2009 - GAME 4
ST.
JAMES 20, @
Opp 17 
STJ
6 7
0 7
20
OPP
0
0 17
0 17
In a contest where emotions swayed
from
the highest highs to the lowest lows a number of times in the last
three minutes of game time, and after the completion of play as
well,
Brandyn Baker's one-handed catch and run for 84 yards with time
running
out gave the Trojans a chance to win which seconds earlier
appeared
virtually impossible, and John Slayton's carry for the last 30
inches
gave the Trojans very arguably their most amazing come from behind
win
in school history as St. James stunned the Opp Homecoming crowd by
picking up its third straight region victory, 20 - 17 over the
Bobcats.
With many games in the state delayed or even postponed due to rain
and
lightning, this game was fortunate to be precipitation-free.
And,
for the third time in four starts this season, the Trojans drove
the
distance on their opening possession for a touchdown. After
a
sizable 59 yard kickoff return by Slayton, the Trojans moved
exclusively on the ground. After overcoming a block in the
back
penalty on a long Nick Ostrye run, Ostrye was called upon on a
fourth
and goal from the one yard line, and he dove through the line for
the
touchdown. The extra point attempt was wide, but St. James
had an
early 6 - 0 lead five minutes into the first quarter.
Despite an out of bounds kickoff after a penalty, Opp could net no
yards on what would be their only three offensive downs of the
first
quarter. An Opp punt was downed at the Trojan 30, and St.
James
drove another 70 yards for a touchdown. A costly Opp
penalty, a
substitution infraction, on fourth down extended the drive.
Lee
Ketzler completed several passes to Taylor Wachs and one to B.J.
Weldon, and Ostrye ran for a first down on the final play of the
first
quarter. William Olsey's 3 yard run gave the Trojans first
and
goal at the Opp 9. After a quarterback sack, Ketzler fired a
pass
over the middle which went through the arms of an Opp middle
linebacker
and into the arms of Brandyn Baker, and he wriggled through
surprised
defenders for a 17 yard reception touchdown. Weldon's extra
point
this time was good, and the Trojans were up 13 - 0 allowing only 3
Bobcat offensive stats in the first 15 minutes of the game.
Opp, primarily on the legs of Richard Davis and Josh Scarbrough,
finally began to move down the field. However, on fourth
down
from the St. James 24, quarterback Gavin Free was sacked by Weldon
for
an 11 yard loss and a forced change of possession. The
Trojans
converted one first down before their first punt of the game, and
the
Bobcats had a late first half threat ended by a Crawford Steinberg
interception, and St. James ran out the first half clock with a
seemingly dominant 13 - 0 lead.
In the third quarter, the Bobcats were the absolutely dominant
team,
scoring all of their 17 points. Davis picked up 34 yards on
his
first two carries of the second half, and his 25 yard run down to
the
Trojan 2 set up his 2 yard touchdown giving Opp their first
score. Hunter Jones' extra point cut the lead to 6, at 7 -
13. The Bobcats held the Trojans on three plays, and after
luckily recovering a muffed punt, Opp drove 51 yards on 6
consecutive
running plays by Davis and Scarbrough. Davis carried for the
last
13 yards for his second touchdown, and Jones' extra point allowed
the
Bobcats to quickly offset the Trojan halftime lead midway through
the
third quarter.
The scoring was not over as Bobcat Brett Murray intercepted a pass
on
the first Trojan play from scrimmage, and an unsportsmanlike
conduct
penalty after the return gave Opp great field position at the St.
James
12. An illegal procedure penalty helped the Trojan defense
finally stiffen, forcing a field goal, but Jones converted it from
32
yards out and Opp had piled on 17 points in just over 10 minutes.
For the first time since their second offensive drive, the Trojans
finally began moving the ball and again eating up the clock.
However, a quarterback sack forced a Trojan punt and the 23 yard
return
gave Opp first down at their own 40 with only 5½ minutes
remaining. Again, it was Davis and Scarbrough eating up the
clock
and yardage on a drive which would have likely been the game
clincher. However, on a Davis run which would have given Opp
four
fresh downs with under 100 seconds remaining, he fumbled and the
Trojans took over on their own 19. After a 12 yard
completion to
Weldon, the fireworks erupted in the last 80 seconds of the
game.
Ketzler's next pass was intercepted by Zane Christian, and he
returned
it to the Trojan 11 before finally being slung down.
However, the
ball came out and the Trojans fell on it as a flag lay on the
ground. After some discussion, the referees gave St. James
possession of the ball because of the fumble, but penalized them
half
the distance due to a face mask call. However, Opp used a
timeout
and after another discussion between the Bobcat coaches and the
referees, it was determined the face mask penalty came before, and
may
have caused, the fumble, and the original ruling was overturned,
giving
Opp the ball at the St. James 11 with a first down and only 1:17
remaining on the clock.
Afterwards, several highly questionable decisions were made by the
Opp
staff. First, the face mask penalty was declined, which
would
have cut half of the distance to the goal line. Then, Opp
decided
to merely down the ball instead of continuing to run forward as
they
had during the entire second half. St. James, which had all
of
its three time outs, used them after first and second down
kneeldowns. By now, Opp realized they should have been
running
forward. On third down, Scarbrough ran for 8 yards down to
the
St. James 7, before the Trojans used their last time out with
exactly a
minute remaining. Deciding to forego a field goal which
likely
would have extended the lead to 7, the Bobcats decided to go on
fourth
down, but Davis was surprisingly missing. Scarbrough was
stopped
at the Trojan 5, four yards short of the first down, and St. James
had
a chance, albeit a minimal one, to travel 95 yards in 55 seconds
with
no timeouts remaining.
Another illegal particpation penalty gave St. James a free five
yards,
and a second down completion to Weldon for 5 yards out of bounds
gave
St. James a first down on their own 15. Two incomplete
passes
moved the clock down to below 30 seconds. On third down,
Ketzler
called an all-out play, a desperation where all wide receivers
were
just told to go downfield and hope. Ketzler moved to his
left,
and he spotted Brandyn Baker moving to help his quarterback.
Ketzler lofted the pass, and despite being between several
defenders,
Baker managed not only to catch the pass one-handed, but he broke
away
from the defenders and scurry toward the endzone. Amazingly,
he
was stopped just 2½ feet short of the goal line as the
Trojan
sideline erupted and the Bobcat sideline stared in total
disbelief. The clock did stop with 6.8 seconds remaining
because
of the first down, but the Trojans who were setting up for a
"spike"
play to stop the clock benefited from the disbelief reaction from
Opp
as players were all over the field, and the Bobcats had no choice
but
to call for a timeout which served to stop the clock. There
was
little doubt as to the play which would be called, and indeed the
ball
was handed off to Slayton off right guard. He picked up just
enough "footage" to carry Bobcats into the endzone for the
improbable
go ahead touchdown with only 4.2 seconds remaining. The
important
extra point was added by Weldon, and the Trojans had completed the
amazing comeback to take a 20 - 17 lead. However, there was
still
time on the clock.
Opp helped the Trojan cause once again by being flagged for
unsportsmanlike conduct, allowing Weldon to kick off from the Opp
45. He banged the ball into the endzone for a touchback,
giving
Opp only one play from its own 20 yard line. Free dropped
back
and threw the ball as hard and as far as he could, but it was
intercepted by Weldon on the far sidelines, and he simply ran out
of
bounds as Trojan players ran out onto the field to celebrate a
remarkable victory.
The celebratory mood, unfortunately, was tempered several minutes
after
the completion of the game, as word began to circulate that
something
had happened to Bobcat head coach John Whigham as he was leaving
the
stadium. Some were saying he may have had a heart attack,
and at
the time no one knew for sure, but he was taken to the very nearby
Opp
hospital immediately. Later, it was discovered he had
suffered a
seizure which could have been in part due to severe
dehydration.
Late that evening it was reported he was resting in stable
condition at
the Opp hospital, but the prayers continued to pour in from the
Trojan
supporters for the Bobcats, and for the coach and his family.
The unbelievably fulfilling win, combined with other results in
the
region, gave St. James an outright lead in the region, as they
remained
the only undefeated team in the region at 3 - 0 when at the same
time
the previous year they were the only team without a region win at
0 -
3, and the Trojans were now looking forward to perhaps spoiling
their
second opponent homecoming in a row as they readied for a journey
west
on Vaughn Road to face off against undefeated Montgomery Academy.
SIDELINE
STATISTICS - GAME FOUR
ST.
JAMES
RUSHING
40
attempts 99 yards 2 TDs
(2.48
yards per carry)
20
Slayton 16 /
63 (1 TD) 19
Ostrye 15 / 41 (1 TD)
7
Olsey
3
/
0
6
Ketzler 5 / - 5
PASSING
9 completions 18 attempts 2
INTs 166 yards 1
TD (2 sacks of, - 22 yards)
6
Ketzler 9 - 18
- 2 166 yards 1 TD (2 sacks,
- 22
yards)
RECEIVING
45
Baker
2
/ 101 (1 TD)
1
Weldon 3 /
25
10
Wachs 2 / 18
13
Taylor
1
/
12
19
Ostrye
1 / 10
TOTAL
YARDS: 265
KICKS:
XP 2 / 3
FG
0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0
/ 0
KICKOFFS:
4
(OB,37,44,45EZ)
PUNTS: 3 (22,29,27)
KO
RETURNS: 3 (59,18,17)
PUNT RETURNS: 0
INTERCEPTION
RETURNS: 2 (0,6)
FIRST
DOWNS: 16
(9 rushing, 5 passing, 2 penalty)
FUMBLES: 0
TURNOVER MARGIN: + 1
PENALTIES: 5 / 37
yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 27:49
OPP
RUSHING
41
attempts 218
yards 2 TDs (4.64 yards per carry - Davis 23 carries,
145 yards)
PASSING
3 completions 8
attempts 2 INTs 27 yards 0 TDs (1 sack of,
- 11 yards)
TOTAL
YARDS: 245
KICKS:
XP 2 / 2
FG
1 / 1 (32 made)
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0
/ 0
KICKOFFS:
4 (56,EZ,56,56)
PUNTS: 1 (30)
KO
RETURNS: 2 (17,15)
PUNT RETURNS: 1 (0)
FIRST
DOWNS: 14 (13
rushing, 1 passing)
FUMBLES: 2, lost 1
PENALTIES: 6 / 40 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 20:11
RETURN
TO THE STJ FOOTBALL 2009 HOMEPAGE
