GAME 5: @ Alabama Christian 20, St.
James 8
STJ
0
8 0
0
8
ACA
7
7 6
0 20
SCORING
SUMMARY:
ACA
(1) 1:36 J. Anfield 45
run
(Dixon
kick) 0 - 7
ACA (2) 3:21 D. Anfield 6 run
(Dixon
kick) 0 - 14
STJ
(2) 0:18 Robertson 16 pass from Cole
(Cole run) 8 - 14
ACA (3) 3:15 Fuller 4
run
(kick blocked) 8 - 20
September 29, 1995. Alabama Christian Field.
Game
Conditions: not yet available
The
Anfield brothers were big trouble for St. James, as Joe scored on a 45
yard
touchdown run and David added a 6 yard touchdown to help the Alabama
Christian Eagles overpower the Trojans 20 - 8 in a Capital City
Conference matchup.
St. James began the game with a double-barrelled rushing attack by
Sequon Herring, who changed his jersey number to try and change his
luck for this game from 10 to 11, and Mark Berry. Seven runs
netted the Trojans 40 yards, but on fourth down and 3, Herring could
only pick up 2 and St. James turned the ball over.
After David Anfield picked up a first down on the first play, the
Trojan defense held and forced a punt. However, the Eagles
defense fared similarly and gave the ball back to their offense at
their own 33 after another punt. Three rushing plays gained 22
yards, and then Joe Anfield broke loose from the 45 for the first
touchdown of the game late in the first quarter. Tyler Dixon's
extra point gave ACA a 7 - 0 lead.
After two short runs, Rob Cole connected with Will Webber on a long
pass play of 46 yards to open the second quarter. Again, though,
the Eagle defense toughened and St. James turned the ball over on downs
after an incomplete pass on fourth down from the Eagle 23. ACA
responded with a 77 yard drive for another touchdown. David
Anfield, from his quarterback position, kept for runs of 11 and 16
yards, and a face mask penalty moved the ball down to the Trojan
20. A completed pass cut the yardage nearly in half, and several
plays later, David called his own number again from the Trojan 6 for
the Eagles' second touchdown. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty
pushed the extra point attempt back 15 yards, but Dixon still
connected, giving ACA a two touchdown lead late in the first half.
After a short kickoff return, the Trojans had barely 3 minutes to
travel over 75 yards to score. They did, using nearly every
second. Herring caught a Cole pass for 15 yards and a first down,
and later Jason Smith picked up 8 yards for another. After a sack
and an incomplete pass, Herring picked up 14 on third and 15 to set up
a fourth down and 1. The Trojans called their final timeout with
32 seconds remaining. On the fourth down attempt, Herring cleared
the line and was just caught from behind 23 yards downfield giving St.
James a first down at the Eagle 16. However, the clock had failed
to start, still showing 32 seconds. After a lot of deliberation
by the four man (undermanned) officiating crew, they agreed to set the
clock at 23 seconds. Of course, ACA thought more time had elapsed
and St. James thought not that much had. When the ball was set to
play, though, Cole immediately downed the ball to stop the clock, again
at 23 seconds. After another discussion, the clock was left
there. It didn't matter, because on the next play Cole quickly
found Jay Robertson open down the field for a 16 yard catch and run for
a touchdown. The Eagles were offside on the extra point attempt,
so the Trojans elected to go for the two point conversion as the ball
was moved halfway to the goal line. Cole simply snuck the ball up
the middle and into the endzone for a two point conversion, and
suddenly St. James was within a touchdown at 8 - 14. The Eagles
tried some trickery with a reverse or two on the ensuing kickoff, but
they were tackled short of midfield and the first half clock had
expired.
The Trojan momentum carried into the second half as St. James forced an
opening three and out against the Eagles. Herring quickly picked
up two first downs and St. James was in business at the ACA 33.
However, a fumble on the next play was recovered by the Eagles and they
set out on a time consuming 69 yard drive. David Anfield overcame
a team holding penalty with a huge 24 yard run on third and 16.
The relatively fresh legs of Patrick Fuller began to take their toll on
tiring Trojan defenders. He picked up two rushing first downs as
well, and another face mask penalty added even more yardage.
After that, three consecutive Fuller runs of 11 yards, the final one of
4, gave the Eagles a third rushing touchdown. The extra point was
blocked, but ACA was back up to a two possession lead at 20 - 8 with
over 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
St. James could only pick up one first down on the next drive, and thus
punted. A holding penalty near the end of the third quarter
pushed ACA back to their own 14, and on fourth down the Eagle punt was
very nearly blocked. However, to avoid the block, the ball was
shanked sideways and actually went out of bounds just short of the line
of scrimmage, giving the Trojans excellent field position at the ACA
32. However, on first down a pass was tipped and intercepted at
the 27 yard line, as the Trojans wasted a golden opportunity to close
the gap.
The Trojan defense held, but valuable time was escaping the
clock. Herring caught a 22 yard pass from Cole to push the
Trojans back into Eagle territory, but several plays later he fumbled
another pass reception and ACA took over at their own 39 with 4:42
remaining. The Trojans were running out of timeouts, and a key
first down run by David Anfield plus an additional 15 yards for an
unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in essence sealed the game for the
Eagles. ACA managed to get as close as the Trojan 5 as time was
running out, but they simply kneeled down to let the time run out and
let the disappointed Trojan fans and players return home without the
victory and back to their televisions to watch the potential coastal
and inward invasion of Hurricane Opal.
SIDELINE
STATISTICS - GAME FIVE
ST. JAMES
RUSHING 31 attempts 139
yards 0 TDs (4.48 yards per carry)
11
Herring 18 /
115
20
Berry
6 / 22
17 Smith 2
/
9
12
Cole
5 / - 7
PASSING 5
completions 12 attempts 1
INT 102 yards 1 TD (3 sacks of, - 15 yards)
12
Cole
5 - 12 - 1 102 yards 1 TD
RECEIVING
11 Herring 3 / 40
21 Webber 1 /
46 44 Robertson 1 /
16 (TD)
TOTAL YARDS: 241
KICKS: XP 0 / 0
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 1 / 1
KICKOFFS: 2 (37,33)
PUNTS: 2
(38,42)
KO RETURNS: 4 (9,16,6,17)
PUNT RETURNS: 3 (7,0,0)
FIRST DOWNS: 10 (6 rushing, 4 passing)
FUMBLES: 3, lost 2
TURNOVER MARGIN: - 3
PENALTIES: 3 / 40
yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 20:07
ACA
RUSHING 46 attempts 267 yards 3 TDs
(5.80
yards per carry)
PASSING 1 completion 3 attempts 0
INTs 11 yards 0 TDs (no sacks of)
TOTAL YARDS: 278
KICKS: XP 2 / 3
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
KICKOFFS: 4 (49,50,44,53)
PUNTS: 4 (36,29,-1,30)
KO RETURNS: 2
(19,6)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (0)
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
FIRST DOWNS: 16 (13 rushing, 1 passing, 2 penalty)
FUMBLES: 1, lost 0
PENALTIES: 4 / 36 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 27:53
RETURN
TO THE STJ FOOTBALL 1995 HOMEPAGE