GAME 4: Trinity 20, St. James 17
TRI
0
10 7
3 20
STJ
3 7
0 7
17
SCORING
SUMMARY:
STJ (1) 2:42 Hankins 37
FG
3 - 0
STJ (2) 10:28 Christian 1
run
(Hankins kick) 10 - 0
TRI (2) 7:57 Craig 19 pass
from
Mitchell
(Blackmon kick) 10 - 7
TRI (2) 0:00 Blackmon 44
FG
10 - 10
TRI (3) 7:19 Galloway 14
run
(Blackmon
kick) 10 - 17
STJ (4) 11:22 Christian 1 run
(Hankins kick) 17 - 17
TRI (4) 0:04 Blackmon 21
FG
17 - 20
September 21, 2007.
Carlisle
Field. Game Conditions: Cloudy, breezy
Game Temperature: 76 Wind: ENE 15 - 20
==============================================================================================================================
In a game which recorded monumental
kicking game plusses and minuses on both sides, it was the foot of
Trinity's Brooks Blackmon, who became the first kicker to ever kick two
field goals against St. James in the same game, leading the way with
late field goals in each half, the latter with less than 5 seconds
remaining to give the Wildcats a hard-earned 20 - 17 win over the
Trojans at Carlisle Field.
Despite a sizable kickoff return by Trinity's Wilson Van Hooser, the
Wildcats could not garner a first down on their opening drive.
However, for the third consecutive week, St. James drove for a score on
theirs. Will Martin kept for runs of 12, 11, and 12 yards, each
for first downs. Wes Davis caught a 9 yard pass on fourth and 5
from the Trinity 29. From there the drive sputtered, but Clark
Hankins was called in to try a 37 yard field goal. With the winds
generated by "Tropical Depression 10" at his back and left, he drilled
the field goal with ease, and St. James was up 3 - 0 nearly eating up
the first quarter with their possession.
After an endzone kick, Trinity's Whit Mitchell, the definite workhorse
of the game, picked up a first down from his quarterback position on
the opening play, but he could manage no more. Mitchell went back
to punt, but the Trojans rushed and Brandyn Baker deflected the ball
backwards. It was recovered by Jacob McCurdy at the Trinity 14
yard line and the Trojans were in business. Four plays later, on
the second play of the second quarter, Chase Christian carried in from
one yard for a touchdown. Hankins' extra point gave St. James a
10 - 0 lead early in the second quarter.
Several out of bounds kickoffs gave Trinity good field position again,
and Mitchell went back to work. He either kept the ball running
from his quarterback position, or he himself passed on each of the
first seventeen Wildcat scrimmage plays. He ran for several first
downs and completed a 10 yard pass to Cam Ransburgh for another.
On first down from the Trojan 14 he picked up yardage, but the play was
negated by an illegal block on the back. However, on the next
play he found Patrick Craig on the sideline several yards between other
receivers and defenders, and Craig caught the ball inside the 15 and
dodged tacklers on his way to the endzone. Blackmon kicked the
extra point to put Trinity on the board midway through the second
quarter.
The Trojans drove the field again, but a quarterback sack pushed the
ball back out to the Wildcat 40, and led to an endzone punt.
Trinity had 1:35 to drive 80 yards, and they nearly did. After a
4 yard run, Mitchell handed the ball off for the first time in the game
to a running back - Mitch Galloway (who would be the only Trinity
rusher besides Mitchell). He carried for 2 yards, and then picked
up 10 on the next play, giving Trinity an opportunity. Mitchell
rared back and found Wilson Van Hooser deep on the Trinity sideline,
and a touchdown saving tackle knocked him out of bounds at the Trojan
32 with less than 7 seconds remaining. The next play was an
incomplete pass, but a delay of game penalty was called on St. James
after a defender simply kicked the ball as it was rolling to a
standstill on the field. The 5 yard penalty, which was marked off
about 6½ yards, may have been costly, but Blackmon's booming
kick may have been good from 54 yards, much less the 44 which he
converted. This second longest field goal by an opponent against
St. James tied the score at 10 at halftime after a rather quickly
played opening half by both sides. A running into the kicker
penalty on the field goal was assessed to start the second half.
The Trojans started deep in their territory, thanks in part to the
pre-kickoff penalty, but on second down Wes Davis caught a nice deep
pass over the middle, with help from the defenders body allowing him to
corral the football, for 39 yards. But, four plays later, an
incomplete pass gave the ball back to Trinity on downs. From his
own 29, Mitchell overcame a sack and threw passes to each Van Hooser,
Wilson for 29 yards and William for 32 yards. Several plays
later, Galloway on his first carry of the half broke through the line
and secondary from 14 yards out to give Trinity a 7 point lead as
Blackmon's extra point was Trinity's 17th unanswered point.
St. James moved down the field quickly on their next drive, thanks in
great part to a 27 yard run by Will Martin and a 36 yard run on the
first carry of the season by Chad Crews. However, on third and
15, Griffin Littlefield intercepted a pass at the Trinity 5 to stop the
scoring threat. The Trojan defense held staunchly as they had to,
and Clinton Freeman's punt return gave the Trojans great field position
at the Trinity 36. Seven consecutive rushes, the last three by
Christian, advanced the ball to the endzone. Hankins' extra point
after the second play of the fourth quarter tied the score at 17.
An illegal block penalty thwarted the Wildcats' next drive, but
Mitchell boomed a 57 yard punt to turn the field position advantage
over to Trinity. St. James failed to pick up a first down, and a
late hit penalty after a punt gave Trinity good field position at
midfield. Mitchell found Patrick Craig on the far sidelines three
times on pass receptions on the same play on the drive, and another
late hit penalty out of bounds gave the Wildcats first down at the
Trojan 4. However, two plays after a holding penalty, Trojan
Kameron Belich intercepted a Mitchell toss, the Trojans' first
interception in 11 games, and returned it to the Trojan 28, stopping a
golden Trinity scoring opportunity.
Neither team did much on their next drives as the fourth quarter clock
was evaporating. St. James fair caught a punt at their own 13
with less than 90 seconds remaining. Trinity called their
remaining time outs on defense wisely, and a busted play on third down
cost the Trojans valuable yardage. With 17.2 seconds remaining on
the clock and fourth down for St. James from their own 8 yard line,
Trinity was hoping for a decent punt return and a chance to kick a
field goal to prevent overtime. They got more than they had hoped
for as the Trojan punt was very very low, hitting a lineman in the
helmet causing the football to take a crazy spin sideways and to roll
out of bounds at the St. James 4 yard line with 9.7 seconds left.
The Trojans used two timeouts to try and ice Blackmon, but his kick
from a severe angle of 21 yards was plenty good, and the Wildcats
celebrated their win. St. James did have time to return a squib
kickoff, but several backward passes were of little success as the
returners tried to break some kind of play, and the players labored off
the field after a very hard-fought defeat against their biggest rival.
==============================================================================================================================
SIDELINE
STATISTICS - GAME FOUR
ST.
JAMES
RUSHING 54
attempts 182 yards 2 TDs
(3.37
yards per carry)
32 Christian 21 /
65 (2 TDs) 3
Martin 14 /
65
9
Crews
1 / 36
14
Dean
10 /
13
11
Joyner 3 /
4 30
Freeman 5 / - 1
PASSING 3
completions 5 attempts 1 INT 64 yards 0
TDs (1 sack of, - 9 yards)
3
Martin 3 -
5 - 1 64 yards 0 TDs (1 sack, - 9 yards)
RECEIVING
7
Davis
2 /
48
14
Dean
1 / 16
TOTAL YARDS: 246
KICKS:
XP 2 / 2
FG 1 / 1
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0
/ 0
KICKOFFS: 4 (59,EZ,56,EZ)
PUNTS: 4 (40EZ,31,29,-4)
KO RETURNS: 4 (14,17,19,-19)
PUNT RETURNS: 2 (12,0fc)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (25)
FIRST DOWNS: 15
(12 rushing, 3 passing)
FUMBLES: 2, lost 0
TURNOVER MARGIN: 0
PENALTIES: 7 /
47 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 30:49
TRINITY
RUSHING
22 attempts 80
yards 1 TD (3.64 yards per carry)
PASSING 14 completions 24
attempts 1 INT 189 yards 1 TD (2 sacks of, - 20
yards)
TOTAL YARDS: 269
KICKS: XP 2 / 2
FG 2 / 2
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0
/ 0
KICKOFFS: 4 (53,47,58,57)
PUNTS: 5 (35,-19bk,39,57,34)
KO RETURNS: 2 (38,25)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (2)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
FIRST
DOWNS: 14 (7
rushing, 7 passing)
FUMBLES: 0
PENALTIES: 3 / 29 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 17:11
RETURN
TO THE STJ FOOTBALL 2007 HOMEPAGE