Brock Woodham was a one man
wrecking crew for the Saint James Trojans. He rushed 7
times for 45 yards, returned 3 kickoffs for a total of 95
yards, intercepted a pass 10 yards short of his goal line,
caused a fumble on a kickoff return after retaking a lead, and
even added a key two point conversion run as for the fourth
consecutive year Saint James won their opening round playoff
game at home with a very hard-fought 23 - 20 victory over the
Oakman Wildcats, first time visitors to Carlisle Field.
Oakman won the coin toss and elected to defer, giving Saint
James the first possession. After Woodham returned the
kickoff to the 40 yard line, the Trojans could make little
headway and were forced into a wind-aided punt which was
returned to the Wildcat 23. Oakman could not earn a
first down thanks to a penalty and a sack, and on fourth down
a punt was called for. The snap was well over the
punter's head, and perhaps the football was wind-aided as well
as it rolled through the endzone for a safety giving Saint
James an early 2 - 0 lead.
Woodham again had a nice return of 20 yards after the free
punt, and the Trojans were in business at the Wildcat
35. After a false start penalty, Drew Fett tossed a pass
over the middle to a wide-open Michael Shalayda for 22 yards
down to the Wildcat 18. On the next play, a handoff went
to Woodham who was virtually untouched off right tackle as he
raced 18 yards for the first touchdown of the game. A
rare bad snap led to the extra point being blocked, but Saint
James was up 8 - 0 midway through the first quarter.
In what would be a hard-hitting physical contest the entire
game, the teams' respective defenses held on the next pair of
drives, trading punts. Oakman took over at their own 27
and began a methodical drive near the end of the first
quarter, primarily (as was the case all night) on the rushing
of Christian Hubbard and the short passing game of Lucas
Bridges. The two connected on a long pass and run on the
opening play of the second quarter, 38 yards worth, and the
Wildcats were threatening at the Trojan 13. On fourth
down from the 8, Bridges scrambled for what seemed like an
eternity before finding Hubbard open in the endzone for an 8
yard touchdown to open the Wildcat scoring. The same
combination teamed up for a 2 point conversion and suddenly
the score was tied at 8 early in the second period.
Once again Woodham received the kickoff and had a long return
on the far sidelines all the way to the Wildcat 28.
However, sacks on third and fourth down attempts led to the
ball being turned over. Oakman marched 63 yards for a
touchdown on this drive with a key play being a pass from
Bridges to Logan Martin for 23 yards to the Trojan
38. Bridges himself produced several first down
quarterback keepers, including a 12-yarder down to the Saint
James 3. On the next play, Hubbard was rewarded with a
carry for the final 3 yards and a go-ahead touchdown.
The extra point attempt was wide left, but the Oakman offense
had suddenly come alive after consecutive touchdown drives,
earning them a 14 - 8 lead with just under 5 minutes remaining
until halftime.
Saint James kept the ball for the remainder of the half,
driving into Wildcat territory, but never seriously threatened
to score as the half came to the close and teams had a chance
to warm up in respective locker rooms.
The respective offenses did little in the early third quarter,
but Saint James won the field position battle by pinning
Oakman at their own 14 yard line. A forced punt rolled
dead at the Wildcat 46, and Saint James began a drive for a
go-ahead touchdown. Austin Gavin, who quietly turned in
another 100+ yard performance, picked up a key first down on a
7 yard run, and on the next play Fett floated a pass to
Bennett Blankenship who rumbled down to the Wildcat 17.
An encroachment penalty, and a face mask penalty tacked on to
a Gavin run gave the Trojans first down at the Wildcat
5. Gavin picked up 2 on first down, and then Woodham
powered in from the final 3 yards for the score. Jan
Wachowitz's key extra point, into the wind, was successful,
and Saint James regained the lead at 15 - 14 late in the third
quarter.
The Wildcats put together several first downs on their next
drive, but on the second play of the quarter, Bridges
attempted a long pass which was slightly overthrown and
intercepted by, again, Brock Woodham at the 10 yard
line. He was tackled at that spot by a face mask grab,
and the ensuing penalty gave Saint James first down at their
own 25. A holding penalty negated a first down run, and
on third and long Fett attempted a long pass down the middle
to Ethan Beard - a play which had been quite successful in
weeks past. However, on this occasion, Wildcat Dante
Williams was the recipient of Fett's first interception of the
season which he caught over the shoulder at his own 46,
turning and weaving down the field through all sorts of
congestion. However, Saint James could not successfully
tackle Williams until he fell on the goal line with ball
safely cradled for a 56 yard pick six, the first interception
return for a touchdown against Saint James since the first
game of the 2014 season. This gave Oakman a 20 - 15
lead. As "the book" says, when ahead by 5 points in the
fourth quarter, go for the 2 point conversion. A penalty
pushed the ball back to the 8 yard line, and from there a
Bridges pass came up just short of an endzone receiver
resulting in a failed conversion attempt. However, the
Oakman fans, which turned out in quite respectable numbers
after the 140 or so mile journey, cheered loudly as the
Wildcats had the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in
the game.
Another fine kickoff return by Woodham, although he only
covered 20 yards, seemed to re-energize the Trojan
sideline. From their own 46, Saint James began a drive
which saw them retake the lead in a back and forth
contest. The first two plays moved the ball to midfield,
and things looked grim after nice yardage on a pass from Fett
to the injured Alex Whisenhunt, playing nevertheless, was
negated by a holding penalty. However, on the next play,
Fett tossed an even nicer pass and Andrew Sadie, the hero of
the previous game, hauled in a fine catch on the Wildcat
sidelines to convert a first down to the Oakman 32. Then
it was Gavin time. On first down he powered for 6 yards,
taking defenders with him. On the next play, he finally
broke loose through the line and cruised 26 yards for a
touchdown and a one point lead at 21 - 20. "The book"
also says when ahead by 1 in the fourth quarter, go for the 2
point conversion. The Trojans did, and workhorse Woodham
pushed hard and just made it into the endzone for the
conversion and a 23 - 20 Trojan lead, but with perilously
still exactly 7 minutes remaining. In regulation.
The Trojan defensive play of the season may have been Andrew
Sadie's pick six the previous week, but the ensuing kickoff
generated as much critical fanfare. Kickoffs were aimed
away from the dangerous Hubbard and were returned by Oakman's
Sean Douglas. However, on this return, Woodham and
teammate Will Wales hit Douglas mightily and knocked the
football loose, right into the unexpected arms of Michael
Shalayda, who was promptly dogpiled, but Saint James had
recovered their first fumble of the evening and were in
outstanding field position at the Wildcat 27. Gavin
rushed three times for 9 yards, and Fett converted the first
down on a 3 yard quarterback keeper down to the Oakman
15. Woodham picked up 9 yards on the next play, but it
was cancelled out by a rare offensive face mask penalty, the
15 yard variety, which pushed the ball all the way back to the
Oakman 30. The next three plays gained a total of 7
yards, and more importantly the clock was being chewed
away. An incomplete pass on fourth down did give the
ball back to Oakman with a chance to drive for a potential
tying field goal or go-ahead touchdown, but with only 1:59
remaining on the clock.
Bridges completed two very short passes to Derrick Hubbard for
2 and 3 yards respectively. On third down, a Bridges
pass was deflected by a Trojan directly back into Bridges'
arms, giving him a throw and catch on the same play.
Unfortunately for Oakman, the play lost 3 yards and forced the
Wildcats to take their final time out with 1:23
remaining. On fourth down, Saint James brought a huge
contigency after Bridges, and his desperation pass made it
only as far as the line of scrimmage where linemen for both
sides fumbled the ball. For one brief moment, it
appeared one of the Oakman lineman could have legally caught
the pass and rumbled for the first down, but instead the ball
finally fell to the ground incomplete. With no Wildcat
timeouts left, Fett merely safely downed the ball twice to
conclude the second consecutive hard-fought hard-hitting
Trojan game. Saint James would later find out their
second round opponent, the defending 3A state champion
Flomaton, would be hosting the following week.
Nevertheless, the Saint James players and fans stayed on the
field long after game conclusion celebrating another first
round playof victory and began looking forward to the
following Friday.
SIDELINE STATISTICS -
GAME ELEVEN
SAINT
JAMES RUSHING 42
attempts 153 yards
3 TDs (3.64
yards per carry)
3
Gavin
23 / 121 (1 TD)
44
Woodham
7 / 35 (2 TDs) 27
Sadie
3 / 7
5
Harrison
1 /
4
4 Whisenhunt
1 / -
1
2
Beard
1 / - 2
8
Fett
6 / -11
PASSING
4 completions 9 attempts 68 yards 1
INT 0 TDs
8
Fett
4 - 9 - 1 68 yards
RECEIVING
87
Shalayda
1 /
22
27
Sadie
1 / 21
21
Blankenship 1 /
17
4 Whisenhunt 1
/ 8
TOTAL
YARDS: 221
KICKS: XP 1 / 2
FG 0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 1 / 1
KICKOFFS: 4
(59,50,44,46)
PUNTS: 3 (39,38,33)
KO RETURNS: 4 (21,11,48,26)
PUNT RETURNS: 3 (20,12,14)
FIRST
DOWNS: 13 (8 rushing, 3 passing, 2
penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 11
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 1 / 4
FUMBLES: 0
TURNOVER
MARGIN: + 1
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 0
FUMBLE RETURNS: 1 (0)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS:
1 (0)
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 6 / 51 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 27:23
OAKMAN
RUSHING
24 attempts 65 yards 1 TD (2.71 yards per
carry)
PASSING 12
completions 21 attempts 1 INT 124
yards 1 TD
TOTAL
YARDS: 189
KICKS: XP 0 / 1
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT
CONVERSIONS: 1 / 2
KICKOFFS:
4 (41,36,38,40)
PUNTS: 4
(35,27,34,31)
KO
RETURNS: 4 (15,21,16,8f)
PUNT RETURNS:
3 (6,0,0fc)
FIRST
DOWNS: 12 (8 rushing, 4 passing)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 11
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 4
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 6
FUMBLES:
2, lost 1
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (54TD)
ACCEPTED
PENALTIES: 8 / 49 yards
TIME OF
POSSESSION: 20:37
SAINT
JAMES 23, Oakman 20 