2014 - GAME 8

Several Trojans, notably Connor Collier on the offensive side of the ball and Coleman Taylor on the defensive and special teams, arguably had career performances, but it was an entire team effort where the defense made a late fourth quarter stop enabling the offense a chance to drive two-thirds of the field with just over two minutes remaining to clinch its first ever eight-team region championship with an absolutely thrilling 24 - 20 comeback victory over the Ashford Yellowjackets.

After Ashford kicked out of bounds to start the game, the Trojans had good field position at their own 35 but could not take advantage and punted after three plays.  Ashford followed suit as it appeared both teams were feeling each other out through what would be a scoreless first quarter.  Saint James did pick up several first downs on its next possession, but faced with fourth down at the Ashford 39, a pass on fourth down fluttered high into the air and was intercepted by Jacket Juwan Richardson deep in his own territory and returned to the 18 yard line on a play which resulted similarly to if a punt had been attempted.  Three plays later, Ashford tried an almost identical high pass which was intercepted by Jaylen McCoy at the Trojan 44.  Each team again picked up exactly one first down before having to punt, and early in the second quarter Saint James took possession to begin their fourth drive of the game at their own 30.

Several plays later, Jonathan Robinson picked up a first down on a 15 yard carry to midfield, part of another 100+ yard performance which put him well over 1000 yards rushing for the season.  Several more plays later, quarterback M.J. Melendez was forced to scramble and found Jalen Harris open downfield for a 31 yard pickup down to the Ashford 19.  The drive stalled there, and Coleman Taylor was called on to convert a 35 yard field goal, which he did for the first score of the evening as Saint James was up 3 - 0.

As was the case the previous week, once the scoring drought was broken, scores poured out in the second quarter.  After an endzone kickoff, it took Ashford only five plays to respond.  From their own 35, a ball handed off to halfback Richardson was lofted downfield and a wide open Camren Matthews had snuck behind his defender where his catch and run was easily good enough for a 65 yard touchdown reception.  Regular quarterback Hayden Harrison attempted and converted the extra point, and quite suddenly Ashford had taken a 7 - 3 lead with just over five minutes remaining until halftime.

That lead did not last long either.  McCoy returned the opening kickoff 20 yards, and the Trojans benefited by a defensive pass interference penalty on the next play.  On third down and long Connor Collier tossed a high but nifty screen pass to Robinson to convert a key first down for 12 yards, and then Collier picked up 11 of his own on a keeper on the next play advancing the ball to the Jacket 28.  After an Ashford timeout, a pass completion lost two yards, but on the next play, a pass was lofted toward the far corner of the endzone and brought down by Atchison Hubbard who was well covered by his Jacket defender.  The touchdown pass and Coleman Taylor's extra point gave the Trojans their three point lead back, at 10 - 7, with still 2½ minutes remaining until halftime.  The scoring however, was not over for first half play.

Richardson had a nice kickoff return out to his own 37, but consecutive five yard penalties on third down bogged down the Jackets.  The punt snap went well over Payton Crooms' head and he was forced to fall on the loose ball back at the Ashford 16 yard line, giving Saint James excellent field position late in the half.  They did not waste the opportunity.  After consecutive five yard penalties of their own, another defensive pass interference penalty moved the ball half the distance to the goal at the Jacket 13.  From there, Collier lofted another pass this time to the near corner of the endzone where Nolan Fields caught the ball almost in a sit down position just inside the endline for a quick touchdown.  Taylor's extra point gave the Trojans a 10 point lead at halftime as Ashford chose a simple conservative running play to exhaust the second quarter clock.

The Yellowjackets picked up several first downs on their opening drive of the third quarter, due mainly to the fresh legs of Beonta Thomas.  However, the drive stalled and a punt from just across midfield rolled into the endzone giving Saint James possession at their own 20.  The Trojans managed to chew up nearly half of the third quarter clock, primarily on runs by Robinson and short passes from Collier to an array of receivers.  A quarterback sack stalled the drive and an incomplete pass at the Jacket 31 turned the ball back over to Ashford. 

Ashford only managed to complete four passes in the entire game, one in each quarter, but three of them were courtesy of the halfback Richardson finding open receivers as he did to Harrison for 55 yards on first down, moving the ball all the way to the Trojan 14.  Two plays later, Richardson took a handoff and went basically untouched 11 yards into the endzone for a touchdown.  This time Harrison's extra point came up short, but the Trojan lead was cut to a mere 17 - 13 in the last minute of the third quarter.

Collier picked up 15 yards on a keeper which moved the ball into Ashford territory, but a punt was forced early in the fourth quarter.  Melendez responded with a nice punt which was downed at the Jacket 5, requiring Ashford to travel 95 yards to potentially re-take the lead.  Three plays netted exactly 10 yards for a first down, but after the third play a dead ball personal foul on Ashford which led to a disqualification pushed the ball back to the 8 yard line.  Stevonte Tullis picked up 10 yards on the next play for another first down to the 18, and then Davonte Williams, who punished Saint James in the fourth quarter of the 2013 come from behind victory, broke loose on an 82 yard scamper to the endzone, outracing Trojan pursuers as he got into the secondary.  Suddenly the Trojans' ten point lead was erased and the Yellowjackets used the extra point from Crooms this time to take a 20 - 17 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in regulation.

McCoy ran the opening kickoff back to the Trojan 39, but a penalty pushed the ball all the way back to the 12 yard line.  A false start penalty was later overcome by yet another defensive pass interference penalty in a game where 40 passes were attempted by the combined teams.  Two Robinson runs totaling eleven yards picked up another first down, but in a scramble situation, Collier lofted a pass between two potential Trojan receptors but Juwan Richardson stepped between them and intercepted the pass, returning it to the 47 yard line with only 5½ minutes remaining.  Ashford ran clock, picking up a first down to the Trojans' 42, and a seven yard run on first down gave the Jackets hope a second first down would eliminate more valuable time from the clock.  However, the Trojan defense stood tall as after runs of no gain and two yards, the Jackets were left with fourth down and 1.  Harrison, who may have had some trouble with the snap, was stopped behind the line of scrimmage on fourth down by Jalen Harris and Sterling Jones and Saint James had a last chance for a tying field goal or a potential winning touchdown with 2:09 remaining.

Collier on an improvised keeper picked up 12 yards on first down, but two consecutive incomplete passes led to a crucial third down and ten.  Most everyone was expecting another pass attempt, but a handoff to Robinson caught the Jackets by surprised and he raced 23 yards down to the Ashford 32.  Consecutive short passes to Wes Cherry and Dozier Dean led to another first down, and a Robinson run off 11 to yet another first down to the Jacket 8 while the Trojans still had one very valuable timeout remaining.  As the last minute began ticking off, Robinson was stopped for a one yard loss on first down, but on the next play Collier searched for a receiver, and with plenty of time due to excellent blocking by the offensive line en whole, he found Jalen Harris wide open at the goal line for a nine yard touchdown pass and the Saint James sidelines and fans went absolutely crazy.  Taylor converted the extra point to give Saint James a four point lead with 37.9 seconds to go, meaning a field goal would not be enough for a potential Jacket tie.

Was the scoring necessarily over?  Not by a long shot.  An out of bounds kickoff gave Ashford the ball at their 35 with no time expired on the clock.  With the threat of the kick returnability of the Ashford receivers, it may well have been a fair tradeoff given the situation.  On the first play, the Jackets completed their fourth down pass, once again of the halfback variety from Richardson to Dewayne Hollinger.  At least this time, Saint James stopped the receiver after a 27 yard gain down to the Trojan 38.  Saint James opted to use its final timeout on defense to remind everyone the game was not over by a longshot.  On the next play, a long pass appeared to be badly thrown and it was intercepted by Coleman Taylor inside the Trojan 15 yard line, but yet another defensive pass interference penalty was called, giving Ashford yet another first down with the clock stopped near 20 seconds at the Saint James 23.  Ashford attempted a pass toward the corner of the endzone, but a player from each team jumped as the ball came down and this time it had indeed been cradled by Taylor inside the endzone, giving Saint James possession after a touchback and reason to start celebrating.

Ashford did have a timeout remaining which was used between two victory formation plays by Collier, and after the second the horn sounded and players and fans respectively rushed onto the field as the graduating seniors no doubt would remember their last home football game comeback victory.  Make that their last regular season home football game victory, as the sixth consecutive region win guaranteed Saint James a first round home playoff matchup against the fourth-seeded team from Region 3, which at the time had not been determined.  Two more road games, including a visit to Trinity where a win would wrap up a perfect region season and end a long losing streak to the Wildcats, and a visit to a team the Trojans have not played in 25 years but who was a stalwart opponent for many of the early years, the Marbury Bulldogs, would prepare the Trojans for the 2014 playoffs.  However, this night was for celebration long after the final whistle in a well-deserved victory.

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SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME EIGHT

SAINT JAMES    RUSHING   40 attempts   167 yards   0 TDs   (4.18 yards per carry)

                                1   Robinson         30 / 132               12   Collier            10 / 35

                              PASSING    14 completions  31 attempts  2 INTs   130 yards    3 TDs

                              12   Collier                  12 - 24 - 1        94 yards     3 TDs
                                2   Melendez               2 -   7 - 1        36 yards

                              RECEIVING

                              10   Dean                  5 / 21                43   Harris            2 / 40  (1 TD)      15   Hubbard           2 / 34   (1 TD)
                              16   Cherry               2 / 12                  1   Robinson       2 / 10                   11   Fields               1 / 13   (1 TD)

                              TOTAL YARDS:  297

                              KICKS:      XP  3 / 3      FG   1 / 1   (35 made)
                              2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                              KICKOFFS:  5  (EZ,54,48,57,OB)            PUNTS:  2  (33,41)
                              KO RETURNS:  3  (20,16,10)                   PUNT RETURNS:   2  (11,0fc)
                              FIRST DOWNS:   21   (13 rushing, 6 passing, 2 penalty)
                              THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS:   9 / 16
                              FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS:  1 / 3
                              FUMBLES:  0
                              TURNOVER MARGIN:  0
                              INTERCEPTION RETURNS:  2  (0,0)
                              POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:  0
                              ACCEPTED PENALTIES:   5 / 42 yards
                              TIME OF POSSESSION:  27:34

ASHFORD           RUSHING    37 attempts  198 yards  2 TDs  (5.35 yards per carry)
                              PASSING       4 completions  9 attempts  2 INTs   164 yards  1 TD
                              TOTAL YARDS:   362

                              KICKS:      XP  2 / 3      FG   0 / 0
                              2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                              KICKOFFS:  4  (OB,48,45,46)                 PUNTS:  3  (33,35,46EZ)
                              KO RETURNS:  3  (31,6,21)                    PUNT RETURNS:  1  (0fc)
                              FIRST DOWNS:  12  (7 rushing, 4 passing, 1 penalty)
                              THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS:  4 / 9
                              FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS:  0 / 1
                              FUMBLES:  0
                              INTERCEPTION RETURNS:  2  (15,8)
                              POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:  0
                              ACCEPTED PENALTIES:  8 / 81 yards
                              TIME OF POSSESSION:  20:26