2017 -
GAME 3
@ Catholic 7, Saint James 6
CAT
0 0
0 7
7
SCORING SUMMARY
STJ (4)
7:33 Kim 40
FG
3 - 0
STJ (4) 3:43 Kim 37
FG
6 - 0
CAT (4) 0:35 Price 2 run
(Parker kick) 6 - 7
September 8, 2017.
Catholic Field. Game Conditions:
Clear Game Temperature: 81
Wind: N 10, decreasing
In a game which was a hard-hitter defensively,
occasionally sloppy in the first half, and a no scorer for
over three quarters, it was the Catholic Knights who took
advantage of one huge desperation fourth down conversion to
stop several Saint James winning streaks, including 4
Capital City Conference games in a row, 11 regular season
road games in a row, and most importantly, 7 region games in
a row, as two fourth quarter Jin Kim field goals was not
enough as Catholci scored on a come-from-behind toucheown
run in the last minute of the game for a thrilling 7 - 6
victory over the visiting Trojans.
The first three quarters of the game more resembled a game
from the 1970s, low scoring, turnovers, possessions limited
mostly to the middle of the playing field. Saint James
had the first possession, but Catholic was giving away free
yardage with two defensive lining-up penalties. A
Steven Yergensen run gave the Trojans first down at the
Knight 30, but four plays later the Trojans were stopped on
a three yard gain on fourth down and six.
Catholic made little progress on its first three offensive
downs, but on fourth down Rhys Holifield executed a
well-designed fake punt run from deep in his own territory,
picking up 17 yards on a fourth down and 6 sweep.
However, the Knights could not convert another first down
and did punt the Trojans back to their own 33 yard line.
Saint James opted to punt on fourth down and 2, and Josh
Garnett boomed a punt which was downed at the Catholic 5
yard line, pinning the Knights deep. Not for
long. Tyler Price broke loose for a 24 yard gain on
first down, one of the longest offensive plays of the
game. Three plays later, an illegal formation penalty
negated a first down carry, and on the next play Hunter
Ferrell lofted a wobbly, floating pass which was intercepted
by T.R. Robertson at the Catholic 46. However, a
fumble on the next play was recovered by Jalen Fountain and
Catholic regained possession. The turnover fest
continued as Robertson intercepted his second pass in as
many series, returning the ball to the Trojan
34. As the game moved into the second quarter,
Saint James punted again and Catholic had a little offensive
momentum. However, a five yard pass on fourth and six
gave Saint James decent field position once more at their
own 42. Three plays later, however, the ball was
wrestled away from Collin Duncan as he tried to extend a
first down run and the Knights regained possession.
Neither team could do much of anything the remainder of the
first half as the teams combined for a total six first downs
in the first two quarters, and the game was scoreless at
halftime.
The Knights had the best offensive drive of the game to
start the third quarter, primarily on the legs of Price and
Ferrell and the arm of Ferrell as well. The Knights
failed to convert a fourth down and one at the Trojan 26 to
end the first serious scoring threat. Saint James
proceeded to eat up half of the third quarter on their
ensuing drive, thanks in great part to a pair of measured
first downs, one on fourth down. However, a sack of
Garnett forced the Trojans back to near midfield and
required another punt. A short punt gave the Trojans a
first down at the Catholic 48 near the end of the third
quarter, and the Trojans took another six minutes off the
clock to finally generate the game's first score. Tony
Amerson picked up 2 yards and 3 inches on a fourth down and
2 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Several
plays later a Robertson run gave the Trojans a first down at
the Catholic 27. A short run and two short pass
completions only netted five yards. As points were at
an extreme premium, field goal kicker Jin Kim was called on
to convert a 40 yard field goal. A bit of a north wind
assisted him, and the kick could have been good from 8 yards
farther out. The scoreless tie was finally broken and
Saint James had a 3 - 0 lead with 7½ minutes remaining.
Kim's momentum helped him boom the ensuing kickoff through
the endzone. The Saint James defense caught fire as
well, and a six yard sack of Ferrell gave the Knights a
fourth and 16. Catholic again tried the fake punt run
which had been successful in the first quarter, but Andrew
Sadie blasted the punter Holifield six yards downfield,
knocking the ball out. A Catholic lineman caught the
ball in midair, but was promptly dropped by the Saint James
special teams, and the Trojans were in business at the
Catholic 20 where a touchdown could have sealed the
game. Three plays netted no yardage, and again Kim was
called upon. His 37 yard field goal attempt, unlike
the previous, just barely cleared the crossbar but did, and
the Trojan lead was doubled at 6 - 0 with just under four
minutes remaining. However, those on the Trojans
sideline wondered if a second field goal would be enough to
secure victory.
Unfortunately, it was not. Kim's kickoff was returned
to the Trojan 29. Three plays gained no yardage, but
Catholic converted on their first desperation fourth down
with a 17 yard pass completion from Ferrell to Price,
extending the drive. Three plays later, Price ran for
8 yards to convert a third down. Three plays later, a
sack of Ferrell caused Catholic to call their final timeout
and devise a play to convert a fourth down and 16 from the
Trojan 44. On the previous play, a potential touchdown
pass down the far sideline was dropped, and the collective
"Whew" could be heard on the Saint James side of the
field. On fourth down, the Knights called on virtually
the same play. Ferrell's pass was on target, and Price
caught the ball and was knocked out of bounds at the Trojan
2, converting a mammoth fourth down. The deflated
defense allowed Price to score the first touchdown of the
game on the next play, and Derrick Parker converted the
extra point to give Catholic a 7 - 6 lead with only 35
seconds remaining.
To further hinder any possible chance of a late Trojan
comeback, a roughing the kicker penalty on the extra point
allowed Catholic to kick off from the Saint James 45, and
the kick easily reached the endzone. With no timeouts
remaining, only incomplete passes, first downs, or the
sideline could stop the clock further. A pass from
beyond the line of scrimmage pushed the ball back to the 15
yard line, but a 15 yard pass from Garnett to Robertson gave
the Trojans a first down at their own 30. Three
consecutive passes ate up all but the last two seconds of
the clock, and on the last play of the game Greg Ellis
intercepted a pass and very nearly returned it 62 yards for
a score, but he was dropped inside the Trojan 20.
However, Catholic pulled out the victory in a very hard
fought game and earned the upper hand in the 2017 4A Region
2 championship race. Saint James, in three
games, matched their loss total of twelve games in the
previous season, but looked forward to return home for a
pair of consecutive games, the next against the imposing
team from Fultondale.
SIDELINE
STATISTICS - GAME THREE
SAINT JAMES
RUSHING 40
attempts 93 yards 0 TDs
(2.33 yards per carry)
12 Robertson
5 /
31 21
Amerson 20
/ 27 23 S.
Sadie
7 / 20
9
Yergensen
4 / 19 5
Duncan
1 / 8 14
Garnett
3 / - 12
PASSING
6 completions 13 attempts 1 INT 39 yards
14
Garnett
6 - 12 - 1 39 yards
5
Duncan
0 - 1 - 0
RECEIVING
12
Robertson
1 / 15 23 S.
Sadie
2 / 13 21
Amerson
3 / 11
TOTAL
YARDS: 132
KICKS: XP 0 / 0
FG 2 / 2 (40, 37 made)
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 3 (46,EZ,51)
PUNTS: 4
(54,22,33,33)
KO RETURNS: 1 (15)
PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST
DOWNS: 10 (7 rushing, 2 passing, 1 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 13
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 4
INTERCEPTION RETURNS:
2 (0,18)
FUMBLES: 2, lost 2
TURNOVER
MARGIN: - 1
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 3
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 6 / 45 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 26:27
CATHOLIC
RUSHING 38
attempts 119 yards 1 TD (3.13 yards per carry)
PASSING
6 completions 19 attempts 2 INTs
69 yards
TOTAL
YARDS: 188
KICKS: XP 1 / 1
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS:
0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 2
(32,45EZ)
PUNTS:
3 (25,44,31)
KO
RETURNS: 2 (23,20)
PUNT RETURNS: 2 (0fc,0)
FIRST
DOWNS: 10 (8 rushing, 2 passing)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 12
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 6
FUMBLES:
1, lost 0
FUMBLE ADVANCEMENT: 1 (0)
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 0
ACCEPTED
PENALTIES: 5 / 25 yards
TIME OF
POSSESSION: 21:33
RETURN TO THE SAINT JAMES 2017 FOOTBALL HOMEPAGE