GAME 7:  @ Rehobeth 27, St. James 19

  STJ             0       3     16       0               19

 REH          14       0       7       6               27

October 7, 2005.  7:00 PM  Rehobeth Field.   Game Conditions:  Cloudy, occasional drizzle   Game temperature:  68   Wind  NW 12-20

SCORING SUMMARY:

REH  (1)   7:16    A. Kennedy 10 pass from James          (Merrill kick)      0 -  7
REH  (1)     :42    J. Kennedy 10 pass from James           (Merrill kick)     0 - 14
STJ    (2)   4:02    Sutter 38 FG                                                                  3 - 14
STJ    (3)   9:33    Alter 30 pass from Martin                    (Sutter kick)    10 - 14
STJ    (3)   6:26    Sutter 30 FG                                                                13 - 14
REH  (3)   3:28    Debose 65 fumble return                      (Merrill kick)   13 - 21
STJ    (3)   2:05    Martin 2 run                                          (pass failed)   19 - 21
REH  (4)  11:17    Hogan 1 run                                          (kick failed)   19 - 27

Rehobeth outscored St. James 20-19 in the two quarters with a stiff wind behind their backs, and returned a fumble 65 yards "into the wind" in another quarter as the Rebels clinched a playoff berth and greatly diminished the Trojans' chances for a 13th straight playoff appearance with a 27-19 Region victory in Rehobeth.

St. James, with a rare kickoff to begin a game, executed another perfect surprise onside kick.  Graham Sutter's kick bounced off a Rebel upman and was fought over by several players on both teams before a Trojan finally landed on it at the St. James 46.  However, the Trojans could not convert a first down, and Sutter's into the wind punt traveled only 16 yards.  After one Rebel first down, a sack stopped their momentum, but a punt was fair caught at the 10.  The Trojans fumbled on the first play, and Tramekius James lofted a pass over the middle to a wide open Adam Kennedy for a 10 yard touchdown on the next.  Casey Merrill's extra point was good, and the Rebels were up 7-0 in the first quarter.

After a Rehobeth endzone kickoff, St. James managed one first down, but had to punt again.  The wind-battered punt was returned 17 yards by Matt Hodges to the Trojan 40, and 8 plays later, again from the Trojan 10, quarterback James found another Kennedy, Jason, for a similar 10 yard touchdown reception.  Merrill's kick gave Rehobeth a 14 point lead toward the end of the first quarter.

The Trojans finally earned the advantage of the stiff wind, but it took a defensive stop and a 16 yard punt into said wind to set up St. James' only score of the first half.  A Will Martin interception was negated by dubious penalties (in this case, offsetting holdings), foreboding a penalty-oriented theme which would be too prevalent in the second half.  From the Rebel 21, Sutter boomed a 38 yard field goal to cut the lead to 11.  The Trojans got one more chance with the wind in a quarter where the clock seemed to move unusually fast, but could not convert it into points, and St. James was down by 11 although due to receive the second half kickoff.

The Trojans got the wind for the second consecutive quarter, and thanks to a band-generated delay of game penalty and a short kickoff, St. James took over at their own 35.  An 18 yard pass to Taylor Thompson moved the ball into Rebel territory, and a crucial defensive offside penalty resulted in another STJ first down.  On another fourth down and 6 from the Rebel 30, St. James went for broke and hit paydirt as a Martin pass split defenders and was cradled by Bruce Alter in the endzone for a touchdown.  Sutter's extra point cut the lead to 4, and St. James quickly regained the game momentum.

After an endzone kickoff, a defensive stop, and a zero yard net punt into the wind, St. James was in business again at the Rebel 27.  A quick 12 yard pass to Michael Stabler moved the ball closer, but the Rehobeth defense stiffened, and Sutter attempted and made a 30 yard field goal to cut the lead to 1, at 14-13.

After a second kickoff into the endzone, a fumble seemingly recovered by St. James at the Rebel 23 was not awarded, but the defense stopped the Rebels once more.  A short return on the 21 yard punt was negated by a holding penalty, but St. James still had good field position and the wind at their backs at their own 48.  A quarterback dash and two short pass receptions gained 14 yards, but on the second reception where the receiver seemed to be down, the loosened ball was scooped up by Rehobeth's Phillip Debose and he outraced surprised Trojans 65 yards for a touchdown.  The extra point boosted the lead back to 8 with 3 plus minutes still remaining in the third quarter.

Another short kickoff was returned to the Trojan 40.  On the first play, Martin lofted a deep pass to Taylor Thompson which he came down with after outdueling a defender 40 yards downfield for a huge gain.  Two plays later, Bruce Alter caught a bullet pass over the middle and dragged tacklers to the Rebel 2.  On the next play, Martin called his own number and followed the Trojan offensive line into the endzone for a touchdown.  Down by 2, St. James opted for the 2 point conversion, but a pass was incomplete, so the score was 21-19 with still over 2 minutes remaining in a score-heavy third quarter.

The Rehobeth offense kicked in gear on the next drive.  After a first down run was bolstered by a 15 yard face mask penalty, runs of 9, 23, and 19 yards moved the ball to the Trojan 2.  Two quarterback sneaks moved the ball forward 5 feet, and on the second play of the fourth quarter, Dewitt Hogan carried for the final yard and the touchdown.  The extra point attempt, which if successful would have given Rehobeth a 2 possession lead, was wide left, and the score remained manageable, at 27-19 with almost an entire quarter remaining.

St. James, now headed into the wind again, took advantage of an out-of-bounds kickoff, a 17 yard catch by Alter, and a roughing the kicker penalty on a bad snap prior to a punt by Sutter.  The penalty advanced the ball to the Rebel 33, but four plays netted a loss of two yards, and St. James turned over the ball on downs.  Rehobeth moved down the field, picking up two first downs on peculiar personal foul penalties, the second of which led to a first and goal at the Trojan 9.  Two runs netted only 1 yard against a stiffening Trojan defense, and on third down a wayward pass was intercepted by Taylor Thompson near the goal line and returned to the St. James 24 with 3½ minutes remaining in the game.

A delay of game penalty pushed the ball back 5 yards to open the drive, but a 14 yard bounce pass to Nathan Newton, an 11 yard pass to Graham Sutter (his first pass reception of the season), and a 42 yard pass to an amazingly wide open Bruce Alter had the Trojans in business at the Rebel 14.  However, a first down sack and three incomplete passes resulted in another turnover on loss of downs.  Rehobeth, with the ball at their own 22, ate up all but the final 27 seconds of the clock and the remaining two St. James time outs.  On fourth and 9 from the Rebel 23, Rehobeth came up with a clever play - a fake punt pass against an all-out punt block to a wide open receiver who was tackled by Bruce Alter, the deep man, across midfield.  The play was negated by an illegal formation, but it nevertheless ate up 13 seconds of valuable clock time.  After the penalty, the Rebels did punt, a 38 yarder which was fair caught by Alter at the Trojan 44, but only 7 seconds remained.  An incomplete pass and a desperation into the wind pass which was caught by several, but wrestled away by Rebel defenders for an interception, exhausted the remaining time and the Rebels avoided a later scare on their way to a region victory and a certain playoff appearance.

SIDELINE STATISTICS:  GAME SEVEN

ST. JAMES      RUSHING   16 attempts  minus 21 yards  1 TD

                        10   Crider          2 / - 2     20   Stabler   3 / - 3     3   Martin   11 / - 16  (1 TD)

                        PASSING    20 completions  41 attempts  0 INTs  298 yards  1 TD  (4 sacks of, - 32 yards)

                          3   Martin         20 - 41 - 0    298 yards   1 TD  (4 sacks, - 32 yards)

                        RECEIVING

                        22   Alter        7 / 173  (1 TD)    2   Thompson     6 / 76        19   Newton    1 / 14
                        20   Stabler     3 /   13              32   Christian        2 / 11          4   Sutter       1 / 11

                        TOTAL YARDS:   276

                        KICKS:  XP  1 / 1                FG  2 / 2  (38, 30 made)
                        2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 1
                        KICKOFFS:  5 (11o,58,60EZ,60EZ,60EZ)   PUNTS:  4  (18,37,63,53EZ)
                        KO RETURNS:  3  (21,1,14)                       PUNT RETURNS:   4  (0fc,18,2,0fc)
                        INTERCEPTION RETURNS:  1  (21)
                        FIRST DOWNS:   13   (1 rushing, 10 passing, 2 penalty)
                        FUMBLES:  2, lost 1
                        TURNOVER MARGIN:   + 1
                        PENALTIES:  7 / 70 yards
                        TIME OF POSSESSION:  20:47

REHOBETH     RUSHING   49 attempts  196 yards   2 TDs  (4.00 yards per carry)
                        PASSING      3 completions  5 attempts  1 INT  25 yards  2 TDs  (1 sack of, - 7 yards)
                        TOTAL YARDS:  221

                        KICKS:  XP  3 / 4                FG  0 / 0
                        2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                        KICKOFFS:  5 (60EZ,49,31,39,OB)             PUNTS:  6  (44,16,26,0,21,38)
                        KO RETURNS:  2  (-5f,9)                           PUNT RETURNS:  1  (17)
                        INTERCEPTION RETURNS:  1  (0)
                        FUMBLE RETURNS:  1  (65TD)
                        FIRST DOWNS:   16  (12 rushing, 2 passing, 2 penalty)
                         FUMBLES:  4, lost 1
                        PENALTIES:  6 / 40 yards
                        TIME OF POSSESSION:  27:13

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