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October 2, 1998 Catholic Field, Montgomery. Game Conditions: Mostly clear Game Temperature: 75 Light, variable wind
St. James made it nine Capitol City Conference wins in a row as they shook off some early game doldrums to convincingly defeat their Vaughn Road neighbors, Catholic High School, 48-0.
The Catholic defense shone brightly early as St. James could only manage two Michael Ritch field goals of 33 and 42 yards in the first 16½ minutes of the game. However, the "play" of the game may actually have been a choice timeout called by Trojan Coach Johnson with 5 minutes to go in the first half and the Trojans holding only a 6 point lead. Another unsuccessful Trojans offensive drive led to a deep Saint James punt. Three Trojans combined to hit the Catholic returner inside the 10 yard line, but he broke loose and ran out to Catholic's 47. The timeout was immediately called, and Coach Johnson verbally lit a fire under the sluggish Trojans. The dividends returned were almost immediate.
Catholic promptly turned the ball over at the Trojans 47 on downs. Two consecutive Jake McMillan runs plus a face mask penalty moved the ball to the 29 yard line. Lee Murphy then lifted a nice spiral to Stephan Woodham for 20 yards, and McMillian ran the final 9 yards for the Trojans' first touchdown of the game. The Ritch XP made the score 13-0 with 2:05 to go in the first half.
Shortly afterwards, an unfortunate situation made all the sideline walkers vividly recall the 1982 Alabama / Penn State game. Catholic bumbled the ensuing kickoff and only returned to their own 3 yard line. St. James called their two remaining timeouts to try and get the ball back. However, Catholic earned their first down on a nice third down run. With the Trojans out of timeouts, Catholic could have simply run the clock out in the first half and maintained a respectable score of 0-13. However, on third down, Catholic workhorse running back and punter Justin Morgan tried a mysterious quickkick to run out the remaining time. The strategy backfired. The kick hit the back of an offensive lineman's helmet and headed backwards. The ball was smartly picked up by Jason Edwards at the 8 yard line and carried into the endzone for another St. James defensive touchdown, with only 9 seconds remaining in the half - the ensuing extra point resulting in the 20-0 halftime margin.
St. James dominated the outmanned and perhaps still-stunned Knights in the second half. After a punt forced the Knights deep in their own territory, the vaunted Trojan punt block team stuffed another and Stephen Woodham recovered in the endzone. The XP made the score 27-0. The next time the Trojans had the ball, they moved impressively 80 yards in 7 plays. Michael Reid carried three times for 44 yards, and Ryan Sexton threw a TD pass to Woodham for the final 19 yards and a 34-0 lead with 35 seconds left in quarter 3.
Catholic fumbled on their next offensive snap, and the second teamers drove 20 yards on 7 plays - the final 2 on a fourth down touchdown carry by Speed McDonald, his first TD of the season. Two drives later, bolstered by the third teamers, Woodham as a runningback picked up his third TD of the game by the third different means - a run of 31 yards, leading to the final score of 48-0. This margin tied the largest ever by Saint James over a city opponent, and was an impressive lead in to the city game of the year.
SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME SIX
ST. JAMES RUSHING 43 attempts 261 yards 3 TDs (6.07 yards per carry)
19 McMillan 13 / 80 (1 TD)
35 Reid 4 / 51
22 Woodham 3 / 49 (1 TD)
21 Grooms 7
/
37
33 Snipe 4
/ 16 2
Guntharp 3 / 14
44 McDonald 4 / 13 (1
TD) 10 Murphy 1
/ 3 70
Barber 1 / 2
17
Sexton 1
/
2
46 Holloway 2 /- 6
PASSING 5 completions 7 attempts 0 INTs 62 yards 1 TD (no sacks of)
10 Murphy 3 - 5 - 0
30 yards 0 TDs
17 Sexton 2
- 2 - 0 32 yards 1 TD
RECEIVING
22 Woodham 3 / 46 (1 TD)
89 Salvia 1
/ 13 35 Reid
1 / 3
TOTAL YARDS: 323