GAME 8:    John Carroll 31, St. James 21

The Cavaliers of John Carroll avenged a surprising home loss last year as Michael Brimage ran for 168 yards and 3 touchdowns, each 1 yard in length, as they defeated the St. James Trojans 31-21.

Special teams and offense dominated the early part of the game.  St. James managed two first downs on their opening drive but had to punt.  Reggie Jones, Cavalier punt returner, gathered the ball on his own 33 yard line and broke loose down the opponent sidelines, darting all the way to the Trojan 1 on the punt return.  An illegal use of hands penalty at the location of the touchdown saving tackle pushed the ball back to the St. James 11.  On third down and 8 from the 9, Tim Harris went off right end for 9 yards and a touchdown.  Chris McLane added the extra point and John Carroll enjoyed an early 7-0 lead.

The Trojans quickly evened the score.  Eight consecutive running plays covered 75 yards.  Fifteen of those yards on the seventh play sweep by quarterback Ryan Sexton put the ball on the 1, and Speed McDonald bowled over from there.  A Nigel Guntharp extra point evened the score at 7-7 midway through the first quarter.

John Carroll moved the ball again, but turned the ball over on downs on the Trojan 43.  It took St. James only 4 plays to score.  A nice Sexton to Matt Salvia pass for 26 yards advanced the ball to the Cavalier 26.  Two plays later, on the fourth play of the second quarter, on a slick counter, Nigel Guntharp snuck up the middle and veered down the left sideline for a 22 yard touchdown.  He then added the extra point for a 14-7 Trojans lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Reggie Jones broke loose again and carried the return all the way to the Trojans' 28.  An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the ball back 15 yards, and the Cavaliers could not convert a first and 25.  However, McLane booted a 42 yard field goal - only the second field goal the Trojans have allowed all year - to close the gap to 14-10 with 7:55 to go in the half.

St. James turned over the ball themselves on downs at the Cavalier 32, and John Carroll responded with a beautiful half-ending drive.  Michael Brimage, star of the night, had runs of 16, 3, 5, and 14 yards, and later carried the final yard of the drive for a touchdown with 43 seconds to go in the half.  The extra point gave John Carroll the lead for good at 17-14.

On their second possession of the third quarter, St. James committed the first turnover of the game - a crucial one - fumbling on their own 35.  During the following drive, two consecutive unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were called on the Trojan sideline, and a coach was ejected.  These penalties moved the ball to the 5 yard line, and three more Brimage runs had the ball again in the endzone.   The third McLane extra point gave the Cavaliers a 24-14 lead with just over 17 minutes to go in the game.

The Trojans drove hard again - including a conversion on a key fourth down.  On third and goal from the Cavalier four, Sexton drilled a pass to Wade Melton for the third Trojan touchdown of the night.  The Guntharp extra point closed the gap to 24-21 with 7:47 to go in the game.

John Carroll, however, put the game out of reach on the next drive.  Brimage was the featured star once more, with 7 runs for 56 yards on the drive, including his third 1 yard touchdown run of the game.  The extra point gave John Carroll the final margin of victory at 31-21.

St. James had one more legitimate chance to score, but a Sexton pass was intercepted at the John Carroll 42, ending the threat.   St. James dropped to 5-3 overall, finishing a somewhat surprising 2-3 at Carlisle Field during the regular season.

SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME EIGHT

ST. JAMES      RUSHING   46 attempts  225 yards  2 TDs  (4.89 yards per carry)

                          1   McDonald      20 / 115  (1 TD)    20   Melton     9 / 56      2   Guntharp      6 / 54  (1 TD)
                        17   Sexton              9 /   5                 33   Snipe       2 / - 5

                        PASSING      8 completions  15 attempts  1 INT  107 yards  1 TD  (4 sacks of, - 23 yards)

                        17   Sexton            8 - 15 - 1   107 yards   1 TD  (4 sacks, - 23)

                        RECEIVING

                          2   Guntharp          4 / 47                 44   Salvia          1 / 26
                        20   Melton              2 / 25  (1 TD)       1   McDonald   1 /  9

                        TOTAL YARDS:   332

J CARROLL     RUSHING   50 attempts  219 yards  4 TDs  (4.38 yards per carry)
                        PASSING      2 completions  5 attempts  0 INTs  31 yards  0 TDs  (2 sacks of, - 10 yards)
                        TOTAL YARDS:  250