September
25, 2009 McLemore Field
Game Conditions: Partly Cloudy, humid
Game
Temperature: 84 Wind: SE 3 - 5
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Taylor Poe (# 14) breaks through the Eagle defensive
line on a key
third down play for 12 yards and a Trojan first down ...
setting up ...
John Slayton (#20) plowing into the endzone behind the
blocking of the
Trojan line for the go-ahead touchdown.
(Photos courtesy of Kevin and Mary Ann Ostrye)
For the third
consecutive week, St. James overcame a last minute deficit
as John
Slayton dove off right guard for a two yard touchdown with
just over 30
seconds remaining to lift the Trojans to their fourth
consecutive
victory, and their first over Capital City Conference
rival Montgomery
Academy in four years, as St. James defeated the Eagles 13
- 10 in
front of the Eagles' Homecoming crowd.
Unlike any of the previous four games this season, the
Trojans came out
and frankly looked lethargic on offense. Until the
final two
plays of the first quarter, so did the Eagles, as both
defenses were
stiff early. The first five possessions ended in
punts with St.
James converting only two first downs and M A converting
none.
Starting from their own 21, the Eagles brought in Ben
Mangum to replace
starting quarterback Jackson Muller. Mangum's 2 yard
run and his
20 yard pass completion to Tucker Harris gave M A their
initial two
first downs to end the first quarter. Azerie Lewis
picked up
another first down several plays later, but the Trojan
defense held as
Zac Steele sacked Mangum back to the Trojan 36. A
sixth punt
ensued, but it was muffed and the Eagles fell on the loose
ball at the
Trojan 5 yard line.
After a one yard run, the Eagles returned the favor as
Muller, back in,
fumbled the ball and St. James recovered just short of the
goal line,
stopping a serious Eagle threat. Three plays netted
no gain, but
B.J. Weldon's punt pushed the Eagles back to the Trojan
42.
Jeffrey Ashurst immediately cut the distance in half with
a 21 yard run
on first down. Two plays gaining a total of one yard
and two
consecutive false start penalties pushed the ball back to
the 30.
Mangum had returned, and he tossed a nifty pass to Harris,
whose
fingertip catch and stretch into the endzone gave the
Eagles the first
score of the game. Michael Bemis' extra point put
the Eagles up 7
- 0 late in the first half.
After a 13 yard run by Nick Ostrye, the longest first half
gain by St.
James, they again were stopped and a short punt gave M A
another
scoring chance from their own 47.
Mangum, on his leg and several short passes, moved the
ball as close as
the Trojan 28. From there, Bemis was called in to
attempt a 46
yard field goal, which he just squeezed over the crossbar
and inside
the left upright for an Eagle 10 point lead. This
(officially) 46
yard kickoff was the longest ever converted against a
Trojan
team. The kickoff eliminated any remaining time for
St. James to
try and score.
The momentum changed immediately on the second half
opening
kickoff. B.J. Weldon lofted a high kick which hit at
about the 24
yard line and began rolling and bouncing toward the
sidelines.
The wet ground softened the blow, and as Eagle Niell
McCorvey stood
waiting for the ball to dribble out of bounds, it never
did, and
Crawford Steinberg ran in and snatched the ball at the 16
yard
line. He tried to advance the ball, but it was
correctly blown
dead; however St. James had earned possession. John
Slayton
picked up 15 yards on 4 carries, and on the fifth play,
Taylor Poe
called his own number for a one yard touchdown.
Weldon's point
had the Trojans back in the game early in the third
quarter, trailing
only 10 - 7.
The Eagles failed to garner a first down, and a shanked
punt gave the
Trojans good field position at the Eagle 48.
However, an untimely
unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Trojans back,
and they
punted as well. The Eagles again moved the ball,
primarily on the
legs of Lewis and Ashurst and short completions by
Muller. A 16
yard run by Lewis which would have moved the ball down to
the Trojan 13
was mostly negated by a holding penalty. On the next
play,
Muller's pass was overthrown and intercepted by Drew
Brantley, who was
on one knee preventing what would have likely been a long
return.
Like the last few plays of the first quarter, St. James
again took
advantage as Lee Ketzler's 17 yard completion to Brandyn
Baker on the
last play of the third quarter gave the Trojans
momentum. St.
James drove as far as the Eagle 26, but two consecutive
sacks of
Ketzler gave the Eagles the ball on downs with just over 8
minutes
remaining in the game. Lewis picked up 25 yards on 4
consecutive
runs, and it appeared the Eagles might have enough field
to run out the
clock. Ashurst picked up 9 yards on the next 2
plays, but on
third down, as Muller was trying to call a time out, the
ball was
snapped and luckily fallen on by M A. On fourth
down, another
snap was faulty and fumbled, and St. James took over with
4:01 to go at
their own 26 yard line.
Slayton ran for 7, Nick Ostrye ran for 5, and Poe
completed a pass to
Weldon for 10 yards on the first three plays to get the
ball near
midfield. After two plays, Poe's nifty 12 yard run
(seen above)
kept the drive alive. Two plays later, an
interception by Harris
was negated by a pass interference penalty, and the
Trojans had first
down at the Eagle 25 with 1:38 remaining. An 8 yard
completion to
Baker and a 3 yard run by Slayton gave St. James another
first
down. Two plays later, another pass interference
penalty (which
prevented a likely touchdown catch) gave St. James first
and goal at
the 7 with about a minute remaining. Slayton picked
up 3 on first
down, and 1 on second down on a play which picked up an
extra yard and
a half due to a face mask penalty, the third one on M A on
this
drive. The Eagles called time out with 36.7 seconds
remaining,
and on what appeared to be exactly the same play to win
the previous
week against Opp, Slayton picked up the final five feet
for a Trojan
touchdown. Weldon's extra point was wide right, but
St. James had
again come from behind in the last minute of the game to
take a 13 - 10
lead.
After a kickoff return, M A had the ball on their own 32
with 25
seconds remaining. However, on first down, Weldon
more than made
up for his missed point by intercepting Mangum's pass and
returning it
to the Eagle 27, allowing St. James to run out the clock
on their
fourth consecutive victory.