GAME 1: Elmore County 35, St.
James 7
ECO
21
0 0
14 35
STJ
0 0
0 0
7
SCORING
SUMMARY:
ECO (1) 10:51 Stanley 37 pass from
Davenport
(Rowe
kick) 0 - 7
ECO (1) 5:06 Butler 6
run
(Rowe
kick) 0 - 14
ECO (1) 2:35 Davenport 56
run
(Rowe kick) 0 - 21
ECO (4) 11:35 Davenport 2 run
(Rowe kick) 0 - 28
ECO (4) 6:21 Stanley 1 pass from
Adams
(Rowe
kick) 0 - 35
STJ (4) 2:07 Dean 25
run
(Hankins
kick) 7 - 35
August 31, 2007.
Carlisle
Field.
Game Conditions: Cloudy, intermittent
rain,
very humid
Game Temperature: 83 Wind: Negligible
St. James could not overcome early
bad
luck and turnovers once again plagued the Trojans as the Elmore
County
Panthers came calling to Carlisle Field and racked up a
season-opening
35 - 7 victory.
Elmore County picked up quick momentum as Laron Butler, who
terrorized
the Trojans in 2006 with five touchdowns against, almost picked up
one
on the opening kickoff, returning it from his own 6 to the St.
James
38. Elmore County only picked up 1 yard on their first
two
scrimmage plays, but on third down quarterback Adam Davenport
found
receiver Daniel Stanley open across the middle. He broke one
potential tackle, headed toward the Panther sideline, and outraced
defenders to the endzone for the first score of the season.
Luke
Rowe had to change a shoe from his offensive line position, but he
booted his first of five extra points to give Elmore County an
early 7
- 0 lead.
The Trojans could not convert a first down on their opening drive
of
the season, and lost a great opportunity when the punt was muffed
by
the Panther receiver and the ball was lost in a scramble of blue
and
white jerseys. However, the Panthers came out with the
recovery
and began driving again. Stanley caught another pass for 25
yards
as the rain began to fall, and later Butler converted a third down
and
6 with a 12 yard run. Davenport carried for 9 yards from the
Trojan 15, and then Butler picked up his first, and only score of
the
evening, on a 6 yard carry off right tackle. The Rowe extra
point
doubled the Panther lead to 14 midway through the first quarter.
St. James picked up a first down on Will Martin's 17 yard keeper,
but
had to punt again, and good defensive field position was negated
by a
29 yard punt return by Le'Keithon Anthony. On the very next
play,
Davenport called his own number and broke through the Trojan line
into
the secondary and raced for a 56 yard touchdown of his own.
The
Rowe kick gave Elmore County a huge 21 - 0 lead still in the first
quarter.
Clinton Freeman returned the next kickoff to the St. James 40, and
three consecutive running plays advanced the ball to the Panther
38. However, on the next play, Elmore County wrestled the
ball
away from the carrier and recovered a fumble at their 42 to help
conclude a miserable first quarter.
The Trojan defense tightened as the second quarter featured little
offense. St. James got a drive going late in the quarter and
advanced as close as the Panther 35, but could not convert a
fourth
down and 5. Elmore County turned the ball over on downs with
less
than a second to go in the half. On the final play, Martin
tried
a quarterback sweep and picked up 12 yards, but was hit hard out
of
bounds on the Trojan sideline which caused all kinds of upset
reactions. Somehow, the late hit out of bounds was
overlooked,
and dead ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were called on the
Panthers (one), and the Trojans (two). Since they were dead
ball
penalties, the half was allowed to expire. However, each of
the
penalties were enforced before the third quarter kickoff, giving
Elmore
County a 15 yard net advantage which allowed them to kick off from
the
St. James 45 to start the second half.
Freeman returned the deep kickoff to his own 35, but the Trojans
could
not convert a first down. An intentional grounding call, the
second on Elmore County, slowed their opening drive of the second
half,
and they turned the ball back over on downs again at the St. James
35. After one first down, a holding penalty slowed St. James
as
well, but a block in the back penalty negated a punt return to
midfield. However, from their own 33, the Panthers were able
to
drive against the tiring Trojan defenders. An offside
penalty on
third and 2, and a 20 yard pass from Davenport to Matt Parker on
the
last play of the third quarter gave Elmore County the ball at the
Trojan 4. Davenport completed a short pass to Butler for 2
yards,
and then kept himself for the final 2 and a touchdown, giving the
Panthers a 28 - 0 lead.
St. James fumbled on the third play of their next drive, and
backup
quarterback Joseph Adams led Elmore County on a 27 yard drive for
their
final touchdown, where he threw a very short touchdown pass of 1
yard
to Stanley. Rowe's final extra point of the game led to a 35
point advantage with less than 7 minutes remaining.
The Trojans finally got the offense moving against a combination
of
about half first stringers and half replacements on defense.
A 15
yard penalty kickstarted the drive after a short kickoff return,
and
Martin broke loose on a wide sweep for 32 yards down to the
Panther
33. Matt Dean picked up 2 on first down, Martin recovered a
bumbled snap and advanced it for 6 yards on the next play, and
then
Dean finally broke through the Panther line and outraced the
secondary
for St. James' first score of the season. Clark Hankins
converted
his first career extra point and the Trojans were 7 points better
off
than a shutout. Hankins' ensuing kickoff reached the
endzone - had his opening kickoff done so, how would the game have
started? The Panthers ran off enough time to where their
punt was
the final play of the game, and Elmore County left Carlisle Field
for
the first time in three tries victorious, evening the all-time
series
at three games apiece.
==============================================================================================================================
SIDELINE
STATISTICS - GAME ONE
ST.
JAMES
RUSHING 46
attempts 168 yards 1 TD
(3.65
yards per carry)
3
Martin 12 /
67
30
Freeman 13 / 62
14
Dean 18 /
51 (1 TD) 11
Joyner
3
/ - 12
PASSING
0 completions 2 attempts 0
INTs 0 yards (2 sacks of, - 16 yards)
3
Martin 0 - 2 -
0 0 yards
TOTAL
YARDS: 168
KICKS:
XP 1 / 1
FG
0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0
/ 0
KICKOFFS:
2 (54,EZ)
PUNTS: 5 (35,36,38,27,37)
KO
RETURNS: 6 (33,18,21,32.18,11)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (0fc)
FIRST
DOWNS: 13
(13
rushing)
FUMBLES: 5, lost 2
TURNOVER MARGIN: - 2
PENALTIES: 10 / 78 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 27:20
ELMORE CO. RUSHING
37
attempts 242
yards 3 TDs (6.54 yards per carry)
PASSING
7 completions 16
attempts 0 INTs 98 yards 2 TDs (no sacks
of)
TOTAL
YARDS: 340
KICKS:
XP 5 / 5
FG
0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0
/ 0
KICKOFFS:
6 (51,51,46,42,55,42)
PUNTS: 3 (42,35,45)
KO
RETURNS: 1 (56)
PUNT RETURNS: 3 (0,29,3)
FIRST DOWNS:
15 (11
rushing, 3 passing, 1 penalty)
FUMBLES: 2, lost 0
PENALTIES: 13 / 105 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 20:40
RETURN
TO THE STJ FOOTBALL 2007 HOMEPAGE