GAME 9:   ST. JAMES 26, @ Catholic 9

November 2, 1990  Catholic Field.   Game conditions:  Clear, light wind   Game temperature:  58

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St. James concluded a somewhat disappointing season with an impressive win against their Vaughn Road neighbors, the Catholic Knights, as the Trojans withstood a second half rally and emerged victorious, 26 - 9.

The Trojans moved the ball on their first possession, but Catholic recovered a fumbled snap at the Trojan 41.  After two first downs, the Knights were as close as the St. James 12, but were stopped for a net of no gain on three straight rushing plays.  A 27 yard field goal attempt failed, and the score was still knotted at zero.

The Trojans took to the air, and tossed in some trickery to boot.  After an 18 yard completion from Wade Hartley to Billy Byrd, Hartley completed a pass to Stefan Delahay who pitched the reception to Lucas Harris, and he carried the ball down to the Knights 29.  A 12 yard pass to Byrd and a 15 yard pass to Delahay gave St. James a first down at the Catholic two, and several plays later Robert Enslen carried over from the two for the first score of the game.  Catholic was offside on the failed extra point attempt, so Hartley attempted and completed a conversion pass to Delahay to boost the score to 8 - 0 in the first quarter.

Catholic picked up a key first down near midfield on a successful fake punt, and was later lucky to get a good roll on a bad snap and resulting bad punt, pinning the Trojans back at their own 17.  However, St. James still drove 83 yards in six plays.  Harris ran for 19, and Byrd caught passes for 10, 33, and 11 yards, the final one for the touchdown.  The extra point failed, but the Trojans were up by 14 early in the second quarter.

The teams traded punts, with Catholic taking over on their own 22.  After several pass completions and two major defensive penalties, they were again as close as the Trojan 14.  However, Delahay intercepted a pass in the endzone and returned it to the Trojan 33, where 15 yards was added on for a face mask penalty.  The Trojans were stopped on downs with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter, but there was at least some time for Catholic to score again.  A pass interference penalty and a 14 yard completion moved them down to the Trojan 22 with six seconds remaining.  Another field goal was attempted, but failed, and the Trojans had held the Knights scoreless in the first half.

However, they would not remain scoreless for long.  On the seventh play of the second half, one play after being lucky to recover their own fumbled snap, Charles Everage took a handoff and broke loose for a 29 yard touchdown.  The extra point was blocked, but Catholic had cut the lead to one possession early in the second half.

The Trojans moved the ball to midfield but were forced to punt again.  Catholic began a tedious, but effective 7 minute 14 play drive, overcoming a holding penalty and another nearly fumbled away snap.  On the third play of the fourth quarter, from the Trojan 18, Justin Bender finally connected on a field goal attempt from 35 yards and the Knights were within 5 points at 14 - 9.

St. James recovered an onside kick attempt, and two pass completions later they were at the Catholic 24.  However, after offsetting penalties and then a holding penalty, Hartley threw an interception and Catholic, with suddenly all the momentum, took over on their own eleven yard line.  Two plays later, the "third time" was a charm for the Trojans as they recovered a fumbled snap at the Knight 17.  Three plays netted no yards, but a fourth down pass to Byrd was good for 12 and a key first down.  Jeff George carried for four yards, and then a single yard for the touchdown.  After a penalty, the extra point failed, but the lead was back up to two possessions at 20 - 9.

As the game had for the most part forsaken running plays, Catholic moved up the field, but Lucas Harris intercepted a Knight pass at the Trojan 28 and returned it to the Knight 47.  Six plays later, Delahay was the recipient of a 15 yard touchdown pass from Hartley.  After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the point again failed, but the Trojans had scored their final points of the season and wrapped up the victory.  Catholic had one last chance to score, but had used all of their timeouts and could not stop the clock after an inbounds run as the Trojans celebrated a victory over their city rival and neighbor.

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