2013 - GAME 8

@ Tallassee 49, Saint James 17
STJ           3       7       0       7         17
 
TAL        21       7     21       0         49
SCORING SUMMARY

STJ  (1)    9:12   Taylor 28 FG                                                         3 -   0
TAL (1)    8:59   Baynes 87 kickoff return          (Biachi kick)      3 -   7
TAL (1)    4:14   McKenzie 28 run                      (Biachi kick)      3 - 14
TAL (1)    2:09   Baynes 56 run                           (Biachi kick)      3 - 21
TAL (2)    9:25   Rivers 72 run                            (Biachi kick)      3 - 28
STJ  (2)    0:00   Moody 1 run                            (Taylor kick)    10 - 28
TAL (3)  10:31   Rivers 58 run                            (Biachi kick)    10 - 35
TAL (3)    5:32   Baynes 34 run                           (Biachi kick)    10 - 42
TAL (3)    1:50   McKenzie 75 run                      (Biachi kick)    10 - 49
STJ  (4)    8:21   J. Robinson 7 run                     (Taylor kick)    17 - 49
October 18, 2013.  Hot O'Brien Stadium.  Game Conditions:  Cloudy, occasional sprinkles  Game Temperature:  68  Wind:  NW 5

The Tallassee trio of runningbacks including D.J. Rivers, Herman McKenzie, and Brandon Baynes each scored multiple touchdowns and gained over 600 all-purpose yards - most via rushing - as the Tigers outmuscled and outmanned the Trojans on the way to a 49 - 17 victory.

The evening started in a promising manner for the Trojans as Frank Moody, who nearly reached the 200 yard rushing barrier for a second consecutive week, began the game with consecutive runs of 16, 19, and 13 yards.  After a nearly 10 yard bolt by Jaylen McCoy, Tallassee hurriedly called an early timeout to refocus their early porous defense.  The timeout was effective as the Trojans could not advance inside the Tiger 10, and Coleman Taylor was called upon and successfully kick Saint James' first field goal of the season, a 28 yarder.  The Trojans were up 3 - 0 less than three minutes into the game.

Not for long.  For the second consecutive week, special teams were burned by a kickoff return for a touchdown early in the game.  This time the culprit was Baynes.  His 87 yard kickoff return quickly cancelled out what momentum the Trojans had built on the early drive.  Greg Biachi kicked his first of seven consecutive extra points, and the Tigers were on top 7 - 3.

After a short kickoff was downed, Moody picked up 33 yards on first down, adding to his over 100 gained in the first quarter alone, and the Trojans were quickly inside the Tallassee 30.  However, a penalty stalled the drive and a 5 yard pass completion on fourth and 8 turned the ball over on downs.  Herman McKenzie, who had set a Tallassee school record in 2012 with 319 yards rushing against Saint James, took handoffs on five consecutive plays.  The third play went for 50 yards down to the Trojan 20, and after recovering a fumbled snap, he broke away for a 28 yard touchdown on the next play.  Biachi's kick gave Tallassee a 14 - 3 lead midway through the first quarter.

A holding penalty and a quarterback sack on the next drive forced a Saint James punt, and it only took one play for Baynes to scoot 56 yards through and past Trojan defenders for the third score of the quarter.  The extra point gave Tallassee a 21 - 3 lead.  After another punt on the last play of the first quarter, it took Tallassee only five plays to score again.  On his first carry of the game, D.J. Rivers got into the act with a 72 yard touchdown and a 28 - 3 lead over Saint James.

On the next drive, Jalen Harris caught a 36 yard pass down the field despite being interfered with.  However, two plays later, a Connor Collier pass was intercepted by Kobe Skipper and returned from deep inside Tiger territory out to their 32 yard line.  The Trojan defense finally tightened up some of the gaping holes they had been allowing, keeping the Tigers to less than double digit yardage on carries, but still giving up grind-out first downs.  On third down from the Trojan 35, Tallassee tried its only pass attempt of the evening after attempting none the previous week against Alabama Christian, and it was intercepted by Tait Holder who returned the ball to the Trojan 43 as Saint James desperately tried to score before halftime to at least cut into the huge first half lead.

The Trojans managed to score, albeit much to the dislike of the Tallassee faithful on the field and in the high rise seats of Hot O'Brien stadium.  Moody had consecutive runs of 8, 10, and 9 yards with a face mask penalty added to the last play, and after a two yard run Saint James called its first time out with exactly one minute remaining and the ball on the Tiger 13.  Two Moody runs gave the Trojans a fourth down and one from the six, and the second time out was called with 33 seconds left.  Moody dove forward over a grounded Tiger to the two to convert the first down.  However, some confusion on a substitution meant Saint James had to call their final time out with 23 seconds left.  Collier tried a quarterback sneak, but only gained one yard.  Saint James hurried back to the line of scrimmage and tried another quarterback carry, but Collier was stopped in his tracks.  For some reason, so had the clock - stopped at 9 seconds.  The Trojans, fortunate to have yet another opportunity, managed to spike the ball on third down to "officially" stop the clock with time remaining.  Fans and coaches alike voiced their protest.  On fourth down, Moody took a handoff on a sweep to the left and battled to sneak just into the endzone as the clock finally wound down to zero.  Coleman Taylor's extra point, extending the school record streak for consecutively made extra point kicks, cut the lead to 28 - 10 as the officials had a lot of explaining to do before their halftime break.

Tallassee prtty much eliminated any thoughts of a Trojan comeback as on the third play of the second half, Rivers converted his third carry of the game into a 58 yard touchdown, and the Tigers were up 35 - 10.  Saint James did run the ball effectively against the Tallassee defense, which showed some holes, throughout the evening.  After another short kickoff, Moody ran for 18 and McCoy ran for 17 on their respective first carries of the half.  However, several plays later on fourth and one from the Tiger 17, Moody was denied after a key missed block, and Tallassee again took over on downs.  Six plays later, the Tigers again were in the endzone against the tiring Trojan defenders.  Baynes scampered for the final 34 yards and the Biachi extra point boosted the score to 42 - 10 midway through the third quarter.

Coleman Adams had perhaps his finest night of the season with several long punts which pinned the Tigers deep in their own territory.  However, a good night for the punter means the offense is having to give the ball away to the other team and the longer fields means bigger yardage on breakaway touchdown runs, as was the case three plays later as McKenzie broke loose on a 75 yard touchdown scamper despite almost being caught by a pursuer.  The extra point wrapped up the Tiger scoring for the evening.  After another Trojan punt to start the fourth quarter, Tallassee brought in their second string offense, for one series, and the difference in quality was noticeable.  Moody fair caught a punt at the Tiger 41.  On first down, Atchison Hubbard caught a wobbly pass from Collier despite double coverage at the Tiger 8.  After a yard gain by Moody, Jonathan Robinson took the direct snap and zigged through defenders seven yards for his first touchdown of the evening.  Taylor's extra point early in the fourth quarter finalized the score at 49 - 17 and the teams mutually ran simple plays to run out the remaining clock time as Saint James looked forward to its final two games of the season, Montgomery matchups against Alabama Christian and the season-ending Homecoming game against Catholic.


SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME EIGHT

SAINT JAMES   RUSHING    45 attempts  213 yards  2 TDs   (4.73 yards per carry)

                           20   Moody      29 / 194    (1 TD)       6   McCoy       7 / 35         1   Robinson         4 / 10  (1 TD)
                           10   Dean           1 / - 5                    12   Collier         4 / - 21

                          PASSING       3 completions  9 attempts  1 INT  74 yards  0 TDs

                           12   Collier        3 - 9 - 1   74 yards

                          RECEIVING

                             9   Harris          1 / 36                    15   Hubbard      1 / 33       11   Fields               1 / 5

                          TOTAL YARDS:   287

                          KICKS:  XP  2 / 2                FG  1 / 1  (28 made)
                          2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                          KICKOFFS:   3  (47,51,53)                                     PUNTS:   5  (25,48,43,41,53)
                          KO RETURNS:   8  (14,0,3,8,4,6,10,18)                  PUNT RETURNS:  1 (0fc)
                           FIRST DOWNS:   15  (12 rushing, 2 passing, 1 penalty)
                          THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS:  1 / 11
                          FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS:  2 / 4
                          FUMBLES:  0
                          INTERCEPTION RETURNS:  1  (15)
                          TURNOVER MARGIN:   0
                          POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:  7
                          PENALTIES:  3 / 20 yards
                          TIME OF POSSESSION:  24:05

TALLASSEE      RUSHING    42 attempts  540 yards  6 TDs  (12.86 yards per carry : 2  McKenzie  17 / 234,  1 Rivers  5 / 140,  18  Baynes  13 / 138)
                           PASSING       0 completions  1 attempt  1 INT
                          TOTAL YARDS:   540

                           KICKS:  XP  7 / 7                FG  0 / 0
                          2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                          KICKOFFS:  8  (46,22,15,24,28,28,29,46)               PUNTS:  2  (18,35)
                          KO RETURNS:   3  (87TD,23,28)                           PUNT RETURNS:  1  (0)
                          FIRST DOWNS:   14  (14 rushing)
                          THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS:  5 / 8
                          FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS:   0 / 0
                          FUMBLES:  2, lost 0
                          INTERCEPTION RETURNS:  1 (24)
                          POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:  7
                          PENALTIES:  2 / 20 yards
                          TIME OF POSSESSION:   23:55

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