GAME 6:   @ Central-Coosa 28, St. James 21

St. James fought brisk northwest winds, five lost fumbles, and over 200 all-purpose yards by Central-Coosa's Division 1A prospect tailback Kilpatrick McKinney, coming up just one touchdown short of the homestanding Cougars, 28-21.

The first half was very much unlike most St. James' games of the recent past with big plays both ways (mostly on the Cougar side), numerous penalties, kicking game errors, and a plethora of turnovers; unfortunately, mostly on the Trojan side.  St. James punted after making no first down on their initial possession.  From the Cougar 43, on the first Coosa play from scrimmage, McKinney took a toss sweep right, found his hole, and vaulted 57 yards into the Trojan endzone.  The extra point was good, giving the Cougars a 7-0 lead less than 2 minutes into the game.

The Trojans managed one first down on their next drive, but punted again.  The Cougars were forced to punt after one first down, but the punt return was muffed and Coosa recovered on the Trojan 26.  Two plays later, McKinney zoomed into the endzone from 24 yards away.  The extra point this time was wide left and the score was 13-0 with 2:42 to go in the first quarter.

On the next drive, St. James moved down the field fueled by a 30 yard pass from Alan Craft to Daniel Winn and a 21 yard run by Nathan Yates, but fumbled possession away again on the Cougar 15.  However, the Trojans then held and forced a deflected/shanked punt out of bounds at the Cougar 30.  On second down, Craft lifted a beautiful pass to a well-covered Winn for 29 yards and the first Trojan score of the evening.  Lawton Webb's extra point made the score 13-7 with 8:11 to go in the half.

It only took the Cougars 4 plays to respond.  After a 40 yard kickoff return, quarterback Duntrell Burton tossed a 61 yard catch and run to all-state tight end Justin Tuck for their third touchdown.  McKinney ran in a two point conversion and the Coosa lead increased to 21-7.   The Trojans quickly responded.  A 17 yard scamper by Craft and a 50 yard sideline burst by Nigel Guntharp gave the Trojans the ball at the Cougar 3.  Guntharp carried in on the next play, and the Webb extra point moved the Trojans to within 21-14 with 4:31 to go in the half.

On the next play from scrimmage, McKinney apparently dashed into the endzone again from 62 yards, but a clipping penalty at the Trojan 16 withheld the score.  The Cougars fumbled on the next play, and the Trojans had a chance to drive for a tie before halftime.  However, a well-defended lateral pass and resulting lost fumble gave Coosa a first and goal on the Trojan 9.  On third down, Tavares Harrell ran in from 3 yards and the extra point gave the Cougars a 28-14 lead with just over a minute to go in the half.

The Trojans bobbled the kickoff into the strong wind and Coosa recovered, but with no timeouts left, the Cougars did not have enough time to possibly add their fifth touchdown of the half, and the score remained 28-14.  At halftime, proper defensive adjustments were made keeping Coosa off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, but St. James could only convert once themselves.

A.Z. Holloway intercepted a Cougar pass on the second play of the third quarter, but the Trojans returned the favor with their fifth lost fumble of the game three plays later.  St. James held, but could not make a first down on the next possession.  When forced to punt, McKinney yet again appeared to be in the endzone returning the punt 52 yards for a touchdown, but three major penalties, two accepted (clipping and a resulting unsportsmanlike conduct), pushed the ball back.  The Cougars ran out much of the clock before finally punting on the final play of the third quarter.

St. James then started one of their patented grind-it-out drives, including five first downs.  A Craft pass to Holloway for 22 yards, a defensive pass interference penalty, and a 14 yard run by Guntharp were the highlights of the drive.  Guntharp added the touchdown on the 16th play of the drive, a 3 yard run.  The extra point was good, but only 5:59 remained in the game and the Trojans were still down by 7.

An onside kick was called for, but the Cougars recovered and managed to earn 2 first downs, gaining yardage and running clock, before being stopped on downs at the Trojan 12 with only 1:28 to go in the game and the Trojans with only one time out.  Three incomplete passes and a fourth down quarterback sack turned the ball back over to the Cougars, who simply downed the ball 3 times while wrapping up their fifth victory of the season, improving their overall record to 5-1 and their region record to 3-1.

GAME SIX SIDELINE STATISTICS:

ST. JAMES      RUSHING   39 attempts  158 yards  2 TDs  (4.05 yards per carry)

                         2   Guntharp         19 / 120  (2 TD)     34   Yates            15 /  50
                       10   Craft                 4 /     5                 44   Salvia             1 / - 17

                        PASSING      4 completions  12 attempts  0 INTs  81 yards  1 TD  (2 sacks of, - 11 yards)

                       10   Craft        4 - 12 - 0   81 yards   1 TD  (2 sacks, - 11)

                        RECEIVING

                       22   Winn        2 / 59  (1 TD)       4   Holloway       1 / 22       34   Yates      1 / 0

                        TOTAL YARDS:   239

COOSA            RUSHING   45 attempts  242 yards  3 TDs  (McKinney, 21 carries for 188 yards)  (5.38 yards per carry)
                        PASSING      3 completions  8 attempts  1 INT  76 yards  1 TD  (1 sack of, - 9 yards)
                        TOTAL YARDS:  318

                        KICKS:  XP  2 / 3                FG  0 / 0
                        2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  1 / 1
                        FIRST DOWNS:   10  (9 rushing, 1 passing)
                        FUMBLES:  1, lost 1
                        PENALTIES:  11 / 105 yards
                        TIME OF POSSESSION:  25:18