2008 -
GAME 7
SAINT JAMES 29, Alabama Christian
27 
ACA 14
0 7
6 27
STJ
0 21 8
0
29
SCORING SUMMARY:
ACA (1) 9:49 Johnson 6
run
(Nickolson
kick) 0 - 7
ACA (1) 4:59 Moss 2
run
(Nickolson
kick) 0 - 14
STJ (2) 5:22
Christian 27 pass from Dean
(Weldon
kick) 7 - 14
STJ (2) 4:50
Christian 6 interception return
(Weldon kick) 14 - 14
STJ (2) 1:31
Slayton 4 run
(Weldon
kick) 21 - 14
ACA (3) 11:40 Creel 61 run
(Nickolson
kick) 21 - 21
STJ (3) 6:49
Christian 73 run
(Christian pass from Weldon) 29 - 21
ACA (4) 1:12 Moss 18 pass
from Mitchell
(pass failed)
29 - 27
October
10, 2008 Carlisle Field Game
conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy Game
temperature: 81 Wind: E 2-5
occasionally breezy
Saint James scored three times in the second
quarter to overcome a 14 point deficit, and withstood a furious
rally by Alabama Christian in the last minutes of the game when
Crawford Steinberg intercepted an Eagle pass in Trojan territory
to secure the Trojans' first victory of the season, the first home
victory for head coach Karl Smeltzer, and the first team victory
in nine games, 29 - 27.
The Trojans could not move the ball on their opening drive, but a
record-tying 63 yard punt by Matt Dean pinned the Eagles deep in
their own territory. However, it took them only four plays
to travel 87 yards. A 10 yard run by Jordan Creel, a 26 yard
pass completion to Creel by Clinton Mitchell, a 45 yard run by
Courtney Moss, and a 6 yard run by Brandon Johnson quickly had the
Eagles up 7 - 0 after the Jordan Nickolson extra point.
After a short kickoff and return gave the Trojans the ball on
their own 40, Saint James moved ton their next drive exclusively
on the feet of Chase Christian, John Slayton, and Matt Dean.
However, at the Eagle 25, the ball was knocked loose on a run and
Alabama Christian took over on their own 22. This time, it
took only five plays, but the Eagles moved 78 yards. Moss
runs of 39 and 28 yards, part of his 123 yards rushing in the
first quarter alone, set up his 2 yard touchdown run, and Alabama
Christian had built up a 14 point lead midway through the first
quarter.
Once again the Trojans moved the ball, thanks in part to one of
many personal foul penalties called in the game. However, a
Dean pass was intercepted by Brennen Ashcraft and returned to the
Eagle 44. A scuffle after that play which led to a personal
foul and an ejection seemed, however, to fire up the Trojans as
they had not been all season. A sack of Mitchell on the
final play of the first quarter, a holding penalty on the next
play, and a sack and lost fumble recovered by Kameron Belich gave
the Trojans some much needed momentum at midfield. Saint
James moved down the field, but faced a fourth and 10 at the Eagle
27. Dean lofted a pass toward Christian who had fallen down
and was actually sitting on the thigh of a defender, but he caught
the slightly underthrown pass while sitting down on the 10 yard
line for a key first down. A 10 yard sack on third down and
a delay penalty before fourth down seemed to end the threat, but
from the 27, Dean lofted a pass toward the back of the endzone,
and Christian outleaped two defenders to come down with the
touchdown pass in the endzone. B.J. Weldon's kick cut the
Eagle lead in half, to 14 - 7.
After a fine kickoff and kickoff return defense, ACA was called
for a holding penalty on their first play. On second down
from the 11, Mitchell attempted a wide screen but it was read
perfectly by Christian as he grabbed the ball at the 6 yard line
and walked into the endzone for a quick touchdown. Within 32
seconds, Saint James had erased a two touchdown lead and had tied
the game at 14.
The momentum continued as Weldon executed a perfect onside kick,
recovering his own kick 11 yards downfield, and Saint James was on
the move again. Brandyn Baker caught a short pass on third
down and broke through potential tacklers for a 29 yard gain down
to the Eagle 6. After a holding penalty, Chase Eley caught a
16 yard pass down to the Eagle 4, and John Slayton on a delayed
handoff carried for the final 4 yards and the third Trojan
touchdown in less than 4 minutes of second half clock time.
Weldon's extra point continued his perfect streak for the year,
and suddenly the Trojans were up 21 - 14. Alabama
Christian got into Trojan territory in the little time remaining,
but Weldon intercepted a Mitchell pass and returned it to the 41
yard line to virtually eat up the first half clock.
However, the momentum at the start of the third quarter swung
quickly back to ACA. After a delay and offside penalty on
the kickoff attempt, the Eagles returned the kick back to the 39
yard line. On first down, Creel took the handoff off left
end, broke through two tackles, and avoided two more potential
tacklers downfield on the far sidelines as he cruised for a 61
yard touchdown on the first scrimmage play. Nickolson's
extra point once more tied the game at 21.
The teams traded punts, and Saint James took over on their own
27. The Trojans ran virtually the same play as Creel ran off
left end, and Chase Christian broke through several tacklers and
outran defenders on the near sidelines for a 73 yard touchdown
run, the longest such for the Trojans since a Stephan Woodham run
for 78 yards in the 1998 matchup against Holtville. Weldon's
extra point was good, but the Eagles were offsides on the
play. It was determined the foul should have been a dead
ball one, so the extra point was taken off the board and the ball
was moved to the 1½ yard line. From there, the Trojans lined
up only the center and two guards in front of the holder and
kicker as they had many times before. However, this time the
Eagles overcommitted players to the left and the ball was snapped
directly to kicker Weldon, who was going to run into the endzone
but found a wide open Christian at the back of the endzone for a
two point conversion pass, and the Trojans were up by 8, 29 - 21,
with more than half of the third quarter remaining.
Alabama Christian moved down the field, but faced a fourth and 6
at the Trojan 25. Moss was stopped short on a four yard gain
which would have been negated by a holding penalty anyways, but
Saint James took over on downs. Saint James ran off nearly 6
minutes of valuable clock time, moving the ball down to the Eagle
20. A 37 yard field goal attempt was blocked, and the Eagles
were on the move again with 8 minutes remaining in the game.
However, two plays later, for the second time in the game,
Mitchell was sacked and the ball was knocked loose by Tripp Harris
and fallen on by Saint James at the Eagle 18. A block in the
back penalty pushed the Trojans well back, and a fake field goal
on fourth down which became a completed pass came up short of the
necessary yardage, and Alabama Christian was 82 yards from a
potential tying score. Creel picked up 12 on first down, but
the next three plays netted only 1 yard. ACA opted for the
punt, but the snap was bobbled. However, the punter got away
a kick despite heavy pressure, and for some reason the referee
failed to miss the bobble of the ball and called roughing the
kicker on the Trojans, much to the dismay of the home crowd.
After several minutes discussing among themselves and the coaches
(which happened far too many times in this game), the officials
gave the Eagles the ball and new life with a first down at their
own 46. Moss picked up 10 on a reception two plays later,
but penalties on the next two plays gave the Eagles first down and
40 from their own 25. Grant McKissick picked up 23 on a pass
reception, Moss gained 7 on a run, and McKissick made another
catch for 24 yards and the impossible first down situation had
been overcome as ACA was suddenly on the Trojan 20. Three
plays later, on fourth down from the 18, Mitchell found Moss open
just inside the goal line for an 18 yard touchdown and the Eagles
were within a two point conversion of a late comeback. A
false start penalty pushed the ball back to the 8, but Mitchell's
pass to the back of the endzone was incomplete and the Trojans
maintained a 29 - 27 lead with 72 seconds remaining.
However, the action was far from over. The expected onside
kick took place, to the side of the field undercovered by the
Trojans. The perfectly bouncing kick ricocheted off the
upman's shoulder and was recovered by Courtney Moss at the Trojan
49. After an incomplete pass on first down, Trojan Crawford
Steinberg made one of the biggest interceptions in recent Saint
James history as he picked off a pass over the middle by Mitchell
and was quickly escorted to the ground by teammates. With
only 52 seconds remaining and no time outs left for the Eagles,
the Trojans ran the clock out, helping Coach Karl Smeltzer earn
his first ever win at Carlisle Field, and ending a pesky eight
game losing streak for Saint James.
For the second consecutive game, there were some amazing
statistics, such as the 27 accepted penalties and the 244 total
penalty yards. Also, Saint James had a vast majority of the
time of possession, with 31 minutes to 16, including a 19 to 5
minute advantage in the first half, despite only winning the half
by 7 points. Alabama Christian had five possessions which
lasted less than 30 seconds. However, the Trojan streak of
wins over the Eagles extended to four, and 12 of the last 13, and
the prospects of the first ever 0 - 10 season in Trojan history
were eliminated.
SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME
SEVEN
SAINT
JAMES RUSHING 42 attempts
205 yards 2 TDs (4.88 yards per carry)
32
Christian
17 / 128 (1 TD) 20
Slayton 11 / 44 (1 TD)
14
Dean 14 / 33
PASSING 6 completions 18 attempts
1 INT 108 yards 1 TD (1 sack of, - 10 yards)
14
Dean
5
- 17 - 1 96 yards 1 TD (1
sack, - 10 yards)
4
Eley
1
- 1 - 0 12 yards
RECEIVING
32
Christian
2 / 44 (1 TD) 4
Eley
2
/ 23
45 Baker
1 /
29
20
Slayton 1 / 12
TOTAL YARDS: 313
KICKS:
XP 3 / 3
FG
0 / 1 (37 blocked)
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 1 / 1
KICKOFFS:
5 (56,11,47,40,49)
PUNTS: 2 (63,46)
KO
RETURNS: 5 (0,10,7,11,1f)
PUNT RETURNS: 0
INTERCEPTION
RETURNS: 3 (6TD,19,6)
FIRST DOWNS: 14 (10 rushing, 2 passing, 2 penalty)
FUMBLES: 2,
lost 2
TURNOVER MARGIN: +
2
POINTS
OFF OF TURNOVERS: 14
PENALTIES: 13 / 97 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 31:41
A C A
RUSHING
35
attempts 300 yards 3 TDs (8.57 yards per carry)
PASSING 8 completions 18
attempts 3 INTs 147 yards 1 TDs (3 sacks
of, - 16 yards)
TOTAL YARDS: 447
KICKS:
XP 3 / 3
FG
0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
KICKOFFS:
5 (35,25,44,42,12)
PUNTS: 1 (46)
KO RETURNS: 4 (14,18,9,14)
PUNT
RETURNS: 0
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (10)
BLOCKED FG RETURNS: 1 (11)
FIRST
DOWNS: 20 (13 rushing, 6 passing, 1 penalty)
FUMBLES: 2, lost 2
POINTS
OFF OF TURNOVERS: 7
PENALTIES:
14 / 147 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 16:19
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