TAL 0 6 0 6 12
October 11, 2002 J.E. "Hot" O'Brien
Stadium, Tallassee. Game Conditions: Partly cloudy
Game Temperature: 79 no wind
The St. James defense for the second game in a row did not allow a score, as the Tallassee Tigers only ran two plays on the St. James side of the field in the entire game (passes which were consecutively incomplete and intercepted) and only scored on two interception returns. Brett Gantt passed for 177 yards in the first half alone to help lead the Trojans to a regional win on the road, 41-12.
St. James got off to another flying start, scoring touchdowns on three of their first four possessions. After trading punts on their respective first drives, the Trojans took over on the Trojan 49. On the second play, Brett Gantt lofted a nice pass to David Joyner who didn't let a potential interceptor distract him as he caught the pass at the Tiger 20 and cruised into the endzone with a 51 yard touchdown reception. Taylor Nelson's extra point gave St. James a 7-0 lead with 8:29 remaining in the first quarter.
The Trojans had even better field position to start their next drive, at Tallassee's 45. A Ted Brewer 6 yard run, a 23 yard quarterback scamper by Gantt, and an incomplete pass preceded a 16 yard power burst by Brewer into the endzone. Nelson booted the score up to 14-0 with 3:32 still remaining in the first quarter.
St. James drove 75 yards on the next drive, highlighted by a Brewer run of 25 yards and a 37 yard pass and run from Gantt to Chris Roberts. A defensive pass interference penalty in the endzone kept the drive alive, and Gantt again connected, this time to Alex Howell, for 3 yards in the back of the endzone for another score. This point after was shanked wide left, but the Trojans had a seemingly safe 20 point lead less than 13 minutes into the game.
Trojan Forrest Hull intercepted a pass on the next Tiger drive, the only drive of the game where the Tigers started a scrimmage play in Trojan territory. The interception was the first of three Trojan interceptions of the night. However, on the fourth play of the ensuing drive, a Gantt slant pass attempt was picked off by Tallassee's C.J. Ledbetter, and he outran several Trojan pursuers into the endzone for the first Tallassee score. The extra point was wide, but Tallassee had cut the lead to 14, at 20-6, with more than half of the second quarter remaining.
The teams traded punts, but Alex Howell's nifty 9 yard punt return gave the Trojans the ball on the Tiger 44 with 1:16 remaining in the half. After a holding penalty negated a long gain, Gantt connected with Chris Roberts for 10 yards and Taylor Nelson for 30 yards down to the Tiger 10 with 5 seconds left. A Taylor Nelson 27 yard field goal attempt was wide left, nearly into the Tallassee concession stand window, so the Trojans settled for their 20-6 halftime lead.
In the second half, the defense shone, holding the Tigers to minus 5 yards rushing, 4 yards passing, and only one first down very late in the game. Daniel Winn intercepted a Tiger pass and returned it 29 yards to the Tallassee 13. A penalty pushed the ball back 15 yards, but 4 plays later Ted Brewer scored his second touchdown of the game from 10 yards out. Nelson's point pushed the St. James lead to 27-6. Brewer's third touchdown, from 4 yards out early in the fourth quarter, came after a brilliant 26 yard run by Howell. Nelson's extra point again was true, and the Trojans were up 34-6 with 11:20 remaining in the game.
Commandeered by the reserves on offense on the next Trojan drive, two plays after a roughing the kicker penalty, Travis Kreischer slightly overthrew a pass which was intercepted by Antonio Hutchinson at the Tiger 36 and he cruised down the far sidelines 64 yards for a second Tallassee defensive score. A two point pass was incomplete, and the score was 34-12. The next Trojans drive was the Alex Howell show, as he caught and cradled a line drive onside kick attempt at the Tiger 49; then several plays later outraced defenders down the sidelines for a 46 yard touchdown. Nelson's fifth extra point of the night was the final tally of the game, at 41-12.
Trojan Brandon King intercepted a pass late in the
game and returned it to the Tiger 10, but the Trojans lost the ball on
downs simply trying to run out the clock while coaches all over the St.
James sidelines were being doused by ice water in celebration of a huge
road region win.
GAME SEVEN SIDELINE STATISTICS:
ST. JAMES
RUSHING 34 attempts 223 yards 4 TDs (6.56
yards
per carry)
11 Howell 4 / 84
(1 TD) 42 Brewer
13 / 79 (3 TDs) 10
Gantt 8 / 40
35 Wahl
2 / 9
44
Krothapalli 3 / 8
22 Winn
2 / 4
9 Murphy 2 / -1
PASSING 10 completions 23 attempts 3
INTs 194 yards 2 TDs (1 sack of, - 9 yards)
10
Gantt 9 -
19 - 2 181 yards 2 TDs (1 sack, - 9)
9
Murphy 1 - 1 - 0 13
yards
7
Kreischer 0 - 3 - 1
RECEIVING
11 Howell
3
/ 86 (1 TD) 4 Joyner
2 / 64 (1 TD)
6 Roberts 3 / 54
3
Nelson
2 / 40
TOTAL YARDS: 417
KICKS: XP 5 /
6
FG 0 / 1 (27 missed)
2 POINT
CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS:
7 (57,58,52,41,25,56,29) PUNTS: 3 (39,11,26)
KO RETURNS: 3
(5,0,0)
PUNT RETURNS: 3 (9,9,16)
INTERCEPTION
RETURNS: 3 (3,29,18)
FIRST DOWNS: 18 (7 rushing, 8 passing, 3
penalty)
FUMBLES: 0
TURNOVER MARGIN: + 1
PENALTIES: 12 / 112 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 22:29
TALLASSEE RUSHING 33
attempts 93 yards (2.81 yards per carry)
PASSING 4 completions 14
attempts 3
INTs 6 yards 0 TDs
TOTAL YARDS: 99
KICKS: XP 0 /
1
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT
CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
KICKOFFS: 3 (39,36,9)
PUNTS:
7 (39,36,34,25,41,25,54)
KO RETURNS: 6 (5,21,17,11,19,0f) PUNT
RETURNS: 1 (2)
INTERCEPTION
RETURNS: 2 (37TD, 64TD)
FIRST DOWNS: 6 (6 rushing)
FUMBLES: 3, lost 1
PENALTIES: 10 / 62 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 25:31