2020 -
GAME 5
Alabama Christian 47, Saint James 41
(OT) 
ACA
13 13
7 8
| 6 47
STJ
0
14 13 14
| 0 41
SCORING
SUMMARY
ACA (1) 10:07 Moore
32 pass from
Clark
(Sewell kick)
0 - 7
ACA (1)
0:00 Clark 7
run
(kick
failed) 0 - 13
ACA (2)
9:52 Clark 5
run
(run failed) 0
- 19
STJ
(2) 7:46 Craft 30
pass from Jackson
(H.
Harrison kick)
7 - 19
ACA (2)
5:51 Moore 28 pass from
Clark
(Sewell kick)
7 - 26
STJ
(2) 0:27 Beard 19
pass from Jackson
(H. Harrison kick) 14 - 26
STJ (3)
10:27 Wright 61 pass from Jackson
(kick failed) 20 - 26
ACA (3)
3:42 Clark 36
run
(Sewell kick) 20 - 33
STJ (3)
0:28 C. Harrison 9
run
(H. Harrison kick) 27 - 33
STJ
(4) 7:31
Jackson 4 run
(H. Harrison kick) 34 - 33
ACA (4)
5:47 Moore 54 pitch from Hunt catch
(Schlemmer pass from Clark)
34 - 41
STJ
(4) 4:51 Beard
58 pass from
Jackson
(H. Harrison kick) 41 - 41
ACA (OT1) ---- Clark
9
run
41 - 47
Friday night, September
25, 2020 7:00 PM Carlisle Field. Game
conditions: Overcast Game Temperature:
79 Wind: W, light
Jalen Clark dazzled in leading his visiting Alabama Christian, but
the young Trojans fought hard, overcoming several double digit
deficits and forcing overtime before Clark's final play of the
game was an overtime touchdown run as the Eagles took command of
the 4A Region 2 standings in an unbelievably entertaining game as
Saint James was defeated 47 - 41 in overtime.
It was a very rough first quarter for the Trojans. The
Eagles won the coin toss and elected to receive, something Saint
James is not accustomed to. An offside penalty on the
opening kickoff did not help either. It was followed by an
out of bounds kickoff. An immediate touchdown on first down
was avoided as an Eagles receiver had completely eluded all
defenders, but fortunately for the Trojans the gimme touchdown
pass was dropped. Alabama Christian was not faring much
better as they were called for a holding penalty on their second
offensive play. However, it was followed up by a 25 yard run
by Demari Moore and a 9 yard run by Corey Landers. On the
next play, Moore made up for the earlier miss as he hauled in a 32
yard pass nearly as wide open for the first of many game
touchdowns. Norton Sewell converted the extra point, and the
Eagles were up 7 - 0 less than two minutes into the game.
Saint James did not convert a first down on the drive, and would
only run seven plays in the first quarter earning no first downs
and generating negative overall yardage. The Eagles appeared
to be on their way to a second score on the legs of Landers,
Moore, and quarterback Jalen Clark. On a fourth down play
inside the five, Clark had appeared to gain a first down just
short of the goal line, but another holding penalty pushed ACA
backwards. A fourth and long pass attempt was nimbly
intercepted by Ethan Beard at the back of the endzone, and Saint
James had avoided going down potentially double digits.
Disaster struck on the next drive as the Trojans muffed a punt
snap. The loose ball was actually picked up and run in for a
short touchdown, but an inadvertent whistle stopped the play at
the 7 yard line. No problem - Clark called his own number
and wiggled vritually untouched into the endzone on the final play
of the first quarter. The extra point attempt was wide, but
ACA had built a 13 - 0 lead after the opening stanza.
The Trojans earned good field position after a kickoff return, but
on the next play the ball was ripped out of the carrier's hands
and was recovered by the Eagles as the Trojan woes
continued. Clark picked up 39 yards on first down to advance
the ball all the way to the Saint James 6, and two plays later he
found a hole off tackle for a 5 yard touchdown run, his
second. A two point conversion run failed, but the Eagles
appeared in command as they built their lead to 19 - 0 early in
the second quarter.
An out of bounds kickoff, a nice run by Clint Houser, and a
defensive offside penalty finally earned the Trojans its initial
first down. (They would add 18 later in the game.)
Cosner Harrison finally got loose on a 19 yard carry to earn
another first down, and after a 1 yard gain, K.J. Jackson looked
for and found a wide open Clayton Craft who dodged several
defneders on his way to a 30 yard catch and run touchdown.
Holt Harrison's extra point gave the Trojans a flicker of success
as they now trailed 19 - 7.
Less than two minutes later, the high-flying Eagles were back in
the endzone. A 41 yard pass from Clark to Hayes Hunt on
first down was followed by a 4 yard Clark run and a second
touchdown toss to Moore, this one of 28 yards. Sewell's
extra point was good, and ACA regained their 19 point lead at 26 -
7 with nearly half of the second quarter still remaining.
Saint James picked up a pair of first downs on their next drive,
but a deep pass in search of Ethan Beard was intercepted at the
goal line by Mitchell Hagan and returned just out of harms way to
the 2 yard line. Saint James used timeouts to force a punt
out of the deeply pinned Eagles. From the ACA 48, Jackson
connected on consecutive passes of 9 and 10 yards to Bradley
Thomas. On the next play he found Beard on a 10 yard
completion earning a first down at the Eagle 19. After two
incomplete passes, Jackson found Beard once again for a 19 yard
touchdown on a cradling catch. Harrison's extra point cut
the gap to 26 - 14 with less than 30 seconds remaining. The
Trojans would actually have another scoring chance before halftime
as the kickoff returner had the ball wrestled from him and
recovered by A.J. Alozie. An 11 yard catch by Zack Russell
gave Saint James a first down at the Eagle 21 with 6 seconds
remaining. The field goal unit was called upon, but Harrison
missed his first place kick attempt of the season as the 38 yard
attempt was straight, but low and short. However, the
Trojans seemed to have switched momentum and the insurmountable
start by ACA seemed a bit more surmountable by Saint James as
halftime began.
Alabama Christian perhaps feared being stung on a long kickoff
return as their remaining kickoffs were short and fielded by
Trojans with short or no returns. Starting on their own 35,
Harrison picked up four yards on a pair of carries. On third
down, Jackson found Cooper Wright open on the near sidelines for
about a 15 yard gain and a first down, but Wright broke loose from
his single coverage and raced down the sidelines for a 61 yard
catch and run touchdown. The point after failed, but Saint
James continued their momentum and was back in the game trailing
only 26 - 20. On the ensuing Eagle drive, Clark picked up
one first down on his third 21 yard run of the night, but the
drive stalled as a fourth down and 10 pass from the Trojan 40 fell
incomplete.
The Trojan momentum continued as Harrison picked up 44 yards on a
carry on the next play, and Clint Houser followed with a pair of
runs for 10 yards to give Saint James a first down at the Eagle
6. However, the Trojans could not advance further and could
not convert a 25 yard field goal attempt to further narrow the
lead. Three plays and 80 yards later, ACA was back in the
endzone. A 12 yard pass to Hunt, a 32 yard catch and run to
Garrett Weathers, and a very nifty 36 yard run by Clark led to the
score. The extra point by Sewell was good, and the Eagle
lead was back to double digits at 33 - 20.
Saint James took advantage of another short kickoff beginning the
possession at their own 41. Zac Russell caught a 28 yard
pass mid-drive, and 3 plays later Harrison rushed for a 9 yard
score. The extra point was good, and the lead was cut back
to 6 at 33 - 27 with still time remaining in the third
quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the ball
was wrestled from Clark in a pile and the Trojans were the
benefactor of another turnover. They methodically drove 47
yards and used up almost the first half of the fourth
quarter. Harrison picked up 7 yards on a key fourth down and
2 run, and Beard caught an 11 yard pass for another first
down. Shades of 2019 and Andrew Sadie arose when Clayton
Craft was the recipient of a double handoff, completely misleading
the Eagle secondary, and Craft took the ball all the way down to
the 4 yard line before finally being caught. Jackson kept
the ball on the next play and powered for the touchdown. The
Saint James crowd went crazy as Harrison's extra point was good,
and the Trojans had somehow managed to take their first lead of
the game at 34 - 33.
The lead did not last long. Hunt caught the ensuing kickoff
near the goal line and momentum carried him back into the
endzone. He almost kneed down which could have resulted in a
Saint James safety. However he avoided the gaffe and
struggled through tacklers to get the ball out to the 24 yard
line. Three plays later from the 39, ACA produced one of the
greatest flea flicker plays you would ever see at any level of
football, digging into their back of tricks. Hunt caught
about a 7 yard pass from Clark on the far sidelines and lateraled
to an onrushing Moore in full speed who outraced the few defenders
which had a chance to catch him on his way to a 54 yard
pitch-it-to-me touchdown. With a 5 point lead, the Eagles
called timeout and decided to attempt a two point
conversion. Clark's pass was to a wide open Norman Schlemmer
in the endzone, and the Eagles were back ahead 41 - 34 with less
than 6 minutes remaining in the game.
This lead did not last long either. Another short kickoff
was downed by Adam Garnett at the Trojan 42. A first down
pass netted no yards, but on second down another 1 - 2 punch was
converted as # 1 Jackson found # 2 Beard open for a 58 yard
touchdown on what would be the Trojans' final scrimmage play of
regulation. Harrison's extra point was true, and the score
was tied at 41 with still nearly five minutes remaining.
The Eagles used up the entire remaining time on offense, perhaps
driving for a potential game-winning field goal. A fourth
down and 1 Clark run of 5 yards gave the Eagles a first down at
the Trojan 30. However, a sack on first down cost the Eagles
6 yards and Clark for the next play as he cramped up and had to be
taken to the sidelines. Backup quarterback Hunt was sacked
on the next play for another 7 yard loss, and then as ACA had no
timeouts remaining, Hunt had to scramble his forces together to
down a pass with only 1 second remaining. Clark returned to
the game and saw what appeared to be a wide open receiver in the
endzone after some scrambling, but the pass was knocked away and
overtime ensued.
The overtime period did not go well for the Trojans. They
lost the coin toss and the Eagles forced them to play offense
first as is customary. Jackson was lucky to get positive
yardage on first down after a slightly mishandled snap.
Harrison rumbled down to the 2 on the second play. However,
on the next play, backfield confusion led to Jackson being dropped
for a 3 yard loss, and a delay of game penalty while deciding what
to do on third down pushed the ball back to the 10 yard
line. A field goal attempt failed, and it meant any score
from the Eagles would end the game in the first overtime.
Moore tried on first down but was stopped for a gain of less than
a yard. Clark took the next handoff and found a hole on the
left side, running virtually untouched to the endzone with a 9
yard carry and an ACA victory to conclude an immensely
entertaining and nervy game as the Eagles appeared to be the
frontrunners toward the Region 2 championship which would be their
first ever championship since expanded regions were created in
2000. Saint James, with a region loss, would look forward to
playing four consecutive region games in four weeks. The
next game would be the Trojans' first visit to neighboring Macon
County since 1987, and its first visit to the county seat of
Tuskegee when they encounter the Booker T. Washington Golden
Eagles.
SIDELINE
STATISTICS - GAME FIVE
SAINT JAMES RUSHING
35 attempts 150 yards 1 TD
(4.29 yards per carry)
5
Harrison
21 / 118 yards (1 TD)
7
Houser
3 /
18
23
Craft
1 / 16
1
Jackson
8 /
12
2
Beard
1 / 1
17
Berrey
1 / -15
PASSING
13 completions 22 attempts 1 INT 266
yards 4 TDs
1
Jackson
13 - 22 - 1 266 yards 4 TDs
RECEIVING
2
Beard
4 / 98 (2
TDs)
12
Cooper
1 / 61 (TD)
3
Russell
3 / 41
23
Craft
2 / 38 (1 TD)
21
Thomas
3 / 28
TOTAL
YARDS: 416
KICKS: XP 5 / 6
FG 0 / 3 (38,25,23 missed)
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 7 (OB,51,34,51,46,60,49)
PUNTS: 1 (33)
KO RETURNS: 6 (7,8,8,0,0,0)
PUNT
RETURNS: 0
FIRST
DOWNS: 19 (9 rushing, 9 passing, 1 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 4 / 9
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 3
FUMBLES: 2, lost 2
TURNOVER
MARGIN: 0
FUMBLE RETURNS: 2 (0,0)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 7
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 2 / 10 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 24:15
ACA
RUSHING 36 attempts 288 yards 5
TDs (8.00 yards per carry - 1 Clark 19 / 196)
PASSING
10 completions 18 attempts 1 INT 183
yards 2 TDs
TOTAL
YARDS: 469
KICKS: XP 3 / 4
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT
CONVERSIONS: 1 / 2
KICKOFFS: 7
(39,26,OB,36,25,19,18)
PUNTS: 1 (41)
KO
RETURNS: 6 (18,6,26,29,24,20)
PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST
DOWNS: 19 (14 rushing, 5 passing)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 8
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 4
FUMBLES:
3, lost 2
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 13
ACCEPTED
PENALTIES: 4 / 32 yards
TIME OF
POSSESSION: 23:45
RETURN TO THE SAINT JAMES 2020 FOOTBALL HOMEPAGE