2024 -
GAME 7
SAINT JAMES 32, BTW-Tuskegee 28
BTW 6 14 2 6 28
STJ 3 16 7 6 32
Friday, October 4 7:00 PM Carlisle Field HOMECOMING Game Conditions: Cloudy Game Temperature: 77 Wind: negligible
SCORING SUMMARY:
BTW (1) 3:28 Minor 14 pass from Smith (kick blocked) 0 - 6
STJ (1) 1:16 Hines 37 FG 3 - 6
STJ (2) 10:57 Perry 6 run (Hines kick) 10 - 6
BTW (2) 9:44 Daniel 6 pass from Smith (kick blocked) 10 - 12
STJ (2) 8:14 Corley 28 pass from Perry (run failed) 16 - 12
STJ (2) 4:10 Hines 37 FG 19 - 12
BTW (2) 1:10 Floyd 3 run (Floyd run) 19 - 20
STJ (3) 9:54 Offord 19 pass from Perry (Hines kick) 26 - 20
BTW (3) 2:48 Safety, runner tackled in endzone 26 - 22
BTW (4) 5:26 Floyd 18 run (pass failed) 26 - 28
STJ (4) 1:32 Corley 13 pass from Perry (pass failed) 32 - 28
COMPLETE GAME RECAP
Booker T. Washington (BTW) won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. The Golden Eagles traveled down the field, primarily on short passes by quarterback Brandon Smith, who would attempt 41 such passes and complete 29 of them during the game. However, on fourth down from the Trojan 16, Eagle workhorse running back Javis Floyd was stopped on fourth down and 1 and the Saint James defense had prevailed. A quarterback sack forced the Trojans to punt from their own endzone, and Marquez Daniel returned the punt all the way to the Saint James 7 before being brought down. Despite a 7 yard sack on first down, Smith found receiver Raymond Minor for a 14 yard catch and run touchdown for the first score of the game. The Eagle extra point attempt was blocked, but BTW had a 6 - 0 lead late in the first quarter.
An out of bounds kickoff gave the Trojans great field position at their own 45. A 33 yrad pass completion from Chase Perry to Tabor Offord would later give the Trojans first down at the Eagle 20, but three consecutive pass incompletions led to Dylan Hines converting the first field goal of the year for Saint James, a 37 yarder, and the Eagle lead was cut in half at 6 - 3 with still time remaining in the opening quarter.
After the next kickoff, a combination of penalties and a 15 yard loss on a scramble completion forced the Eagles to attempt the punt. A high snap meant kicker Christopher Carter had to bring the ball down in a desperation attempt to make the first down, but he was tackled at the 11 yard line giving Saint James incredible field postion to start and wild, wooly, and timewise long second quarter. (1 hour, 12 minutes of real time, thanks to lots of scores, penalties, incomplete passes, and such) Perry picked up 5 yards on a first down run, and two plays later called his own number again for the Trojans' first touchdown. Hines continued his season-long streak of converting extra points, and Saint James had its first lead at 10 - 6 early in the seemingly never-ending second quarter. (Just imagine what the homecoming queen, court, escorts, and other participants were thinking.)
The Trojans tied a surprise onside kick which was recovered by an Eagle upman at the Trojan 48 yard line, and it took BTW only three plays to regain their lead. After a two yard run, Smith connected with Daniel on a 40 yard pass which advanced the ball to the Trojan 6. On the next play Daniel was again the recipient of a Smith pass, this time for a touchdown. Once again the Eagle extra point kick was blocked, but BTW was up 12 - 10 with still almost 10 minutes remaining until halftime.
Saint James took only three plays to get their lead back in the frantic second quarter. Mason Craig caught a 23 yard pass on first down, and Grant Phillips followed up with an 11 yard run for another first down. On the next play, Perry had protection and time to find a wide open Braylen Corley on the far sidelines for a 28 yard touchdown catch and run and Saint James was back in front. An offside penalty on the extra point kick convinced Saint James to try a two point conversion, but it was stuffed. Nevertheless, Saint James was back in front at 16 - 12 with still plenty of clock available before halftime.
The Eagles were stopped three and out, and the pressure the punt block team applied forced a punt which never went more than two yards off the ground, hitting the rear of an Eagle lineman, and being fallen upon by the Trojans after just a net 2 yard punt. From the Eagle 30, Saint James managed one first down, but the drive stalled at the 20, and Hines was called on to convert a second field goal, also from 37 yards, and the Trojan lead was extended to 7, at 19 - 12.
Grant Phillips intercepted a Smith pass on the next drive, but the Trojans could not convert a first down and a punt was returned by the Eagles to midfield. Several plays later, an 18 yard pass from Smith to Floyd advanced the ball to the Trojan 3, and Floyd was rewarded with a carry on the next play for an Eagle touchdown. After their failures on kicks, BTW decided to try a two point conversion. Floyd took the handoff, and it appeared his knee may have touched the ground before entering the endzone, but he was given credit for the yardage necessary for the two point conversion and a lead of 20 - 19 with 70 seconds remaining until halftime. There would be no more first half scoring, but there would be plenty of action. A Trojan pass was intercepted near midfield by Dylan Parker, and after timeouts, penalties, and incompletions a pass was lofted toward the endzone with 1.7 seconds remaining. It was intercepted by Corley and returned to nearly midfield, but offsetting penalties and the finally exhausted clock gave each team a reason to get to their locker rooms quickly and regroup for a second half.
During halftime, Miss Lily Everett was crowned as Homecoming Queen of 2024 with all of the usual elegance of a Saint James Homecoming Halftime festivity.
BTW's kickoff only traveled 7 yards forward, intentionally or not, and the Trojans had first down at the Eagle 47. A pass interference penalty later gave the Trojans first down at the 20, and on the next play Offord caught a touchdown pass from Perry. The Hines extra point returned the lead to Saint James at 26 - 20. The Eagles used the same philosophy on the next drive as they did on their opening drive of the game, primarily short passes. They used up almost half of the third quarter, but on fourth down from the Trojan 9 an incomplete pass gave the ball back to Saint James. However, a no gain run, a loss of 3, and a tackle in the endzone on third down gave BTW a safety, and cut the Trojan lead to 4 at 26 - 22.
A punt was chosen as the free kick from the 20 yard line, and Hines broke a yardage record established just last year by all-state kicker Braxton Berrey as his punt forced Daniel, the Eagle receiver, all the way back to his 15 yard line..A huge pass completion which traveled the exact same distance, 65 yards, was mostly negated by a holding penalty near midfield. Several plays after another holding penalty, the ball was knocked out from a scrambling Smith and fallen upon by C.J. Edwards. Unfortunately, a dead ball unsportsmanlike conduct foul cost Saint James 15 yards, and a sack on the last play of the third quarter pushed them all the way back into their own territory.
A face mask penalty on the return of the ensuing punt gave BTW good field position at the Trojan 41, but the Trojan defense would stiffen yet again as an incomplete pass turned the ball over at the Trojan 21. An ineligible receiver penalty spoiled a nice pass reception by Offord and would eventually lead to another Hines punt. This time, against a tiring Trojan defense, the Eagles would take it to the endzone. The final three plays were all runs by Floyd, of 19, 11, and 18 yards for the score. The Eagles again decided to go for two but the conversion pass was intercepted and BTW had to settle for a 28 - 26 lead with about 5½ minutes remaining in regulation.
Corley returned the ensuing kickoff to the 35 yard line, and appeared to be the recipient of a double pass from Perry and Offord, but incomplete pass was called. However, two plays later Corley converted a crucial third and 10 with an 11 yard pass reception. Phillips broke off a run of 16 on the next play, and the Trojans were down to the Eagle 38. Perry rushed for 9 and Phillips for 10 on the next two plays against an equally tiring BTW defense. Several plays later, from the Eagle 13, a pass was lofted and deflected by an Eagle defender. However, Corley twisted direction almost in mid-air and caught the deflected ball as he rushed into the endzone for a go ahead touchdown. With a two point lead, Saint James elected to try the two point conversion. The pass failed, but Saint James had taken a lead they would not relinquish at 32 - 28 with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
The Eagles could only convert one first down on their final drive, and a sack on fourth and long from the Eagle 37 sealed the deal as Saint James continued their amazing streak of region wins to 27, remaining the only team with an undefeated region record (4-0) in class 4A Region 3, and the final regular season home game against first time opponent Cleburne County one week away as the Trojans prepared for Fall Senior Night 2024.
PRESS BOX STATISTICS - GAME SEVEN
SAINT JAMES RUSHING 26 attempts 48 yards 1 TD (1.85 yards per carry)
6
Phillips
16 / 36 yards 2
Offord 1 /
9 30
Zukowski 1 / 3
8
Catchings 1
/
0
15 Perry 7 / -
20 (1 TD)
PASSING 9 completions 23 attempts 1 INTs 137 yards 3 TDs
15
Perry
9 - 22 - 1 137 yards 3 TDs
2
Offord
0 - 1 - 0
RECEIVING
2
Offord
4 / 61 (1 TD) 3
Corley 3 /
52 (2 TDs)
7
Craig
1 / 23
19
Hines 1
/ 1
TOTAL
YARDS: 185
KICKS: XP 3 / 3
FG 2 / 2 (37,37 made)
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 2
KICKOFFS: 7
(30,19,8,44,32,28,30)
PUNTS: 5
(27,32,fp65,13,24)
KO RETURNS: 3 (16,10,15)
PUNT
RETURNS: 1 (0)
FIRST
DOWNS: 13 (6 rushing, 6 passing, 1
penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 11
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
FUMBLES: 1,
lost 0
TURNOVER
MARGIN: + 3
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 7
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 7 / 55 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 21:40
BTW-TUSKEGEE
RUSHING 30 attempts 89 yards 2
TDs (2.97 yards per carry)
PASSING
29 completions 41 attempts 2 INTs 215
yards 2 TDs
TOTAL
YARDS: 304
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 1 / 2
KICKOFFS: 5 (OB,38,37,7,40) PUNTS: 1 (2)
KO RETURNS: 6 (0,0,0,17,11,14) PUNT RETURNS: 3 (39,2,34)
FIRST DOWNS: 19 (8 rushing, 11 passing)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 4 / 12
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 1 / 5
FUMBLES: 3, lost 2
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 0
INTERCEPTION RETURN: 1 (0)
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 15 / 105 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 26:20