2022 -
GAME 12
SAINT JAMES 42, @ W.S. Neal
21 
STJ
7 28
7 0
42
WSN
7
0 0
14
21
November 11, 2022 VETERANS DAY! W.S.
Neal Stadium, East Brewton
For only the third time in its fifty year history of varsity
football, the Saint James Trojans advanced to the third round
of the state playoffs as they broke open a close game with
four consecutive second quarter touchdowns on way to a 42 - 21
visiting defeat of first time opponent, the W.S. Neal Blue
Eagles.
SCORING
SUMMARY
STJ (1) 10:21 Wright
15 pass from
Jackson
(Huff kick) 7 - 0
WSN (1) 4:44
Hodges 9
run
(Samuel kick) 7 - 7
STJ (2) 11:39
Harrison 1
run
(Huff kick) 14 - 7
STJ (2)
8:18 Holloway 76 pass from
Jackson
(Huff kick) 21 - 7
STJ (2)
5:45 Beard 75 punt
return
(Huff kick) 28 - 7
STJ (2)
1:03 Wright 10 pass from
Jackson
(Huff kick) 35 - 7
STJ (3)
8:56 Beard 29 pass from
Jackson
(Huff kick) 42 - 7
WSN (4) 6:54 Samuel 1
run
(kick failed) 42 - 13
WSN (4) 0:23
Jones 15 pass from
Roberts
(Samuel run) 42 - 21
Saint
James won the opening toss, elected to receive, and started
with great field position as the kickoff was shanked out of
bounds at the 44 yard line. With the 5 yard penalty
added, the Trojans started at the "51" yard line and
promptly drove for a score. Cosner Harrison continued
his pursuit of a 5000 yard rushing career with a 4 yard run,
Clint Shores picked up 14 on a pass from K.J. Jackson, and
Harrison ran for another 18 to move the ball down to the
Eagles 15. From there, Jackson tossed his first of
four touchdown passes - a strike to a wide open Cooper
Wright in the middle of the endzone for a score less than 2
minutes into the game. Jake Huff's kick was low, but
he continued his season long perfect streak of extra points
and the Trojans led 7 - 0.
A 13 yard sack of Neal quarterback Carter Hodges by Taylor
Hester stalled the Eagles' first drive, but after the first
of 7 Eagle punts a holding penalty stalled the Trojans' next
drive. On first down from the 27, Kevin Farrish broke
loose for a 61 yard run where the Trojan defenders managed
to save a touchdown. For two plays at least.
Farrish ran for 3 on first down, and then Hodges kept up the
middle for 9 yards and a W.S. Neal Touchdown. Sedrick
Samuel added the extra point, and it was game on at 7 - 7
late in the first quarter.
Clint Houser had a nifty kickoff on the ensuing drive of 35
yards and Saint James started again on the "51" yard
line. They ate up the rest of the first quarter,
mostly on the legs of Harrison, while overcoming a sack and
several penalties. On the first play of the second
quarter, on second and 20 from the Eagle 34, Harrison
powered his way for a run which came up about 2 feet short
of the goal line, and on the next play he was rewarded with
a 1 yard touchdown and the Trojans had a lead they would
never relinquish at 7 - 7. This would be the first of
four touchdowns in an absolutely dominating second quarter
by Saint James.
Despite returning the kickoff to the 40, Neal penalties
thwarted their third drive, and Ethan Beard fair caught a
punt at the Trojan 23. After Harrison picked up 1
yard, Jackson tossed a pass to Ziggy Holloway which should
have gone for maybe 15 yards at best but turned into
arguably the play of the season for Saint James. After
breaking two tackles early, he darted toward the sidelines
and should have been stopped or forced out of bounds three
times. Amazingly, he defied each pursuer and zigged 76
yards into the endzone for another touchdown and a 21 - 7
lead.
The Eagles were again held three and out, and this time
Beard was able to run after receiving the punt. After
breaking the first line of defense, he bolted toward the far
sidelines and sprinted past all pursuers on his way to a 75
yard punt return score. Huff's extra point increased
the lead to 21 with still nearly half of the second quarter
to be played.
Huff then executed a near perfect kickoff which was allowed
to bounce, presumably into the endzone, but it rolled dead
at the 1 yard line. Farrish, the kick returner, had no
option but to pick it up and was honestly fortunate to
advance as far as the 13 yard line. Incomplete passes
and penalties yielded yet another Neal punt which rolled
dead at the Trojan 38. A holding penalty pushed the
ball back to the 28, but Saint James effectively ate up the
remaining first half clock on its way to a fourth second
quarter touchdown. Jackson with a keeper earned 6
yards on third down and 5. Two plays later, on third
down and 7, Harrison took a screen pass from Jackson and
rumbled 36 yards down to the Eagle 22. Cole Anderson
picked up 11 on first down giving the Trojans first down at
the 11. Anderson picked up 6 yards on first down, but
a penalty then pushed the ball back to the 10. In a
near duplicate of the first touchdown, at the opposite end
of the field, Jackson again found Wright wide open in the
middle of the endzone for a touchdown and Saint James was
ahead 35 - 7 with a minute remaining until a happy
halftime. Three Neal passes in the last minute netted
3 yards, and the clock was allowed to expire.
W.S. Neal converted one first down on their opening second
half drive, and were lucky to recover a fumble duringst, but
the stout Trojan defense forced yet another punt. From
their own 40 yard line, Saint James was in the endzone three
plays later. Harrison picked up 25 and 6 yards on
consecutive carries, and then Jackson found Beard on a 29
yard catch and run touchdown and the lead jumped to a
commanding five touchdowns at 42 - 7.
The remainder of the third quarter was more grind it out as
the next four combined possessions ended on punts. The
Eagles got in on the "nearly perfect" kick game as their
fourth quarter punt was allowed to bounce and it rolled dead
at the 1 yard line. By now, both teams had loaded up
on reserves with the outcome basically decided. On
third down, Anderson broke away on a 15 yard run for what
would have been a first down to continue a clock-eating
drive, but the ball was swiped away and returned by
Lakeitric Barnes to the Trojan 3. Two plays later,
Samuel rushed for the final yard and Neal had its first
score since the first quarter. The extra point attempt
was wide, so Saint James maintained a 42 - 13 lead.
An onside kick attempt was basically "whiffed" as the ball
simply fell off the tee when contacted, but was fortunately
fallen on by an Eagle or one of the shortest kickoff returns
in history could have resulted. The Trojans managed to
eat up over 3 minutes of clock on a drive which was
continued by an Eagle personal foul, and where I had Chase
Perry, backup quarterback, losing a yard on third down and
19 from the Eagle 29, apparently it was treated as a fourth
down play and Neal took over possession. After several
Samuel runs, the Neal deep reserves, so deep their names
were not on the available roster, entered the game. As
time was running out, third string quarterback # 16 tossed a
pass to # 23 for a 15 yard touchdown and at least the Eagle
youngsters had something to build on for future
seasons. (Names for the final touchdown in the scoring
summary were arbitrarily picked.) Samuel came in to
score on a two point conversion run, and after the kickoff
one kneeldown was all necessary to propel the Trojans into
the third round of the playoffs which would be at home
against another first time opponent, the Thomasville Tigers,
who pulled off an overtime upset to advance themselves.
SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME TWELVE
SAINT
JAMES RUSHING
39
attempts
166 yards
1 TD
(4.26
yards per
carry)
5
Harrison
19 / 136 (1 TD) 21
Anderson
3 / 32 2
Beard
1 / 10
7
Houser
2 /
3
35 Williams
2 / - 3
1
Jackson 3
/ - 5
15
Perry
3 / - 7
PASSING
8 completions 12 attempts 0 INTs 212
yards 4 TDs
1
Jackson
8 - 12 - 0 212 yards 4 TDs
RECEIVING
6
Holloway
3 / 108 (1 TD)
5
Harrison
1 / 36 2
Beard
1 / 29 (1 TD)
12
Wright
2 / 25 (2 TDs)
10
Shores
1 /
14
TOTAL
YARDS: 378
KICKS: XP 6 / 6
FG 0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 7
(36,50,33,37,34,41,59)
PUNTS: 2 (45,47)
KO RETURNS: 2 (35,0fc)
PUNT RETURNS: 3 (0fc,76TD,0fc)
FIRST
DOWNS: 16 (7 rushing, 8 passing, 1 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 6 / 9
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
FUMBLES: 2, lost 1
TURNOVER
MARGIN: - 1
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 0
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 9 / 79 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 22:53
W.S. NEAL
RUSHING 32
attempts 178 yards 2 TDs (5.56 yards per
carry)
PASSING
11 completions 17 attempts 0 INTs 1
TD 43 yards
TOTAL
YARDS: 221
KICKS: XP 1 / 2
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT
CONVERSIONS: 1 / 1
KICKOFFS:
4 (OB,46,0,42)
PUNTS: 7 (29,37,28,35,34,40,47)
KO
RETURNS: 7 (20,18,7,12,12,11,2)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (13)
FIRST
DOWNS: 10 (8 rushing, 1 passing, 1 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 11
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 3
FUMBLES: 3, lost 0
FUMBLE RETURN: 1 (21)
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 8
ACCEPTED
PENALTIES: 9 / 77 yards
TIME OF
POSSESSION: 25:07
RETURN TO THE
SAINT JAMES 2022 FOOTBALL HOMEPAGE