2024 -
GAME 1
Catholic 42, Saint James 14
CAT 7 21 7 7 42
STJ 0 7 7 0 14
Friday, August 23 7:00 PM Carlisle Field Game Conditions: Clear, slightly hazy, breezy Game Temperature: 85 Wind: E 10 - 15
Saint James could not overcome turnovers, poor field position, nor the constant wearing down of the Catholic squad as the Knights won the long overdue renewal of the East Vaughn Road rivalry with a convincing 42 - 14 victory over the Trojans in the 2024 season opener.
CAT (1) 9:57 Harriell 17 run (Costa kick) 0 - 7
CAT (2) 10:02 Bedgood 44 pass from Williams (Costa kick) 0 - 14
STJ (2) 8:21 Craig 24 pass from Perry (Hines kick) 7 - 14
CAT (2) 8:06 Harriell 69 run (Costa kick) 7 - 21
CAT (2) 6:07 Bedgood 17 pass from Williams (Costa kick) 7 - 28
STJ (3) 9:16 Bass recovered snap in endzone (Hines kick) 14 - 28
CAT (3) 0:27 Sheffield 8 pass from Williams (Costa kick) 14 - 35
CAT (4) 8:02 Williams 12 run (Costa kick) 14 - 42
Catholic won the opening coin toss of the season and elected to defer. On the second Trojan play from scrimmage, disaster struck as a Chase Perry pass attempt was tipped and intercepted by Joe Pierce who returned the ball to the Saint James 23 giving the Knights immediate excellent field position. On third down, Josh Harriell took a handoff and darted 17 yards down the far sidelines for the first score of the season. J.P. Costa made the first of his six consecutive extra points giving the Knights a 7 - 0 lead just barely two minutes into the game.
The Trojans averted disaster on the second drive as Perry was hit on a quarterback keeper and the ball popped straight up into the air. Fortunately it was recovered by Trojan lineman C.J. Edwards on the fly, and he actually advanced the ball several yards but could not convert a first down, so the first punt of the season pushed the Knights down to their own 21 yard line. Catholic ate up exactly six minutes of the first quarter clock, but penalties on both sides of the ball prevented any real scoring threat, and a return punt gave Saint James more bad field position as they started from their own 5 yard line. A holding penalty negated what would have been the Trojans' initial first down, and the second quarter started with a punt which traveled to the STJ 44. From there, it took only one play for the Knights to double their lead. Jamarion (J.J.) Williams found B.J. Bedgood open on a 44 yard catch and run touchdown. The extra point gave the Knights a 14 point lead two minutes into the second quarter.
It appeared the Trojans were about to fail to convert another first down as three incompletions and a penalty forced yet another punt. However, the bouncing ball was muffed at midfield and was instantly fallen upon by the Trojans. On the next play, Perry handed the ball off to Tabor Offord who then tossed a pass to Mason Craig for a 33 yard gain and Saint James finally had its first first down. On the next play, a defensive holding call prevented what might have been a touchdown pass. From the Knight 18, after a pair of incomplete passes, a penalty which was marked off 6 yards pushed the ball back to the 24. Perry then launched a pass to the far corner of the endzone and somehow Craig made a diving catch for a touchdown and the first Trojan score of the season. Dylan Hines came in to convert the extra point and suddenly the Saint James sideline was alive as the score was cut to 14 - 7.
Fifteen seconds later, the score changed. One thing Saint James shined at in the statistic department was not allowing a single yard of kick return to the Knights. On this kickoff, the ball was fair caught at the 31 yard line by Giovanni Hayner. On the next play, what seemed to be a simple handoff up the middle to Harriell, turned into a find the hole and rush straight up the middle for a 69 yard touchdown. A possible holding call downfield on the final potential tackler could have limited the damage to 20 or so yards, but Catholic rebuilt their lead to two touchdowns with the extra point.
After an out of bounds kickoff, the Trojans had decent field position at their own 35, but on the second play Perry's pass attempt was again intercepted by Pierce who duplicated his earlier return to the Trojan 23 to give Catholic great field position again. Two plays later, it was again a Williams to Bedgood pass combination - this time for 17 yards - and Catholic was up by three touchdowns with still half of a long second quarter remaining.
Offord caught a 21 yard pass on a nice slant play to start the next Saint James drive, but they could not convert a second first down to extend the drive. Each team had one more opportunity to score in the first half but could not, and the Knights enjoyed a comfortable 28 - 7 lead at halftime as the ring presentation for the 2023 Saint James girls' soccer state championship team and the 2023 Saint James girls' tennis individual state champions were presented.
On the opening drive of the second half, it appeared Catholic had made the Williams to Bedgood connection once more for a 71 yard touchdown, but a holding penalty, one of 14 accepted penalties against the Knights, prevented the quick bomb score. The Knights had to settle for a punt. The snap went well over the head of punter Matthew Russo, all the way back into the endzone, where it was pounced upon by Ford Bass giving the Trojans an instant special teams touchdown. The Hines extra point breathed some life back into the Trojan stands and the Knights lead was cut to 28 - 14.
The Knights used up much of the third quarter moving the ball down the field on the next drive, but a pair of holding penalties and a steller stop of Harriell on a fourth down and one from the Trojan 24 prevented any further scoring. On the first Saint James play, Perry was grabbed in a scramble, the ball came loose, and fortunately made its way out of bounds at the 8 yard line well back before any Knight could have picked up the ball for a walk in touchdown. A punt several plays later was semi-shanked out of bounds and Catholic had great field position at the Trojan 29. Five plays later, Williams tossed his third touchdown pass of the game, this time to Michael Sheffield, for 8 yards and as the quarter ended Catholic was back up by a margin of 21.
Another completed pass from Perry to Offord for 33 yards got the ball rolling for the Trojans to start the fourth period, but several plays later a Perry pass was intercepted in a crowd by Miles Khatri. Catholic then embarked on a time-consuming drive which, despite 55 yards of penatlies, was overcome by 55 yards of net yardage gain. The final 12 yards were provided by quarterback Williams on a keeper, and the extra point led to what would be the final score of 42 - 14. From then on, both sidelines emptied their benches as they were and it more resembled what the junior varsity game later in the season would resemble. Each team would possess the ball twice as the clock expired, and Saint James began looking forward to its second consecutive meeting against a Vaughn Road opponent as they would travel to Montgomery Academy for a week two matchup.
PRESS BOX STATISTICS - GAME ONE
SAINT JAMES RUSHING 21 attempts 4 yards 0 TDs (< 1 yard per carry)
13
Bass
5 / 11 yards 16
Conner 8 /
2 4
Johnson 1 / 3
30
Zukowski
1 /
0
6 Phillips 2 / -
1 18
Aman
1 / - 3
15
Perry
3 / - 8
PASSING 7 completions 21 attempts 3 INTs 136 yards 1 TD
15
Perry
6 - 19 - 3 103
yards 1 TD
2
Offord
1 - 1 -
0 33 yards
18
Aman
0 - 1 - 0
RECEIVING
2
Offord
4 / 72 yards 7
Craig 2 /
56 (1 TD) 20
Corley 1 / 8
TOTAL
YARDS: 139
KICKS: XP 2 / 2
FG 0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 3
(29,29,30)
PUNTS: 5 (42,31,55,34,35)
KO RETURNS: 5 (1,4,5,10,15)
PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST
DOWNS: 7 (0 rushing, 5 passing, 2
penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 1 / 5
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
FUMBLES: 2,
lost 0
TURNOVER
MARGIN: - 1
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 14
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 7 / 54 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 20:55
CATHOLIC
RUSHING 31 attempts 191 yards
3 TDs (6.16 yards per carry)
PASSING
15 completions 20 attempts 0 INTs 178
yards 3 TDs
TOTAL
YARDS: 369
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 7 (40,OB,49,OB,40,44,49) PUNTS: 3 (38.35.26)
KO RETURNS: 3 (0fc,0fc,0) PUNT RETURNS: 1 (0f)
FIRST DOWNS: 17 (9 rushing, 6 passing, 2 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 6 / 13
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
FUMBLES: 3, lost 2
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 21
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 3 (11,27,12)
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 14 / 127 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 27:05