GAME 5: ST. JAMES 14, @
Daleville 13
STJ
0 0 14
0
14
DAL
0 6
7 0
13
SCORING SUMMARY:
DAL (2) 0:58
Brown 8 run
(kick
blocked) 0
- 6
DAL (3) 9:02 Jones 32 interception
return
(Arroyo kick) 0 - 13
STJ (3) 7:11 Murphy 4 run
(Sutter kick) 7 - 13
STJ (3) 4:54 Newton 8 pass from
Murphy
(Sutter
kick) 14 - 13
October 1, 2004.
Warhawk Stadium 7:00 PM Hazy, clearing after dark,
humid 84 degrees, no wind
St. James overcame five turnovers, including three in
the first quarter, and scored themselves on consecutive third quarter
possessions without allowing their opponents a play from scrimmage, as
the Trojans made their first trip ever to Warhawk Stadium a successful
one with a come-from-behind 14 - 13 victory over Region 2 foe
Daleville.
The first two plays of the game resulted in turnovers. St. James
fumbled the opening kickoff return, but Daleville in an effort to
strike immediately threw into the endzone, right into the hands of St.
James' Tyler Wahl, whose touchback gave the Trojans the ball on their
20. The Trojans nearly scored on the first play as a halfback
option pass was just over the outstretched arms of a wide open
receiver. St. James later punted, and Daleville picked up several
first downs, but a penalty on a fourth down wiped out thoughts of
kicking a field goal or going for a first, and a punt was fielded at
the Trojan 5. Despite a holding penalty at their own 12, St.
James would pick up four first downs. Two runs by John Enslen, a
27 yard pass from Enslen to Taylor Thompson, and a 5 yard run by Matt
Ward bolstered by a face mask penalty had the Trojans at the Warhawk
36, but an interception on the next play ended the drive.
Daleville made one first down, but a penalty and a short punt kept the
Trojans on the Daleville side of the field. However, another pass
interception just before the end of the first quarter turned the ball
over yet again, and the Trojans were quite fortunate to still be tied
at zero at that point. First down runs by quarterback Brandon
Brown and running back Stephan Gray moved the ball into Trojan
territory, but a sack of Brown from the Trojan 27 led to an endzone
punt.
St. James drove the field again, but a costly holding penalty on a
converted fourth down and short at the Warhawk 39 forced another punt,
which appeared to be a winner as it was downed at the Warhawk 4 yard
line. From there, Daleville went on a nearly 5 minute 14 play 96
yard drive, and with 25 yards of penalties included, actually traveled
121 yards to the first score of the night. Brown, who carried the
ball 11 times in the second quarter alone, ran for 18, 8, 8, and
22 yards to bring the ball back into Trojan territory. A block
below the waist penalty forced Daleville into a second and 27 from
their own
44, which Brown converted immediately on a nifty 32 yard run.
After a delay of game penalty, Brown completed a 17 yard sideline pass
to Quinton Roberts down to the Trojan 8, and Brown called his own
number on the next play and scored with 58 seconds remaining in the
half. However, the extra point was blocked by Matt Ward, a block
which indeed proved significant later.
St. James returned the kickoff to decent field position, but after a
bad snap and a quarterback loss on first down, they elected to run out
the first half clock down only 6 - 0 despite the three first quarter
turnovers.
The Trojans stopped Daleville on their first drive, but a penalty
during the punt pushed the ball back to the St. James 23. Three
plays later, Warhawk Ralphael Jones perfectly read a pass across the
middle, intercepted it, and darted into the corner of the endzone with
a 32 yard interception return. This time, the extra point by Nick
Arroyo was good, and Daleville had a 13 point lead and tons of momentum
early in the third quarter.
St. James offense really kicked into life just when it needed to.
Matt Ward returned the kickoff 43 yards to the Warhawk 45. Tyler
Murphy completed a 26 yard pass to Taylor Thompson, and three plays
later a 16 yard pass over the middle to Bruce Alter down to the 4 yard
line. On the next play, Murphy called his own number up the
middle and inched just beyond the goal line for a touchdown.
Graham Sutter's extra point kick was true, and St. James had whittled
the lead back to six points two minutes after giving up the
interception score.
On the ensuing kickoff, Matt Ward perfectly kick-dribbled the ball, to
himself 10 yards down the field. Daleville was unprepared and St.
James took over immediately at midfield after the surprise onside
attempt. Ward caught a pass for a first down two plays later, and
a personal foul penalty added 15 more yards. Peter Krothapalli
added a tough run on a pitch play of 12 yards, and Ward's run of 7
moved the ball to the Daleville 10. Two plays later, Murphy threw
a nice out pass to Nathan Newton who just nosed himself and the ball
inside the pylon on the goal line before being tackled out of bounds,
and St. James had its second touchdown. Sutter boomed the extra
point, and the Trojans had scored 14 points in just under 2½
minutes to take their first lead of the game.
The next two drives were very costly for the Hawks. Quarterback
Brown was tackled on the first play of the next drive after a 20 yard
run, and injured his ankle seriously enough for him not to
return. His stellar night of 156 yards rushing was abruptly cut
short. However, Stephan Gray picked up the slack and carried
several times, moving Daleville into position for a 38 yard field goal,
but the attempt was short, falling harmlessly into the endzone.
St. James went 3 and out, and on the first play of the Hawks' next
drive, Gray went down with a serious injury to his elbow, and he would
not return. Randy Williams, normally a wide receiver, had to come
in and act as runningback for the last quarter with backup quarterback
Calvin Flowers handing him the ball most often.
On the second play of the final quarter, a Flowers pass was intercepted
by Ward and returned 39 yards to the Daleville 17, and St. James
appeared to be poised to score again. However, the Trojans
committed their fifth turnover of the night on a fumble two plays
later. Williams picked up 13 yards on his first carry, but the rebuilt
Daleville backfield failed to pick up any more first downs themselves
for the rest of the game,
earning only one later via a St. James offsides penalty. The
Trojans took over after a Hawk punt with 7:44 remaining and held the
ball for over three minutes, despite only
making one first down. The Warhawks took over, but on fourth and
7 from their own 47, an incomplete pass turned the ball back over to
St. James with just over 90 seconds left and Daleville nursing only one
time out. Murphy carried the ball for 12 yards on two carries,
and the first down earned gave St. James enough time to run out the
clock and celebrate another nail-biting victory, their third straight
such.
GAME FIVE SIDELINE STATISTICS:
ST.
JAMES
RUSHING 38
attempts 96 yards 1 TD (2.76
yards per carry)
44
Krothapalli 8 /
32 30
Ward 6 /
21
9 Murphy 17 / 18 1 TD
14
Enslen
3 / 15 10
Crider 4 / 10
PASSING 9 completions 17
attempts 3
INTs 113 yards 1 TD (no sacks of)
9
Murphy 6 - 14 - 2
86 yards 1 TD
14 Enslen 1
- 2 - 1 27 yards
2 Thompson 0 - 1 - 0
RECEIVING
2 Thompson 4 / 79
22
Alter
1 / 16
30
Ward
1 / 10 19
Newton 1 / 8 1 TD
TOTAL YARDS: 209
KICKS: XP 2 /
2
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 3 (56,10,21)
PUNTS: 4 (31,44,31,32)
KO RETURNS: 3 (11F,22,43)
PUNT RETURNS: 2 (0fc, 3)
FIRST DOWNS: 13 (6 rushing, 7 passing)
FUMBLES: 3, lost 2
TURNOVER MARGIN: - 3
PENALTIES: 7 / 56 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 21:20
DALEVILLE
RUSHING 37 attempts 230 yards
2 TDs (7 Brandon Brown 19 / 156)
PASSING 4 completions 12 attempts
2
INTs 30 yards 0 TDs (1 sack of, 8 yards)
TOTAL YARDS: 260
KICKS: XP 1 /
2
FG 0 / 1 (38 missed)
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 3 (42,46,48)
PUNTS: 5 (30,29,35,24,30)
KO RETURNS: 3
(54,20,34)
PUNT RETURNS: 3 (2,0,9)
FIRST DOWNS: 16 (14 rushing, 1 passing, 1 penalty)
FUMBLES: 0
PENALTIES: 7 / 55 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 26:40
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