2008 -
GAME 8
@ Catholic 35, Saint James
20 
STJ
0 0
7 13
20
CAT
7
14 0 14
35
SCORING
SUMMARY:
CAT (1) 6:12 J. Clark 18
run
(Cornwell
kick) 0 - 7
CAT (2) 11:51 J. Clark 16
run
(Cornwell
kick) 0 - 14
CAT (2) 7:59 Smith 85
run
(Cornwell kick) 0 - 21
STJ (3) 11:14 Slayton 67
run
(Weldon
kick) 7 - 21
STJ (4) 10:22 Christian 1
run
(Weldon
kick) 14 - 21
CAT (4) 2:47 Holman 22
run
(Cornwell kick) 14 - 28
STJ (4) 0:53 Norwood
30 pass from
Dean
(kick
failed) 20 - 28
CAT (4) 0:35 Shipman 48
run
(Cornwell
kick) 20 - 35
October
17, 2008 Catholic Field
Game conditions: Early showers, cloudy,
breezy Game temperature: 64
Wind: NW 5 - 12
Montgomery Catholic rushed for over 470 yards (three individual
rushers over 100 yards each) and built a 21 point halftime lead
before holding on to their first victory over Saint James since
1991 as the Knights defeated the Trojans 35 - 20 and clinched a
playoff berth.
Saint James had the early momentum as they recovered a Knight
fumble on the fourth play from scrimmage at midfield. Two
runs netted four yards. On third down, quarterback Matt Dean
pitched back to Chase Christian and Christian saw a wide open
Chase Eley behind the defense and hit him with a 46 yard
completion for a touchdown. However, the play was called
back on an illegal motion penalty, and an unsportsmanlike conduct
penalty was tacked on afterwards, eventually resulting in a Trojan
punt. From their own 33, the Knights drove 67 yards on 5
plays. Josh Clark carried on the first play for 15 yards,
and on the last play of the drive for the final 18 and a
touchdown. McKenzie Cornwell kicked the first of his five
consecutive extra points to give Catholic a 7 - 0 lead midway
through the first quarter.
Despite a kickoff return which carried them into Knight territory,
the Trojans could not make much headway, and a short punt into a
strong breeze gave Catholic the ball back again. This time
they traveled 81 yards in 7 plays. Teddrick Arrington, the
fourth leading rusher on the team on this evening ran for 21 and
25 yards on the drive, but it was Clark once again, on the first
play of the second quarter trying to convert a third down and 1
from the Trojan 16. His "quarterback sneak" turned into a
breakaway as he dragged a potential tackler into the endzone for
his second touchdown, and Catholic was up 14 - 0 early in the
second quarter.
The Trojans had the wind advantage, and it seemed to aid them in
the field position battle when Matt Dean's punt on the next drive
drove Catholic back to their own 7 yard line. M.L. Shipman
picked up 8 on first down, and then Trey Smith, who was
responsible for the earlier fumble, made amends by breaking loose
on an 85 yard touchdown run down the Saint James sidelines.
The extra point gave the Knights their third touchdown in less
than a quarter's worth of time.
Saint James drove twice more in the second quarter, but both
drives were ended by turnovers, a fumble and an interception on a
fourth down from the Catholic 24. The Knights ran out the
clock and headed for the dry locker room with a commanding three
touchdown lead.
The Trojans needed to make up ground quickly, and they did.
After a short kickoff was downed by Alex Pattie on the Saint James
31, Dean carried for 2 on first down. On the next play, John
Slayton powered through the middle and broke through the secondary
and just outrushed the Catholic defenders for his career longest
run and a touchdown. B.J. Weldon's extra point cut the lead
to 14 in the first minute of the third quarter.
Catholic was driving for a score on the next series. Three
plays and a penalty had netted the Knights 55 yards. From
the Trojan 24, Smith broke loose and was headed for the goal line
but for the second time in the game, the ball was stripped and
fallen on by Trojans in the endzone resulting in a
touchback. Most of the third quarter was eaten up on the
next three possessions, which all ended in punts. Catholic
took over on their own 41, but penalties hurt their next
drive. Then, Weldon intercepted a pass deftly darting in
front of an intended receiver, giving the Trojans new life at
their own 49. An offside penalty and a Dean fourth down
conversion on the final play of the third quarter gave Saint James
two key first downs. Three plays later, Chase Eley made a
diving catch of a Dean pass at the one yard line, setting up a
touchdown carry by Christian on the next play. Suddenly, the
Trojans were down only by 7 points as Weldon converted the extra
point.
On the next drive, Brendan Holman broke loose for a 43 yard
run. However, two plays after a holding penalty, a fumbled
snap was recovered by Saint James at their own 38 and the Trojans
had a chance for an amazing comeback. However, Catholic's
Smith again made up for his lost fumble as he intercepted a
wayward pass and returned it to Trojan territory. From
there, Catholic used up 4½ valuable minutes of clock time to drive
for another score as Holman scored from 22 yards and the lead was
back to 14 points with just under 3 minutes remaining.
Saint James refused to quit though, as they drove down the field
on the arm of Dean and several defensive penalties. Wade
Norwood, Christian, and Eley all caught passes to move the ball
downfield, and Norwood was somehow wide open on a 30 yard pass
from Dean for a touchdown with just under 54 seconds
remaining. Weldon's extra point drifted wide right, his
first non-conversion of the season, but the Trojans were within
one possession at 28 - 20. They had no chance but to try an
onside kick, and Trey Smith nicely recovered the bouncy, sloppy
kick on his own 48 yard line. As the Trojans were stuffed up
at the line trying to hold Catholic still and get the ball back by
using time outs, second down proved disastrous as M.L. Shipman
squeezed through the traffic and raced for a mop-up 48 yard
touchdown to conclude the scoring. The Trojans did get as
close as the Knight 33 on their final drive, but time simply ran
out on them and the Trojans race for the playoffs would have to
wait for the 2009 season.
SIDELINE STATISTICS -
GAME EIGHT
SAINT
JAMES RUSHING 31
attempts 153 yards 2 TDs (4.94 yards per
carry)
20
Slayton 10 / 80 (1 TD)
32 Christian 12 /
39 (1 TD) 14
Dean 9 / 34
PASSING
12 completions 24 attempts 2 INTs 122
yards 1 TD (no sacks of)
14
Dean
11
- 24 - 2 122 yards 2 INTs 1 TD
32 Christian 0 -
1 - 0
RECEIVING
32
Christian
4 /
29
9 Norwood 3 /
46 (1 TD)
4
Eley
3
/ 31
45
Baker
2
/ 16
TOTAL
YARDS: 275
KICKS:
XP 2 / 3
FG
0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS:
4 (39,34,48,12)
PUNTS: 4 (31,19,33,38)
KO RETURNS: 6 (34,0,6,0,2,19)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (4)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (5)
FIRST DOWNS: 14 (5 rushing, 6 passing, 3 penalty)
FUMBLES: 2, lost 1
TURNOVER
MARGIN: + 1
POINTS
OFF OF TURNOVERS: 13
PENALTIES: 5 / 45 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 24:28
CATHOLIC
RUSHING 43
attempts 471 yards 5 TDs (10.95 yards per carry)
PASSING
2 completions 3 attempts 1 INT 43
yards 0 TDs (no sacks of)
TOTAL
YARDS: 514
KICKS:
XP 5 / 5
FG
0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 6 (43,26,34,29,33,36)
PUNTS: 2 (21,22)
KO RETURNS: 4 (3,0,17,0)
PUNT
RETURNS: 1 (0fc)
INTERCEPTION
RETURNS: 2 (0,18)
FIRST
DOWNS: 14 (13 rushing, 1 passing)
FUMBLES: 4,
lost 3
POINTS OFF OF TURNOVERS: 7
PENALTIES: 9 / 78 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 23:32
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