2010 - GAME 10

ST. JAMES 46, @ Catholic 30 
 STJ         15     14       7     10        46
 
CAT           0       0     14     16        30
SCORING SUMMARY:

STJ  (1)    9:05   Olsey 55 punt return                    (Steinberg pass from Wachs)      8 -   0
STJ  (1)    7:29   Wachs 17 pass from Duncan                            (Meadows kick)    15 -   0
STJ  (2)  10:36   Slayton 4 run                                                   (Meadows kick)    22 -   0
STJ  (2)    1:28   Wachs 13 pass from Duncan                            (Meadows kick)    29 -   0
CAT (3)    9:24   Younker 39 pass from Tyner                             (Sherman kick)    29 -   7
CAT (3)    8:27   Davison 11 pass from Tyner                              (Sherman kick)    29 - 14
STJ  (3)    6:30   Wachs 72 pass from Duncan                            (Meadows kick)    36 - 14
STJ  (4)  10:55   Meadows 32 FG                                                                            39 - 14
STJ  (4)    6:21   Cherry 3 run                                                    (Meadows kick)    46 - 14
CAT (4)    3:27   Wujcik 5 run                                   (Younker pass from Tyner)    46 - 22
CAT (4)    0:17   Vaughns 7 run                                   (Clark pass from Wucjik)    46 - 30

October 29, 2010    Catholic Field   Game Conditions:  Clear, breezy. cool    Game Temperature:  57    Wind: NE 10

St. James used the special teams to score two quick first quarter touchdowns, added two more on the way to a 29 - 0 halftime lead, and then cruised the remainder of the way with loads of substitutes playing as the Trojans won the "Vaughn Road Championship" by defeating their nearest neighbor, the Catholic Knights, 46 - 30.

The Trojans got off to a quick start despite being held to little yardage on their first drive.  Catholic had a big first down wiped out on their opening drive because of an illegal forward pass.  William Olsey fielded a short, albeit wind-aided, punt at his own 45.    The Catholic coverage was heavily focused to the middle, so he followed several blockers to the near side.  He turned the corner at midfield, and after 10 yards had blown by all potential tacklers and charged down the remainder of the field for a 55 yard punt return touchdown, the first punt return for a touchdown for St. James since Bruce Alter turned the trick against Montgomery Academy in 2005.  The Trojans lined up in their unique extra point formation, and the ball was snapped to holder Taylor Wachs who found the wide open Crawford Steinberg in the endzone for a two point conversion and St. James was quickly up 8 - 0 less than three minutes into the game.

The momentum continued immediately after a perfect pooch kick was allowed to bounce amongst potential Knight receivers, and the loose ball was pounced on by Haynes Litchfield at the Catholic 26.  Four consecutive running plays by C.J. Duncan, John Slayton, and Nick Ostrye advanced the ball to the 4, but a holding penalty on the final run pushed the ball back to the 17.  From there, Duncan found Wachs open on the far side in the endzone for a second touchdown.  This time, Austin Meadows came on to kick his first of five consecutive extra points, and St. James was up 15 - 0 just 4 minutes into the game.

Neither team threatened again in the first quarter, but on the first play of the second quarter, Duncan ate up half the field with a 50 yard scamper down the sidelines before being thrown out of bounds as the Knight 14.  Several plays later, a defensive holding penalty gave St. James a gift first down at the Knight 4, and Slayton marched in on the next play for another touchdown.  The extra point gave St. James a commanding 22 - 0 lead early in the second quarter.  Catholic held the ball for only four plays, even though nearly three minutes went off the clock because on three different plays which required a stoppage of the clock, including a called time out, the clock continued to run.  When St. James got the ball back, the clock was at 7:31, and the Trojans ate up most of the rest of the half on a 51 yard scoring drive.  John Slayton twice converted fourth downs with 5 yard runs.  Two plays after his second fourth down make, Duncan found Wachs standing alone in the back corner of the endzone for his second catch of the evening for another touchdown.  The Meadows extra point, which clanked heavily off the left upright but still went through, gave St. James a 29 point lead at halftime as Catholic could only barely break into Trojan territory late.

Catholic realized at halftime for there to be any sort of game they would have to score early and probably often.  They did, and almost did.  With few passing attempts in the first half, sophomore Michael Tyner began moving the Knights down the field, and he connected with Barr Younker on a twice deflected pass which he still managed to catch in stride and finish up a 39 yard catch and run touchdown.  The James Sherman extra point was good, and Catholic had dented the scoreboard.   They would do so again several plays later.  A holding penalty negated a nice kickoff return, and two plays later an ill-fated pitch hit the ground and was recovered by the Knights at the Trojan 11.  On first down, Tyner drilled a low line drive to Kenny Davison in the back of the endzone and the safe halftime lead had nearly been cut in half just 3½ minutes into the game as the score was quickly 29 - 14.

The Knights had all the momentum, and it appeared the Trojans were going to punt again until Duncan lofted a deep pass down the far sidelines and it was brought in by Wachs who battled with a defender, escaped his clutches, and raced 72 yards for a touchdown.  It was Wachs' third catch of the evening, each for a touchdown.  He was the first Trojan to catch 3 touchdown passes in one game since Chris Roberts did so in 2003.  The touchdown also tied for the fifth longest in Trojan history, and was the longest since a 75 yard pass tossed by Brett Gantt to Matt Ward, also in 2003.  There was a lengthy discussion immediately after the score which scared the St. James sideline because there was an out of bounds issue.  However, it was resolved because Wachs was forced out of bounds by a defender and had returned to the field of play and reestablished himself as eligible before the catch.  Meadows' extra point pushed the lead back up to 22 midway through the third quarter.

A deep Catholic punt forced the Trojans to start their next drive on their own 15.  St. James covered the 85 yards while evaporating nearly 7 minutes of clock.  Duncan and Slayton carried for the majority of the load.  A sack on the first play of the final quarter pushed the Trojans back, but with the wind behind his back, Austin Meadows came in to kick his eighth field goal of the season, this one from 32 yards, and St. James was now up 39 - 14.

A fumble after a Knight pass completion gave the ball back to the Trojans at their own 48.  William Olsey, rested from his first quarter punt return, picked up 10 on first down.  Duncan added 7, Nick Ostrye ran for 15, and Steinberg caught a 7 yard toss on the sideline.  A 10 yard run by Slayton gave the Trojans first down on the Catholic 3, and lineman Cal Cherry was called in for his second touchdown of the year, a blast through the line from 3 yards.  The extra point wrapped up scoring on the St. James side, giving them their largest lead of the night at 46 - 14.

After a sizable punt return, Catholic moved down the field, again primarily due to the arm of Tyner.  However, it was the other quarterback Tommy Wucjik whose 5 yard run on the ninth play of the drive reached the endzone as the Trojan defense was full of substitutes.  Tyner did complete a two point conversion pass to Younker to cut the lead to 46 - 22.   St. James recovered the onside kick, but a blocked punt gave Catholic a chance for one more score as time was winding down.  A personal foul penalty kept the drive alive for the Knights, and senior Tahj Vaughans closed out his career with a 7 yard touchdown.  Wucjik completed a two point conversion pass to Jake Clark to reach the final score of 46 - 30.  Forrest Taylor recovered a second onside kickoff attempt by Catholic, and one play later the Trojans had ended their season with back to back wins for the first time since 2005, and many a tear was shed among seniors and underclassmen alike as they took off their pads and gear for the final time in 2010.

SIDELINE STATISTICS  - GAME TEN

ST. JAMES      RUSHING    51 attempts  274 yards  2 TDs  (5.37 yards per carry)

                          5   Duncan        18 / 137      20   Slayton           22 / 91  (1 TD)    19   Ostrye            4 / 18
                          7   Olsey             1 /  10        4   Woodson          3 /   8                14   Poe                2 /   7
                        71   Cherry           1 /    3 (TD)

                        PASSING    5 completions  9 attempts  0 INTs  115 yards  3 TDs  (1 sack of, - 9 yards)

                          5   Duncan        5 - 8 - 0  115 yards  3 TDs  (1 sack, - 9 yards)
                        14   Poe              0 - 1 - 0    

                        RECEIVING

                        10   Wachs          3 / 102  (3 TDs)   23   Steinberg     1 /   7     6   Ketzler               1 / 6

                        TOTAL YARDS:   389

                        KICKS:  XP  5 / 5                FG  1 / 1   (35 made)
                        2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  1 / 1
                        KICKOFFS:   8  (24,40,52,48,46,32,33,47)                PUNTS:   3  (39,31,bk-11)
                        KO RETURNS:  5  (17,14,21,0,0)                             PUNT RETURNS:  2  (55TD,0)
                         FIRST DOWNS:   19  (14 rushing, 3 passing, 2 penalty)
                        FUMBLES:  2, lost 1
                        TURNOVER MARGIN:   0
                        PENALTIES:   9 / 63 yards
                        TIME OF POSSESSION:  29:16 *

CATHOLIC      RUSHING    27 attempts  68 yards  2 TDs  (2.52 yards per carry)
                        PASSING     12 completions  23 attempts  0 INTs  207 yards  2 TDs  (2 sacks of, - 16 yards)
                        TOTAL YARDS:   275

                         KICKS:  XP  2 / 2                FG  0 / 0
                        2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  2 / 2
                        KICKOFFS:  5  (50,54,58,7,8)                                  PUNTS:  5  (30,13,35,19,29)
                        KO RETURNS:   7  (15,23,25,18,10,14,30)               PUNT RETURNS:  1  (12)
                        FIRST DOWNS:   11  (3 rushing, 8 passing)
                        FUMBLES:  2, lost 1
                        PENALTIES:  6 / 33 yards
                        TIME OF POSSESSION:  18:44 *
 (* - clock operator had a bad night, running clock in time outs, not running in plays, ...  <at least 5 known occurrances>  TOP stat is very arbitrary)

RETURN TO THE STJ FOOTBALL 2010 HOMEPAGE