2020 -
GAME 8
SAINT
JAMES 41, @ Ashford 22 
ASH
6 0
8 8
22
SCORING SUMMARY
STJ (1) 9:36 C.
Harrison 25
run
(H. Harrison kick) 7 - 0
ASH (1) 3:26 Brooks 55
run
(run
failed) 7 - 6
STJ (1) 3:08 Beard 65 pass
from
Jackson
(H. Harrison kick) 14
- 6
STJ (2) 11:34 Wales 10
run
(H. Harrison kick) 21 - 6
STJ (2) 10:43 Craft 16 pass
from
Jackson
(H. Harrison kick) 28 - 6
STJ (2) 5:42 C.
Harrison 4
run
(kick failed) 34 - 6
STJ (2) 1:19 Craft
31 pass from
Jackson
(H. Harrison kick) 41 - 6
ASH (3) 0:54 Griffin 47
run
(Smith run)
41 - 14
ASH (4) 0:07 Griffin 6
run
(Lasseter run) 41 - 22
October 16,
2020. W.H. Brown Field Game
Conditions: Clear, cool, breezy Game
Temperature: 68 Wind NW 10 (where
not sheltered)
Saint James used short fields and short drives to decide this game
by halftime as they cruised to a 41 - 22 victory over the Ashford
Yellow Jackets and, thanks to some other results, clinched second
place in Class 4A Region 2, rewarding the Trojans with a
guaranteed first round home playoff game.
The Trojans won the coin toss and quickly marched for a touchdown
after Cooper Wright's 22 yard return of a medium length
kickoff. Consecutive runs by Cosner Harrison were followed
by an 8 yard first down completion from K.J. Jackson to Clayton
Craft and an 18 yard first down on a sorta-shuffle pass to Clint
Houser. After a no-gain play, Harrison picked up the
touchdown on his third carry of the night, a 25 yarder, and Holt
Harrison's extra point gave the Trojans a 7 - 0 lead less than 2½
minutes into the game.
Ashford, not so quickly, responded with a touchdown of their own
with a grind-it-out drive of 10 yards, primarily on the legs of
running quarterback John Lasseter and tailback Antwuan
Brooks. The Jackets gained exactly 10 yards on 3 downs, and
then exactly 10 yards on 4 downs, eating up first quarter
clock. Four downs later, on fourth and 5, Brooks broke away
after a missed coverage for a 55 yard touchdown. Lasseter
was stopped just short of the goal line with a hard hit for an
attempted two point conversion, but the Trojans managed to barely
hang on to their lead at 7 - 6.
That would change quickly. Wright returned his second
kickoff of the night to the Saint James 35. On first down,
Jackson located Ethan Beard in the flat for what seemed to be
about a 7 yard pass completion at best. However, Beard broke
loose from a potential tackle and scooted 65 yards down the far
sideline for a catch and run touchdown. Harrison's kick put
the Trojans back up 14 - 6 with still over 3 minutes remaining in
the first quarter.
The Jackets were held to a three and out and one of several
"quickpunts" by quarterback Lasseter gave Saint James first down
at their own 39. Three Harrison runs and an 11 yard pass to
Wright gave the Trojans a first down at the Ashford 20 yard line
to start the second quarter. Craft picked up 10 on first
down, and on the next play Will Wales was the recipient of a
double handoff and he weaved 10 yards of his own for what would be
the first of four Trojan touchdowns in the second quarter.
The extra point boosted the lead to 21 - 6.
On the ensuing kickoff, the ball was muffed and dived upon by
Kevin Taylor who practically stole the ball from the Jacket
receiver, giving the Trojans unexpected and excellent field
position at the Ashford 17. After Harrison picked up a
hard-earned yard, Jackson found Craft on a 16 yard pitch and catch
for a touchdown, and after the early scare the Trojans were
suddenly up 28 - 6 still quite early in the second quarter.
A block in the back penalty hampered the Jackets' next drive after
converting one first down, and Zac Russell just missed a special
teams touchdown after a 59 yard punt return all the way to the
Ashford 13. Three Harrison runs, of 6, 3, and 4, gave him
his second rushing touchdown and the third for the Trojans.
The extra point kick wobbled in a peculiar way and boinked off the
crossbar back into the field of play, but Saint James had control
at 34 - 6 with nearly half of the second quarter still awaiting.
Consecutive false start penalties halted the next Jacket drive,
and Russell again responded with a nice punt return of 22
yards. After an incomplete pass and a fortunate recovery of
a fumbled snap, Jackson again found Craft wide open down the
center of the field for a 31 yard touchdown pass. This time
the extra point was good, and Saint James had virtually sealed the
game with a 41 - 6 lead with still over 25 minutes remaining in
the game.
Or so we thought. Ashford simply ran out the remaining clock
on the first half and asked for both a 10 minute halftime, which
was granted by the Trojans, and 8 minute quarters in the second
half, also happily accepted by the Trojans who had a 2-plus hour
drive back to Montgomery awaiting them. Even with the
shortened periods, the clock occasionally ran unstopped even
further cutting the number of plays. By now the Trojan
starters were resting on the south side of W.H. Brown Field.
Each team held the ball before failing to convert on a fourth
down. Stelan Griffin broke away on a 47 yard run late in the
abbreviated third quarter, with Jalen Smith adding 2 points on a
reverse conversion run, and the lead was "cut" to 41 - 14.
Saint James, who only ran 10 plays in the shortened second half
(and only 32 in the entire game) gained yardage on its next drive
Clint Houser, Luke Moody, and backup quarterback Paxton Wingard
runs, but holding penalties on two consecutive long runs thwarted
the drive. Ashford used up most of the remaining fourth
quarter driving down the field, and Griffin scored his second
touchdown with less than 8 seconds remaining. The final
"play" would be another two point conversion run, this one by
quarterback Lasseter, and the clock was allowed to expire with the
Trojans victorious 41 - 22. Saint James looked ahead,
possibly, to their final regular season home game against
Geneva. However, Geneva had to forfeit their same night game
due to COVID issues, which actually locked the Trojans into the
second place regional finish, and the possibility of a potential
forfeit win loomed ahead with the rescheduled battle against
Trinity waiting afterwards.
SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME EIGHT
SAINT JAMES
RUSHING 24
attempts 120 yards 3 TDs
(5.00 yards per carry)
5
Harrison
10 / 75 (2 TDs) 7
Houser
7 / 20
11
Wales
1 / 10 (TD)
23
Craft
1 /
10
44 Wingard
1 / 4
20
Moody
3 / 1
1
Jackson
1 / 0
PASSING
6 completions 7 attempts 0 INTs 149
yards 3 TDs
1
Jackson
6 - 7 - 0 149 yards 3 TDs
RECEIVING
2
Beard
1 / 65 (TD)
23
Craft
3 / 55 (2 TDs)
18
Houser
1 /
18
12
Wright
1 / 11
TOTAL
YARDS: 269
KICKS: XP 5 / 6
FG 0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 7
(42,32,43,38,36,39,50)
PUNTS:
1 (40)
KO RETURNS: 3 (20,9,27)
PUNT RETURNS: 2 (59,22)
FIRST
DOWNS: 13 (8 rushing, 5 passing)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 5
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
FUMBLES: 1, lost 0
FUMBLE RETURNS: 1
(0, recovered muffed kickoff)
TURNOVER
MARGIN: + 1
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 7
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 4 / 32 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 13:48 (40 minute game, third and
fourth quarters shortened to 8 minutes)
ASHFORD
RUSHING
36 attempts 208 yards 3 TDs (5.78 yards per
carry)
PASSING
4 completions 6 attempts 0 INTs 24 yards
TOTAL
YARDS: 232
KICKS: XP 0 / 0
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT
CONVERSIONS: 2 / 3
KICKOFFS:
4 (37,34,42,9)
PUNTS: 3 (35,34,32)
KO
RETURNS: 7 (2,-2,0f,9,9,5,31)
PUNT
RETURNS: 0
FIRST
DOWNS: 11 (10 rushing, 1 passing)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 7
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 3
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 0
FUMBLES:
3, lost 1
ACCEPTED
PENALTIES: 4 / 25 yards
TIME OF
POSSESSION: 26:12 (40 minute game)
RETURN TO THE SAINT JAMES 2020 FOOTBALL HOMEPAGE