St. James turned three second half
fumble recoveries into touchdowns, Brett Gantt completed two more
touchdown passes to Chris Roberts, and again Trojan fans held their
breath in the last minute of a playoff game as a fourth down pass
reception came up inches short deep in Trojan territory as St. James
won its second round playoff game for only the second time in school
history, defeating the Monroe County Tigers in another
exhilirating game, 34-27.
Monroe County received the opening kickoff and simply knifed through
the Trojans defense, piece by piece, on the first drive. Kevin
Adair and Terrell Richardson were the two main culprits throughout the
evening. On the 11th play of a 5-minute plus drive, Adair ran in
from the four yard line and then added his own extra point for a 7-0
lead.
St. James began moving the ball well against the Tigers also with Gantt
completing passes of 18 yards to Matt Ward and Chris Roberts for 14,
each
converting first downs. However, on fourth down, a pass to
Roberts
was caught out of bounds and the Trojans turned the ball over on the
Tiger
34. Thinking they had lulled the Trojans secondary to sleep, on
the
second play following, Monroe tried their first pass of the night and
almost
completed it for a huge gain. However, after a sack on third
down,
the Tigers punted and Matt Ward returned the ball 15 yards to the Tiger
39.
Five plays later, on the first play of the second quarter, Gantt
lifted
a beautiful fade pass to Roberts for his first of two touchdowns from
the
20. Will Stansfield converted his extra point and the game was
tied
at 7.
From then on, it seemed neither team could stop the opponents.
After opening their next drive with a 5 yard penalty, Monroe
drove 70 yards on the ground in 6 plays. Richardson ran three
times for 27 yards, and Adair twice for 38 yards, the final 25 for his
second game touchdown. The extra point sailed wide, but the
Tigers were up by 6. After a kick out of bounds, Gantt
highlighted his talents. He ran quarterback keepers twice for 6
and 10 yards (each first downs), completed two more passes to Roberts
for 20 yards, and overcame a sack by converting a third and 17 with a
25 yard
pass and run to Matt Ward down to the two yard line. Two plays
later,
Gantt called his own number for the one yard touchdown. A delay
of
game penalty pushed the extra point attempt back, and Stansfield hooked
his
attempt, keeping the score knotted at 13.
After a short kickoff was returned to near midfield, the Tigers again
ran nine consecutive times, including a fourth down conversion by
Richardson, and used their timeouts wisely to set up a 7 yard touchdown
run by Richardson with 33 seconds remaining in the half. The
extra point returned the lead to 7, at 20-13. It seemed as if
that would be the score at halftime. It was, but St. James made
it interesting late. On first down, Gantt completed a 41 yard
pass to Roberts to the Tiger 29. However, four incomplete passes
with intense quarterback pressure ended the half with the Tigers up by
7 in a quickly played, entertaining game.
On the first drive of the second half, Gantt moved the Trojans down the
field again. His 20 yard keeper on third down and one gave St.
James
first down at the Monroe 24. However, a failed fourth down
conversion
ended the drive. On the first Tiger scrimmage play, Adair ran for
17
yards and it appeared they would continue to do so. However, on
the
next play, the fullback had the ball ripped loose and Taylor Thompson
recovered
for St. James on the Monroe 47. Ted Brewer ran for 10 yards.
After
a defensive offside penalty, and a pair of runs netting a loss of one
yard,
Roberts caught another first down reception of 9 yards. From the
Tiger
24, Brewer took the handoff up the middle, bowled through the line, and
broke
clear into the secondary untouched into the endzone. Stansfield's
extra
point tied the game up for the third time at 20 with exactly five
minutes
remaining in the third quarter.
Monroe County turned the ball over on another fumble near midfield on
the next drive which was recovered by Webb Chastain. After a two
yard gain
by Brewer, Ward took the handoff wide down the near sideline, and with
the
help of several great blocks from the wide outs, got loose and carried
the
ball 47 yards into the endzone. Stansfield's extra point gave St.
James
their first lead of the night at 27-20 with just over 14 minutes
remaining
in the game.
For the third consecutive drive, the Tiger offense was stuffed by the
St.
James defense and a turnover. Matt Ward recovered a fumble on a
fourth
down play, giving the Trojans good field position again at the Monroe
39.
After a loss and a penalty, Gantt completed a third down and 17
pass
to Roberts for 26 yards and a key first down. Gantt followed up
the
play himself with a 13 yard run to the 7 yard line. Two
consecutive
losses and a false start cost 8 yards, but on 3rd and 15, Gantt picked
up
a low snap, regained control, and tossed a jump ball pass which Roberts
took
in after outjumping two defenders at the goal line. The touchdown
and
the Stansfield point gave St. James a 14 point lead with only 9:13
remaining.
Monroe County to this point had not completed a pass, only having
attempted two. After an Adair run of 11 and a Richardson run of
8, the coaches picked an excellent time to try their third.
Watson Black tossed a pass
to Nick Madison in the middle of the field at about the 35. He
avoided
two tackles, and broke loose. Running toward the pylon, Roberts
caught
him at the 5 but Madison's momentum allowed him to drag the tackler
into
the endzone just before he hit the ground, and the Tigers had a
surprise long
touchdown pass. The extra point closed the gap to 34-27 with
still over
8 minutes remaining. The Trojans managed to run the next six
minutes plus off the clock. Gantt carried twice for 17 and 10
yards, each first downs, and after a holding penalty, Roberts caught a
pass for 15 yards on 3rd and 15 for another first down. However,
the drive stopped on a sack
of Gantt back at the Tiger 42 with 2:21 remaining.
Black completed his first pass to Madison, one of three receivers
bunched toward the far sidelines, for 13 yards. Four receivers
bunched on the next play, but Madison was stopped for a four yard loss
after his reception. An incomplete pass set up fourth down and 14
from the Trojan 49. Black's pass was completed to Justin Finklea,
but he was immediately grabbed and slung
to the ground by Matt Ward almost at the first down marker. The
measurement
was called for, and the ball was no more than two inches short of the
necessary
yardage. St. James took over, and after several penalties and at
least
one ejection, finally ran out the last 58 seconds on the clock and
claimed
their second consecutive playoff victory of the dramatic 2003 season.
GAME TWELVE SIDELINE STATISTICS
ST. JAMES
RUSHING 43 attempts 189 yards 3 TDs
(4.40 yards per
carry)
42 Brewer 19 / 83 (1 TD)
10 Gantt 20 / 59 (1 TD)
30 Ward 4 / 47 (1
TD)
PASSING 15 completions 23 attempts 0
INTs 219 yards 2 TDs (3 sacks of, - 25 yards)
10 Gantt
15 - 22 - 0 219 yards 2 TDs (3 sacks, - 25)
3 Nelson 0 - 1 -
0
RECEIVING
6
Roberts 10 / 171 (2 TDs) 30
Ward 4 / 43
3 Nelson 1 /
5
TOTAL YARDS: 408
KICKS: XP 4 / 5
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS:
6 (52,58,32,25,39,28) PUNTS: 0
KO RETURNS: 4 (11,4,7,11)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (15)
FIRST DOWNS: 21 (11 rushing, 10 passing)
FUMBLES: 0
TURNOVER MARGIN: + 3
PENALTIES: 6 / 40 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 28:13
MONROE CO. RUSHING 41
attempts 236 yards 3 TDs (5.76 yards per carry)
PASSING 4 completions 6
attempts 0 INTs 64 yards 1 TD (1 sack of, - 11
yards)
TOTAL YARDS: 300
KICKS: XP 3 / 4
FG 0 / 0
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 5
(48,OB,39,33,39)
PUNTS: 1 (28)
KO RETURNS: 6 (25,33,15,0fc,19,7) PUNT
RETURNS: 0
FIRST DOWNS: 16 (14 rushing, 2 passing)
FUMBLES: 3, lost 3
PENALTIES: 6 / 50 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 19:47