2022 - GAME 10

  SAINT JAMES 31, @ Carroll 28  
 
STJ          7        7      14        3            31

CAR         0      14        0      14            28


October 28, 2022   7:00 PM   Matthews Stadium, Ozark    Game Conditions:  Mostly cloudy   Game Temperature:  72   Winds:  negligible

Saint James took up nine minutes of fourth quarter clock to drive for a two possession lead, but a quick score and a successful onside kick had the entire stadium electrified, but a last second interception sealed the deal as the Trojans completed an 8 - 2 regular season with a victory in Ozark over the Carroll Eagles 31 - 28.

SCORING SUMMARY

 STJ   (1)    0:46   Harrison 2 run                                         (Huff kick)      7 -   0
CAR  (2)  11:20   Person 3 run                                       (Lasseter kick)      7 -   7
CAR  (2)    4:49   Cole 10 run                                         (Lasseter kick)      7 - 14
 STJ   (2)    0:56   Jackson 5 run                                           (Huff kick)    14 - 14
 STJ   (3)    8:32   Beard 7 pass from Jackson                     (Huff kick)    21 - 14
 STJ   (3)    1:09   Holloway 35 pass from Jackson             (Huff kick)    28 - 14
CAR  (4)  10:42   McCloud 31 pass from Cole             (Lasseter kick)    28 - 21
 STJ   (4)    1:44   Huff 32 FG                                                                      31 - 21
CAR  (4)    0:17   McCloud 13 pass from Cole             (Lasseter kick)    31 - 28

Carroll won the opening coin toss and elected to receive.  After a short kickoff was fair caught, the Eagles embarked on a 13 play drive to start the game.  Nine of the first ten plays featured runs by either primary running back Lakeith Person or by quarterback Keyshawn Cole, with an 11 yard pass from Cole to Carson Edwards thrown in.  On third down and 9 from the Trojan 27, a holding penalty (the first penalty in a game which would be drowned by "laundry on the field") stalled the drive, and two consecutive incomplete passes afterwards turned the ball over on downs.

Saint James responded with a methodical drive of their own.  It didn't start out methodical as on the first play it appeared K.J. Jackson had tossed a 63 yard touchdown pass to Ethan Beard who had escaped behind the defense.  But, alas, a holding penalty negated the score.  So the Trojans took a page from the Carroll book, gaining yardage mostly on the legs of Cosner Harrison.  A pair of runs totalling 15 yards and a defensive offside penalty earned the first down to cancel out the first play penalty.  Ethan Beard picked up 16 yards on a running play.  Harrison followed with a 7 yard run and a 17 yard pass to Clint Houser, one of his career high seven receptions, quickly moved the ball down to the Eagle 13.  Harrison ran for 5, Beard caught a pass (one of seven for him as well) for 4, and two more Harrison power rushes had the Trojans in the endzone.  Jake Huff continued his season long streak of extra point perfection and Saint James had a 7 - 0 lead after two drives had virtually eaten up the entire first quarter.

On the third play of Carroll's next drive, the first play of the second quarter, Cole broke loose down the far sidelines and appeared to be on his way to a 67 yard touchdown scamper.  However, Ziggy Holloway chased him down just short of the goal line to save the score.  For one play.  On the next play Person picked up the final three yards of the drive.  Clayton Hunter Lasseter was also perfect on his extra points, and the score was tied at 7 in the first minute of the second quarter.

The second Trojan drive got off to a good start with a face mask penalty on the opening Harrison run and an 18 yard reception by Houser several plays later.  However, on fourth down from the Eagle 38 Jackson was sacked and the ball again was turned over on downs.  It is believed this game was the first ever in Trojan history where neither team punted.  Every drive ended in either a score, a turnover on downs, or as time ended in a half.

As opposed to the first four drives of the game, Carroll sped up the tempo and moved down the field 53 yards in 7 plays to take their first and only lead.  Running back Kezalin Miley pitched in some relief rushing yards, and a roughing the passer penalty gave the Eagles a first and goal at the 10 yard line.  After a no gain on first down, Cole called his own number for a 10 yard scamper and score and the Eagles were up 14 - 7 with just under 5 minutes remaining until halftime.

The Trojans did drive for a tying score in the waning minutes of the second quarter.  Runs by Jackson and Harrison and passes to Beard and Houser, who seemed to continously find ways to become open, advanced the ball down the field in small chunks.  A 16 yard reception by Houser gave Saint James first down on the Eagle 5, and Jackson called his own number going virtually untouched on the next play to tie the game at 14 in the last minute of the first half.  A block in the back penalty on the Eagle kickoff return stifled most any chance of more points being scored in the first half, and the teams went to the locker room tied at 14.  The "block in the back" penalty would become far far too more common in the second half.

Saint James started the third quarter with a 7 play 82 yard drive for a quick score.  After a loss on first down, Jackson completed consecutive passes to Holloway for 16, Beard for 13, Beard for 16, and Houser for 3.  Just when the Eagles were looking for another pass, Harrison got a handoff and burst through the defense with his longest carry of the evening, a 30 yarder.  On the next play, Jackson returned to the air by finding Beard for a slant and a 7 yard touchdown, and the Trojans regained a lead they would never relinquish at 21 - 14.

After another short kickoff was fair caught, Carroll tried to drive for a tying touchdown.  Cole started with a quarterback keeper as he picked up 23 of his game high 167 yards rushing, but he could only pick up 7 yards on a fourth down and 11 from the Trojan 24.  Saint James followed up their 82 yard drive with an 83 yarder to double the lead.  A defensive pass interference penalty (yes, this game was penalty filled at over 30 flags were thrown) gave the Trojans a first down at the Eagle 42.  Harrison picked up 7 on first down against a tiring Eagle defense.  On the next play, Saint James attempted and successfully executed a double reverse pass play.  The second time Jackson had the ball - he lofted a pass to Holloway who was well covered but managed to grab the ball for a 35 yard touchdown on a high risk high reward effort, and late in the third quarter the Trojans finally had some breathing room with a two touchdown lead.

Just like the first play of the second quarter, Carroll struck big on the first play of the fourth quarter as Dakota Edwards caught a Cole pass for 30 yards on third down and 19.  Several plays later from the Trojan 31, Cole lifted an endzone pass toward Edwards.  The ball was tipped several times, but somehow managed to find its way into Edwards' hands with Edwards' feet staying in bounds,  and suddenly Carroll was back within 7 at 28 - 21 with nearly 11 minutes remaining in regulation.

The next Trojan drive was easily the weirdest I can remember in recent history, so I am going to laboriously review it play by play.  First, a nice 40 yard kickoff return by Beard was mostly wiped out by a block in the back penalty.  (1, counting the number of penalties on this drive).  The first three plays were simple enough.  From the 13 yard line, Harrison rushed for 11 and a first down, Harrison rushed for 5, and then Riley Britton caught his only pass of the night for a 13 yard gain and Saint James had some breathing room with a first down at their own 42.  Now the fun begins.  On first down, a 23 yard pass completion to Houser was mostly erased by a holding penalty (2), leading to a first down and 16 from the 36.  On the next play, a 12 yard pass completion to Beard was mostly erased by a block in the back penalty (3) at the end of the run, making a first down and 14.  The next play was the strangest of all.  After a Trojan timeout to try and regroup, Jackson lifted a pass, perhaps in desperation to escape a sack, which was intercepted by Eagle Jalen Plott and returned to the Trojan 37.  However, there were flags down on several parts of the field.  A defensive holding penalty was called against Carroll, and on the return a block in the back penalty (4,5) was surprisingly called against Saint James who had turned defenders.  The referees conferred for several minutes and, eventually, awarded Saint James the ball with a 10 yard gain (the holding penalty) and a first down at their own 48.

The crazy drive continued.  A second sideline warning, resulting in a 5 yard penalty for Carroll (6) was called after the results of the previous play.  After an incomplete pass, Jackson tossed another 17 yarder (one of several) to Houser for a first down at the Eagle 30.  All this time, "time" was being eaten off the clock.  After a false start penalty (7), Carroll returned the favor with an offside penalty (8) helping the Trojans from a third and 14 to a third and 9.  Harrison earned the first down, not by rushing, but by a nifty screen-resembling reception for 11 yards to keep the drive alive.  Jackson then rushed for 4 and Harrison for 6 to give the Trojans a first down atthe Carroll 8.  Cole Anderson picked up three yards on his only touch of the evening, and another defensive offside penalty (9) moved the ball inside the 3.  On the next play, however, a Harrison touchdown run was wiped out by a holding penalty (10).  Two incomplete passes followed, and Jake Huff was called in to attempt his second field goal of the season, a 32 yarder, which he converted with ease, and thankfully as we shall see, as Saint James completed a wild drive eating up just short of 9 minutes of the final period to take a 10 point lead at 31 - 21 with 1:44 remaining.

A block in the back penalty (11, uh, no, this is a new drive) forced Carroll in desperation mode to start from their own 12 yard line.  Carson Edwards caught a pass for 18 yards and Dakota McCloud caught one for 11 to move the ball out to the Eagle 41.  A sack on the next play was negated by a face mask penalty, advancing the ball into Trojan territory.  However, on the next play, a holding call wiped out a 15 yard run by Cole pushing the ball back into the Eagles side of the field.  After two incomplete passes and a second time out called by Carroll, 37 seconds remained.  On the next play, Cole broke loose for a 31 yard scamper down the near sidelines and a touchdown saving tackle was ruled to be a horsecollar tackle (what would be the 27th and final accepted penalty called in the game with both teams being penalized exactly 108 yards), putting the ball on the 13 yard line.  Cole then found McCloud in the endzone for a 13 yard completion which went right through the hands of a Trojan defender, was bobbled, and caught.  The extra point cut the lead to 3, but only 17.3 seconds remained.

Carroll then executed a near perfect onside kick where Saint James never even touched the ball.  From the Saint James 48, Cole was dropped inbounds after a short 3 yard gain forcing the Eagles to burn their final timeout with 9.9 seconds remaining.  Cole took the snap, scrambled for five seconds, and then lofted a pass which easily reached the endzone.  The ball appeared to bounce straight up off of a helmet or shoulder pad, but very fortunately Ethan Beard was the only player around the final trajectory of the ball and his interception in the endzone as the final horn blew, the only turnover in this crazy game, secured the road victory for the Trojans and provided undoubtedly welcome momentum as the 2022 playoffs would start the following week.

SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME TEN

SAINT JAMES   RUSHING   29 attempts   161 yards   2 TDs   (5.55 yards per carry)

                                5   Harrison            22 / 132  (1 TD)       2   Beard                    1 / 16
                                1   Jackson               5 /   10   (1 TD)     21   Anderson              1 /  3

                              PASSING    19 completions  26 attempts  0 INTs  240 yards  2 TDs

                                1   Jackson             19 - 26 - 1    240 yards   2 TDs

                              RECEIVING

                                7   Houser           7 /  89       2   Beard           7 /  71  (1 TD)      6   Holloway     3 / 57  (1 TD)
                                9   Britton           1 /  12       5   Harrison       1 /  11

                              TOTAL YARDS:   401

                              KICKS:      XP  4 / 4      FG   1 / 1  (32 made)
                              2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                              KICKOFFS:  6  (30,43,48,23,38,51)           PUNTS:  0
                              KO RETURNS:  4  (21,16,10,18)               PUNT RETURNS:   0
                              FIRST DOWNS:   27 <tied school record> (10 rushing, 14 passing, 3 penalty)
                              THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS:  2 / 4
                              FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS:  0 / 1
                              FUMBLES:  0
                              INTERCEPTION RETURNS:  1  (0)
                              TURNOVER MARGIN:  + 1
                              POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:   0
                              ACCEPTED PENALTIES:   13 / 108 yards
                              TIME OF POSSESSION:  28:56

CARROLL           RUSHING    29 attempts  227 yards  2 TDs  (7.83 yards per carry)
                              PASSING       8 completions  19 attempts  1 INT  2 TDs  126 yards
                              TOTAL YARDS:  353

                              KICKS:      XP  4 / 4      FG   0 / 0
                              2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                              KICKOFFS:  5  (56,55,52,55,12os)                   PUNTS:  0
                              KO RETURNS:  7  (0fc,20,10,0fc,0fc,13,0)      PUNT RETURNS:  0
                              FIRST DOWNS:  19  (12 rushing, 5 passing, 2 penalty)
                              THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS:  5 / 7
                              FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS:   0 / 2
                              POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:  0
                              FUMBLES:  2, lost 0
                              ACCEPTED PENALTIES:  14 / 108 yards
                              TIME OF POSSESSION:  19:04

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