2022 -
GAME 3
SAINT JAMES 63, @ Prattville
Christian 35 
PCA
7
14 14
0
35
SCORING SUMMARY
STJ (1) 11:40 Holloway 63 pass from
Jackson
(Huff kick) 7
- 0
PCA (1) 7:42 Byrd 1
run
(Pratt kick) 7
- 7
STJ (1) 4:17 Offord 33 pass
from
Jackson
(Huff kick) 14 - 7
STJ (2) 11:28 Anderson 80
run
(Huff kick) 21 - 7
PCA (2) 5:03 Taylor 7 pass
from
Byrd
(kick
failed) 21 - 13
STJ (2) 4:49 Holloway 96
kickoff
return
(Huff kick) 28 - 13
PCA (2) 2:16 Taylor 47 pass
from
Byrd
(Post pass from
Byrd) 28 - 21
STJ (2) 0:16 Offord 29
pass from
Jackson
(kick failed) 34 - 21
PCA (3) 10:50 Byrd 5
run
(Pratt kick) 34 - 28
STJ (3) 8:14 Offord 25
pass from
Jackson
(Huff
kick) 41 - 28
PCA (3) 7:52 Taylor 77 pass
from
Byrd
(Pratt kick) 41 - 35
STJ (3) 6:26 Holloway 39
pass from
Jackson
(Jackson run) 49 - 35
STJ (3) 3:24 Anderson 5
run
(Huff kick) 56 - 35
STJ (3) 2:31 Anderson 13
run
(Huff kick) 63 - 35
Friday, September 8,
2023. Panther Stadium, Prattville.
Game Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Game Temperature: 84 Wind: E
5 mph
Saint James scored early and often. And they had to because
Prattville Christian answered almost every score with one of their
own. K.J. Jackson tied the school record (including his own
from the 2022 State Championship game) with 5 touchdowns on only 7
pass completions, with Tabor Offord catching 3 touchdowns and
Ziggy Holloway the other 2. Holloway also returned a kickoff
96 yards for a touchdown as the Trojans finally pulled away from
the Panthers late in the third quarter to break a school record of
combined points (98) in a 63 - 35 3A Region 3 victory.
For the third consecutive time, Saint James won the coin toss and
elected to receive. After a pooch kick was fielded by Paxton
Wingard at the Trojan 37, it took one play and 20 seconds for the
Trojans to take the lead. K.J. Holloway tossed his 95th
career touchdown pass to a wide open Ziggy Holloway for a 63 yard
score and Jake Huff's first of seven extra points gave Saint James
an almost immediate 7 - 0 lead.
Prattville Christian responded promptly. After the first of
a handful of Huff kickoffs which went through the endzone, the
Panthers were in the endzone six plays later. The highlight
of the drive was a 58 yard pass to Liam Taylor from Tanner Byrd,
who was a perfect 11 for 11 in pass attempts in the first half,
which gave PCA a first down at the Trojan 18. Matthew Post,
the Panther rushing workhorse, rushed for 13 and 4 yards, just
coming up inches short of the goal line, and Byrd carried over
from the 1 for the first PCA score. Wade Pratt converted his
first extra point, and the score was tied at 7 just over 4 minutes
into the game.
No matter for the Trojans. They would score nine touchdowns
on their first eight offensive drives. (Yes, you'll see
how) D.J. Pollard returned a short kickoff to the Trojan
32. A minor penalty was offset by Cole Anderson's first run
of the night, a 17 yarder which would be the first piece of a 182
yard rushing performance. Holloway caught an 8 yard pass to
convert a third down, and consecutive runs by Anderson led to a
first down at the Panther 33. Jackson's newest hot target,
Tabor Offord, was called on and was present on a 33 yard scoring
toss for the Trojan's second touchdown and a 14 - 7 lead which
Saint James would not relinquish - although in this game you could
never be sure.
The Panthers, despite getting several huge chunk plays during the
game, were more methodical with their drives. After another
endzone kick, the Panthers held the ball on a 9 play drive which
continued into the second quarter. Cody Baker caught a 13
yard pass and Connor Williams, who towered over the field like a
2020s Georgia tight end, caught his first pass of four for 39
yards to quickly advance into Trojan territory. However, a
rarity in this game, the defense stiffened and PCA's attempt at a
35 yard field goal went wide left. In high school, after any
missed field goal regardless of the previous line of scrimmage,
the ball is brought out to the 20 yard line for further
play. From there, a simple handoff to Cole Anderson behind a
gaping blocking hole from the Trojan offensive line gave us
another chance to see Anderson's turbo jets in action as he
outraced chasers for an 80 yard touchdown. The Huff kick
gave Saint James a 21 - 7 lead and a chance for the Trojan fans to
breathe a bit more easily.
But "not so fast"! After a kickoff was returned to the 20
yard line, PCA embarked on a 13 play drive which exhausted a huge
portion of the second quarter. Byrd connected on short
passes to several receivers, Post ran for significant bits at a
time, and upon reaching the Trojan 7 yard line Byrd tossed his
first pass to Taylor in the endzone for a score. The extra
point, similar to the failed field goal attempt, went wide left,
so the Saint James lead was 8 at 21 - 13. Only for about 15
seconds. The Panthers elected for the first time to kick
deep and paid for it. Holloway fielded the ball at the 4
yard line, broke a tackle near the 30, and then perfectly split
two defenders near midfield. He didn't outrun the defenders,
but they couldn't catch him before he reached the endzone on what
tied as the longest Saint James kickoff return in school history,
a 96 yarder. (Tony Amerson in 2018 duplicated the feat
against Beulah). Huff's extra point gave the
Trojans a 15 point lead with still almost 5 minutes remaining
until halftime. And more scoring was on the way.
After an endzone kick and a holding penalty, the Panthers were
pinned deep at their own 10 yard line. However, a personal
foul penalty gave them room to breathe, and they did.
Several plays later, Byrd connected with Taylor on consecutive
catches of 15 and 47 yards as he raced past the Trojan secondary
for his second touchdown reception. To make up for the
previous missed extra point, PCA opted for the two point
conversion, and on a scramble play which lasted approximately 9
seconds and would have made several pro quarterbacks smile, he
found Post wide open in the endzone for the conversion and the
lead, again, was back to 7 at 28 - 21 with just over two minutes
remaining until halftime.
The Trojans knew PCA would be receiving the third quarter kickoff
and wanted to avoid a back-to-back scoring situation, so they
needed to score but not to quickly to give the explosive Panther
offense a chance to strike. Anderson fielded a short kickoff
and returned it to the Trojan 44. He ran for 13 yards on
first down, and two plays later after a sack, Jackson found Offord
for 16 yards and a key first down at the Panther 29 with less than
30 seconds remaining. After an incomplete pass, Jackson
found Offord again at about the 15 yard line in front of two
defenders - who crashed into each other going for the tackle
allowing Offord to curl toward the far sideline and his dive for
the pylon was successful for a Trojan touchdown with just under 11
seconds remaining until halftime. The extra point was
deflected and came up short, but Saint James had a 34 - 21 lead
after a frenetic first half.
The third quarter would be even more so with six more touchdowns
to be tallied. Duplicating a previous Panther drive, a
holding penalty after an endzone kickoff gave them first and 20
from their own 10. On second down, Byrd found the skyward
Williams near midfield wide open and he galloped downfield.
Holloway ran him down finally, but not after a 78 yard gain gave
PCA a first down at the Trojan 12. A half the distance pass
interference penalty two plays later on what would have been a
touchdown only delayed the result as Byrd rushed off left guard 5
yards for a rushing score. Pratt's extra point again cut the
lead to one possession, only 6 points, at 34 - 28.
PCA risked another deep kickoff to Holloway and was marginally
more successful than the first time, tackling him at the 37 yard
line. Four Anderson runs netted 32 yards as the line
continued to open holes up the middle. Jackson carried for 6
yards, and on the next play he saw Offord open in the middle of
the field. The catch was made and some skillful dodging of
potential tacklers gave him a 25 yard touchdown and a 41 - 28 lead
after the Huff extra point.
The Panthers had "the next serve" and after a kickoff return to
the 23, aced the Trojans on one play. Taylor got behind the
defense again and was the recipient of a 77 yard touchdown pass by
Byrd, who smashed the Saint James' opponent school record with a
366 yard passing performance. Pratt's extra point again cut
the lead to six at 41 - 35. Saint James was up next. A
squib kick was fallen on by Miles Zukowski at the Trojan 38.
A shoving match broke out downfield after the play was over and
unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were charged to both teams, net
zero yards, but not. The fouls occurred seven yards upfield
at the 45, and that is where the referees opted to spot the
ball. No real matter. Jackson converted a short third
down with a 7 yard keeper to the Panther 39. On the next
play, Holloway was the target and was well past defenders on the
near sidelines for a 39 yard touchdown. Saint James opted to
go for two to make up for the earlier kick miss, and Jackson kept
the ball and muscled his way into the endzone for the two point
conversion and Saint James was back up by 14 at 49 - 35.
To this point there had been 13 offensive possessions. Saint
James scored touchdowns on all six of theirs (plus the kickoff
return made seven scores). Prattville Christian on their 7
possessions had 5 touchdowns, a missed field goal, and a run out
the first half clock drive. The next PCA drive would change
the tone and the direction of the entire game. After an
endzone kick, the Saint James defense stiffened. After Post
was stuffed for a three yard loss on first down, what many would
consider an insignificant play I judged as the game-turner.
Byrd could not find a receiver and tried to release on a
scramble. Jake Huff came all the way across the field and
certainly prevented a double digit gain with a shoestring tackle
limiting Byrd to 3 yards. An encroachment penalty halved the
distance needed for the first down, but on third down Huff again
roared through the line and sacked Byrd back at the 15 yard
line. As Tanner Byrd doubled as the Panther punter, it
appeared PCA might be considering going for a first down with a
fourth and 15 deep in their own territory. However, Byrd
opted for a quick kick which was very kick. The ball went
off the side of his foot and never got more than a few feet off
the ground - going directly into the arms of Zukowski who
recovered the punt at the 13 yard line for a net minus 2 yard
punt. Saint James called on Cole and after an 8 yard run and
a 5 yard run, and a Huff extra point, Saint James finally had a
lead of 21 at 56 - 35 with still nearly 4½ minutes remaining in
the third quarter.
This put the Panthers in "desperation" mode. After another
endzone kick, Byrd looked to toss another pass over the middle to
Williams. However, it was overthrown and Carter Carroll
stepped up for the first Saint James interception of the season,
returning the pick 16 yards before being tackled by the face mask,
which added another half the distance 9 yards to the return.
Anderson was stopped on a busted play for a 4 yard loss, but on
second down the gaping hole was presented again and Anderson had
another rushing touchdown. The extra point boosted the lead
to 63 - 35, still in the third quarter. After six touchdowns
were scored in a frantic third period, the fourth would be
considerably more "laid back".
The Trojans held PCA to a three and out and a punt led to the
fourth quarter. After D.J. Pollard picked up 8 yards on the
first play of the final, the starting offense was called to the
sidelines for the remainder of the game. The Trojans would
eventually punt, and the Panthers followed suit by bringing in
their reserves as well. Saint James drove as deep as the 22
yard line running the most vanilla of plays, but turned the ball
over on downs, and PCA was very content to run out the clock as
Saint James continued their school-record region winning streak at
18 games (since 2020) and looked to extend the following week at
Carlisle Field with a visit from the Greensboro Raiders planned
for Homecoming 2023.
PRESS BOX
STATISTICS - GAME THREE
SAINT
JAMES
RUSHING
28
attempts
217 yards
3
TDs
(7.68 yards
per carry)
21
Anderson 16 / 182 yards (3 TDs)
31 Phillips 3 / 16
1 Jackson
3 / 9
8
Pollard 2 / 8
35
Williams 3 /
2 30
Zukowski 1 / 0
PASSING
7 completions 10 attempts 0 INTs 203
yards 5 TDs
1
Jackson 7 - 10 -
0 213 yards 5 TDs
RECEIVING
6
Holloway
3 / 110 (2 TDs)
10
Offord 4 /
103 (3 TDs)
TOTAL
YARDS: 430
KICKS: XP 7 / 8
FG 0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 1 / 1
KICKOFFS: 10
(EZ,EZ,56,EZ,58,EZ,41,EZ,EZ,40)
PUNTS: 1 (30)
KO RETURNS: 6 (0,7,96TD,6,23,0)
PUNT
RETURNS: 1 (0)
FIRST
DOWNS: 18 (11 rushing, 6 passing, 3 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 6 / 8
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
FUMBLES: 0
TURNOVER
MARGIN: + 1
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 7
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1
(16)
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 6 / 40 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 17:30
P C A
RUSHING 41 attempts 114 yards 2
TDs (2.78 yards per carry)
PASSING
12 completions 16 attempts 1 INT 366
yards 3 TDs
TOTAL
YARDS: 480
KICKS: XP 3 / 4
FG 0 / 1
2 POINT
CONVERSIONS: 1 / 1
KICKOFFS: 6
(23,35,56,22,46,18)
PUNTS: 2 (42,41)
KO
RETURNS: 4 (16.0.4.15)
PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST
DOWNS: 20 (9 rushing, 10 passing, 1 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 5 / 9
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 0
FUMBLES:
3, lost 1
ACCEPTED
PENALTIES: 3 / 29 yards
TIME OF
POSSESSION: 30:30
RETURN TO THE
SAINT JAMES 2023 FOOTBALL HOMEPAGE