2024 -
GAME 8
SAINT JAMES 55, Cleburne County 35
C C 0 7 7 21 35
STJ 14 21 7 13 55
Friday, October 11 7:00 PM Carlisle Field Game Conditions: Clear Game Temperature: 74 Wind: NE 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
STJ (1) 8:18 Phillips 4 run (Hines kick) 7 - 0
STJ (1) 0:00 Offord 20 pass from Perry (Hines kick) 14 - 0
STJ (2) 8:50 Offord 27 pass from Perry (Hines kick) 21 - 0
C C (2) 5:39 Hughes 52 run (Escandon-Paredes kick) 21 - 7
STJ (2) 3:20 Offord 42 pass from Perry (Hines kick) 28 - 7
STJ (2) 0:33 Perry 7 run (Hines kick) 35 - 7
C C (3) 5:38 Ware 1 run (Escandon-Paredes kick) 35 - 14
STJ (3) 1:47 Corley 11 pass from Perry (Hines kick) 42 - 14
C C (4) 9:23 Ware 24 run (Escandon-Paredes kick) 42 - 21
STJ (4) 6:28 Perry 5 run (kick blocked) 48 - 21
C C (4) 5:42 Hughes 50 run (Escandon-Paredes kick) 48 - 28
STJ (4) 0:44 Blackwell 1 run (Bass kick) 55 - 28
C C (4) 0:00 Shubert 55 run (Escandon-Paredes kick) 55 - 35
COMPLETE GAME RECAP
Saint James won the opening coin toss and elected to defer giving the Tigers the first possession. A quarterback sack and a short punt gave the Trojans good field position at the Cleburne County 49. After an offside penalty and a 31 yard pass completion from Chase Perry to Tabor Offord, consecutive runs by Grant Phillips of 9 and 4 yards, partnered with a Dylan Hines extra point, gave Saint James an early 7 -0 lead.
An unexpected and perfectly executed onside kick was recovered by Luke Catchings and the Trojans had a great chance to quickly double up. However, a sack and fumble on the first play quickly returned the ball to the Tigers. The teams traded punts, and on their third drive of the first quarter, Cleburne County elected to go for a fourth and 13 from the Trojan 29. However, a huge quarterback sack which netted minus 28 yards gave Saint James first down on the Tiger 43. A Perry run and a 14 yard pass to Offord converted first downs. A holding penalty from the Tiger 10 pushed the ball back to the 20, but with 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock Perry tossed his first of four touchdown passes, and his first of three to Offord, a 20 yarder, and the Trojans were up 14 - 0 at the end of the first quarter.
An intentional grounding penalty by the Tigers and a punt appeared to give the Trojans great field position again, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the ball back to their own 41 yard line. After a Perry run, a similar unsportsmanlike conduct penalty advanced the ball to the Cleburne County 27, and on the next play Offord was wide open for another Perry pitch and catch touchdown pass and the Trojans appeared comfortably ahead at 21 - 0.
A holding penalty stalled the next Tiger drive and it appeared Offord had run a punt back for a 58 yard touchdown, but a holding penalty near midfield negated that score. Clerburne County's Silas Hunt intercepted a Perry pass on the next play, further dampening the enthusiasm. Two plays later, the only offensive spark for the Tigers in the first half as Carter Hughes found a hole up the middle and raced for a 52 yard touchdown. Erick Escandon-Paredes converted the first of what would be five extra points and the Tigers were on the board, trailing only 21 - 7.
An out of bounds kickoff gave the Trojans the ball at their own 41 yard line for the second consecutive drive. Perry converted a short third down with a quarterback keeper up the middle, and several plays later Offord hauled in his third touchdown pass of the first half, a 42 yarder, and Saint James was back on top by three touchdowns.
The Tigers, who did not earn a conventional first down in the entire first half, punted again with 90 seconds remaining in the half and the Trojans took advantage. Braylen Corley caught a 25 yard pass, followed by a 9 yard reception by Offord and another 12 yard catch by Corley. Two plays later, Perry passed up a passing opportunity and ran the ball just to the goal line for his second rushing touchdown, and the Trojans would take a 35 - 7 lead to halftime.
A short kickoff gave Saint James good field position again on the opening drive of the third quarter, but a sack and fumble turned the ball back over to Cleburne County. Elijah Ware finally converted a Tiger first down on a 19 yard run, and later a penalty after a pass reception led to a Tiger first and goal at the Trojan 7. On fourth down, Ware snuck in from two inches away, and the Tigers had cut the lead to 35 - 14 after using up nearly half of the third quarter clock. Unlike some of the previous Trojan games this season, the final quarter and a half would be played at a frantic pace.
After another out of bounds kickoff, the running of Phillips and the passing of Perry advanced the ball to the Tiger 12. Despite a sack, a 10 yard completion to Mason Craig and an 11 yard completion to Corley became Perry's fourth touchdown pass of the game - a career high - and the Hines extra point pushed the lead back to four scores at 42 - 14.
Cleburne County would score on their next drive which was bolstered by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty leading to an ejection. On the fifth play of the final quarter, Ware picked up his second touchdown, a 24-yarder, and the extra point cut the lead to 42 - 21. For the entire fourth quarter, every drive would end in a touchdown. A 60 yard rush by Phillips gave the Trojans a first down at the Tiger 22, and three plays later Perry picked up his second rushing touchdown to go with his four passing touchdowns. For the first time all season, an extra point attempt was blocked, probably due to the running start a Tiger had getting to the ball. Nevertheless, Saint James led 48 - 21 as time wore down.
The Tigers responded with a long run touchdown, a 50 yarder by Carter, and the extra point cut the lead to 20 at 48 - 28 with 5 minutes remaining. At this time, Saint James brought in the second team offense, and Ford Bass came ready to play. After Offord returned a short kickoff to the 43, Bass was given four straight carries - 11 yards first down, 12 yards first down, 15 yards first down, and a 1 yarder which gave the coaching staff a chance to call for another runner, backup quarterback Will Blackwell, for a yard of his own. A 14 yarder by Bass picked up another first down, and two plays later Blackwell scored his first career touchdown on a one yard sneak giving Saint James a 55 - 28 lead with 44 seconds remaining after Bass was rewarded with the extra point attempt and conversion.
End of scoring? Nope. As the Tigers were actually trying to run out the clock, quarterback Cade Shubert looked for a long pass on the last play of the game but could not find one against the tight defense of Trojan reserves. However, Shubert managed to nimbly run down the near sidelines, avoiding out of bounds hits several times, and rushed all the way to the endzone for a 55 yard touchdown after the clock had expired. Cleburne County was allowed to attempt the extra point which was converted, but in the Saint James had clinched a playoff spot, won their 28th consecutive region game over parts of five seasons, and said farewell to Carlisle Field for at least four weeks. The final two regular season games, at Tallassee and at Munford, would decide playoff seeding for several teams before what would be a very well-deserved bye week.
PRESS BOX STATISTICS - GAME EIGHT
SAINT JAMES RUSHING 34 attempts 170 yards 4 TDs (5.00 yards per carry)
6 Phillips 16 /
120 yards (1 TD) 13
Bass 5 / 53
20 Blackwell 3
/
4
(1 TD) 15
Perry 10 / - 7 (2 TDs)
PASSING 13 completions 20 attempts 1 INT 246 yards 4 TDs
15
Perry
13 - 20 - 1 246 yards 4 TDs
RECEIVING
2 Offord 8 /
177 yards (3 TDs)
3 Corley 4 /
59 (1 TD)
7
Craig 1
/ 10
TOTAL
YARDS: 416
KICKS: XP 7 / 8
FG 0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 8
(44,19o,27,33,32,53,22,32)
PUNTS: 2 (12,36)
KO RETURNS: 4 (0,0,14,5)
PUNT
RETURNS: 1 (13)
FIRST
DOWNS: 18 (10 rushing, 7 passing)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 7 / 9
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
FUMBLES: 3,
lost 2
TURNOVER
MARGIN: - 3
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 7 / 77 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 26:37
CLEBURNE
CO. RUSHING 35 attempts
218 yards 5 TDs (6.23 yards per carry - 191 on 4
touchdown runs)
PASSING
4 completions 10 attempts 0 INTs 39
yards 0 TDs
TOTAL
YARDS: 257
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 5 (OB,16,OB,54,22) PUNTS: 5 (30,18,27,41,28)
KO RETURNS: (16,0fc,0fc,17,3,21,5,10) PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST DOWNS: 9 (5 rushing, 3 passing, 1 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 10
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 2 / 4
FUMBLES: 0
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 14
INTERCEPTION RETURN: 1 (0)
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 8 / 63 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 21:23