STJ 21 20 21 0 62
August 29, 2003 Carlisle Field Game conditions: Cloudy, breezy, slightly humid Game temperature: 81 Wind S 5-15
St. James scored nine touchdowns in the first three quarters of a game of which they took immediate control; a game which took nearly 3½ hours to play, but provided lots of offensive and defensive excitement. The Trojans defeated the Gulf Shores Dolphins 62-26 in a game which, for the third time in less than two full seasons, broke the overall combined team scoring record in a St. James game with 88 points.
The scoring started on the second play from scrimmage. After an incomplete pass, a snap directly back to Ted Brewer was handled and he eluded several tacklers at the line of scrimmage and broke into the secondary, carrying the ball virtually untouched into the endzone. Will Stansfield added the first of 8 extra points, only missing one during the evening, and the score was 7-0 St. James less than 30 seconds into the game.
The remainder of the first quarter dragged on, mostly due to penalties. Each team was flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls in the first quarter alone, four of ten penalties committed in only the first twelve minutes. After a sack and a penalty, the Trojans took over when a short punt was downed at their own 40. The Dolphins seized momentum, albeit briefly, as they intercepted on the ensuing drive. After several first downs, and several more penalties, the Dolphins punted again. This time Matt Ward took the deeper punt at his own 24, ran to the near sidelines, avoided two tacklers at the 30, and then avoided a potential tackle from the punter at the Dolphins 30, speeding into the endzone. The second extra point raised the score to 14-0.
The next Trojans drive featured two Brett Gantt passes, of 27 yards to Taylor Thompson, and three plays later a beautiful 24 yard short crossing route pass to Taylor Nelson which went the distance, and the lead was 21 still in the first quarter. After the next Dolphin punt early in the second quarter, a Gantt run of 21 yards and a Gantt pass to Greg Aitken of 23 yards moved the ball down to the 1, where Brewer bowled in for his second touchdown and a 27-0 lead.
On the next Trojans drive, and subsequent drives, substitutes were inserted readily. A bad punt snap gave the Dolphins the ball on the Trojans 25, and on second down quarterback Taylor Files lofted a 25 yard touchdown catch and run to Ben Joseph. The extra point had Gulf Shores on the board, finally, at 7-27.
Fourteen seconds later, the lead was 27 again. On first down from his own 31, Gantt called his own number on a quarterback inside sweep and cleared early traffic on his way to a 69 yard touchdown. As the half neared its end, Gulf Shores failed on fourth and one on the Trojan 35, and it took St. James only 3 plays to score. Brewer ran for 37 on his final carry of the night, backup QB Tyler Murphy added 8 on a run, and then passed to Christian Holcomb for the final 20 yards and the sixth touchdown of the first half. The extra point sent the Trojans to the locker room after a long timewise first half with a comfortable 41-7 lead.
The Trojans added three touchdowns in the third quarter. After a Ward punt return of 18 yards and another major penalty, Peter Krothapalli took the ball in from 17 yards on the first play from scrimmage and the lead was 48-7. Two plays later, a Files pass was intercepted by Taylor Thompson at the Dolphin 21 and he dashed into the endzone. After a Gulf Shores fumble midway through the quarter, Matt Ward on offense ran for 20 yards, and 6 plays later it was again Krothapalli, this time from 7 yards, to close the Trojans scoring at 62. For the remainder of the game, against mostly third string defenders, the Dolphins were able to move the ball on the ground. Colby Clecker played an ironman game for the Dolphins, punting and defending, as well as scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns. The Dolphins moved the ball 73 yards in the last 4 minutes of the game with some well placed timeouts and some fortunate deflections on pass receptions, with a touchdown pass thrown by Evan Stringfellow to Chris Hodges with 17.8 remaining in the game for the final scoring margin.
GAME ONE SIDELINE STATISTICS:
ST. JAMES RUSHING 27 attempts 247 yards 5 TDs (9.15 yards per carry)
42 Brewer 9 / 115 (2 TD)
10 B. Gantt 3 /
94 (1 TD)
44 Krothapalli 4 / 27
(2 TD) 30 Ward
1 / 20
9 Murphy
5
/ 5
7 W. Gantt 1 / 4
14 Enslen
4 / -18
PASSING 5 completions 10 attempts 1 INT 121 yards 2 TDs (no sacks of)
10 Gantt 3 - 7 - 1
79 yards 1 TD
14 Enslen 1 - 1 - 0
22 yards
9 Murphy 1 - 2 - 0
20 yards 1 TD
RECEIVING
23 Aitken 1 / 28
2 Thompson 1 /
27
3 Nelson
1 / 24 (TD)
18 Tatum 1 / 22
11 Holcomb 1 / 20
(TD)
TOTAL YARDS: 368
KICKS: XP 8 / 9
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT
CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS:
10 (42,OB,51,59,EZ,EZ,51,50,39,26)
PUNTS: 2 (30,36)
KO RETURNS: 5
(4,0,0fc,16,0fc)
PUNT
RETURNS: 4 (76TD, 2, 18, 0f)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (21TD)
FIRST DOWNS: 16 (11 rushing, 5 passing)
FUMBLES: 1, lost 1
TURNOVER MARGIN: 0
PENALTIES: 11 / 90 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 15:53
GULF SHORES RUSHING 42
attempts 196 yards 2 TDs (5.12 yards per carry)
PASSING 8 completions
25 attempts 1 INT 125 yards 2 TDs (2 sacks of,
- 19 yards)
TOTAL YARDS: 321
KICKS: XP 2 / 2
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 2
KICKOFFS: 5
(36,28,32,36,15)
PUNTS: 6 (31,21,32,34,30,23)
KO RETURNS: 5 (-3,16,15,16,0)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (3)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
FIRST DOWNS: 19 (13 rushing, 6 passing)
FUMBLES: 2, lost 1
PENALTIES: 13 / 122 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 32:07