopped.  From there, two consecutive offside penalties put the ball at the 2, and Jason Smith, playing in his first game in six weeks after recovering from a broken ankle, carried in for the touchdown.  The Edwards extra point again was good, and Saint James had a 20 point lead with 5:35 remaining in the first quarter.

Holtville was again held to 3 and out, and the Trojans took over after recovering a muffed punt at their own 44.  Two McMillan runs of 18 yards, the second overcoming a clipping penalty at the end of one of the Trojans' two completed passes in the game, put the ball at the Bulldog 22.  From there, Smith darted in for his second touchdown of the game, and he was rested the remainder of the way for the upcoming playoffs.  Edwards' conversion again was good and St. James was cruising at 27 - 0 with still 1:15 remaining in the first quarter.

A Rick Fidel interception set up the next Trojan touchdown on the third play of the second quarter.  Craig Bowman dashed left on a quarterback sweep for 49 yards and a touchdown.  The Edwards extra point pushed the lead to 34 - 0 just over 13 minutes into the game.

After the next punt, Alan Olsen was called upon to quarterback in Edwards' place.  On second down, McMillan took a handoff 46 yards for his second touchdown.  The Edwards extra point bumped the score up to 41 - 0.    Holtville did manage their first two first downs of the game on the next drive against the second and third team defenses, who played the remainder of the game.  However, a Stephen Woodham punt return of 19 yards had the Trojans on the Bulldog 44 with 86 seconds remaining in the half.  Since simple running plays seemed unstoppable by the defense, Saint James opted for 'conservative' with a screen pass from Jake Smith to Rick Fidel.  It promptly went 44 yards for a touchdown.  Edwards' sixth consecutive extra point gave the Trojans a 48 - 0 lead.   Mercifully at this point, the referees and the coaches agreed to let the clock continuously run without stopping, except on changes of possession and after scores, and even then the clock may have continued running a time or two.  However, being an area game, the quarters were not allowed to be shortened.  Well, intentionally...

On the first play of the second half, once again attempting 'conservative', a simple dive play to McMillan ended up being a 64 yard touchdown run.  This time Stephen Stringer came in for an extra point attempt, but missed, making the score 54 - 0 with (approximately the rest of the way as the clock continued moving) 10:54 remaining in the third quarter.  Holtville ran six plays in an amazing six minutes off the clock, but was held short on a fourth down at their own 45.  After a Reid run of 5, a Smith run of 21 and a Lucas Harris run of 18, Olsen ran the ball in from the 1 for the next touchdown.  Jeff McIntyre tried the extra point this time, but the snap was bobbled, leaving the score at 60 - 0.

Holtville moved the ball well on the next drive with a 45 yard pass completion and a roughing the passer penalty tacked on.  However, on fourth and seven from the Trojan 12, their deepest penetration of the night, a pass attempt fell incomplete.  From there, a Michael Reid run of 20 yards proceeded a Nathan Yates carry of 68 yards, and Saint James was in the endzone again.  A successful McIntyre extra point bumped the lead to 67 - 0 with around five minutes to go in the game.  This was the tenth Trojan touchdown in ten Trojan offensive possessions, comprising only 25 snaps from scrimmage.

On the next Holtville drive, Saint James' final touchdown was scored.  A completed Holtville pass was fumbled and Michael Reid picked up the ball on the Bulldog 35 and darted for the endzone.  The extra point, from 15 yards back after a penalty, was wide left and the score was 73 - 0 with less than three minutes to go in the game.

Apparently, this was enough for one or more of the home boosters.  After an endzone kickoff and a three yard run, with still nearly two minutes to go in the game, all of the overhead stadium lights and surrounding security lights suddenly "went out" all at once.  Before a panic situation of any kind broke out, and because only distant scattered  lights were available, the referees left the field and instructed the players and coaches on both sides to do so as well.  Thus, it was "the night that the lights went out in Holtville" and the game was terminated at 73 - 0, leaving Saint James to walk back still fully uniformed to the bus in sheer darkness to ready for the upcoming state playoffs.

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