2011 - GAME 9

SAINT JAMES 41, @ Bullock County 6 
STJ          7     27       7       0         41
 
B C          0       0       0       6          6
SCORING SUMMARY:

STJ  (1)  7:59  Moody 10 pass from Duncan     (Meadows kick)     7 - 0
STJ  (2)  9:17  Adams 10 pass from Duncan     (Meadows kick)    14 - 0
STJ  (2)  5:06  Moody 44 run                                  (pass failed)    20 - 0
STJ  (2)  1:07  Woodson 8 run                              (Duncan run)    28 - 0
STJ  (2)  0:00  Pattie 34 fumble return                    (pass failed)    34 - 0
STJ  (3)  6:53  Moody 6 run                                 (Newton kick)    41 - 0
B C  (4)  0:06  Beachem 2 run                                 (pass failed)    41 - 6

October 21, 2011.  Thorton-Foster Stadium.  Game Conditions:  Clear, cold  Game Temperature:  56, dropping to 44   Wind:  none


Frank Moody rushed twelve times for 118 yards and scored three touchdowns, both career highs, as Saint James made school history by winning its sixth region game in one season for the first time ever as they traveled to Union Springs to defeat the Bullock County Hornets 41 - 6.

A sizable Hornet return after the opening kickoff was negated by a block in the back penalty.  Later in the drive another similar penalty was declined, and after a short punt Saint James had first down at the Hornet 37.  However, four straight incomplete passes immediately turned the ball back over to Bullock Couuty.  Disaster struck on the next play as a poor snap to a shotgun quarterback was high and off to the side, and it was recovered by Trojan Cal Cherry at the Hornet 20.

Saint James shook off some early sluggishness and Frank Moody, one play after an eight yard run, caught a 10 yard touchdown pass from C.J. Duncan on the near sidelines for the first score of the game.  Austin Meadows' extra point put the Trojans up 7 - 0.

Brad Bennett, featured Hornet tailback, and Darren Beachem, Hornet quarterback, made some headway for Bullock County on the next drive.  However, on fourth down and six from the Trojan 37, Beachem came up a yard short on a hard run and Saint James regained possession.  The Trojans could not make a first down, but the Hornets were stopped on their next drive thanks in great part to the first of four sacks on the night by Percy Shufford.

Duncan began moving the Trojans to start a four touchdown second quarter.  After an 11 yard gain on a pass to Moody was almost erased by a penalty, Duncan found Jake Jabour for a 25 yard catch and run on the next play.  Duncan, who only rushed four times the entire game, carried for 20 yards up the middle on the next play.  After an incomplete pass, Wilson Adams caught a 10 yard touchdown pass of his own.  Austin Meadows' kick was good.  So good in fact, the football went well through the uprights and over the fence surrounding the field into the forest behind the eastern endzone.  Able-bodied athletic deparment intern Matt Harris climbed the fence and retrieved the football.  However, it was decided no more kicks would be attempted in that endzone if the situation presented itself again.  The decision was a precursor to some bizarre occurrances in the upcoming even numbered quarters.

It appeared an extra point might be attempted the other direction on the first play after a 36 yard Hornet kickoff return.  Bennett took the handoff, broke through the line, and raced 60 yards down the Hornet sidelines for an apparent touchdown.  However, a holding penalty at midfield erased the score and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the ball all the way back to the Bullock County 25.  Beachem was sacked on the next play, but brought down by a horsecollar tackle, so the personal foul penalty offset the yardage lost by the unsportsmanlike penalty.  Shufford's second sack a few plays later led to another punt which, thanks to pressure, only travelled forward twelve yards.  After an illegal procedure penalty, Moody carried twice for five yards, and then broke loose for 44 and his second touchdown of the evening.  As promised, Saint James went for two, but Duncan's endzone pass was intercepted and the the conversion failed, but the Trojans were up 20 - 0 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half.

Bullock County got as far as midfield, but a run on a fake punt attempt gained nothing and Saint James had another chance to score.  Two plays later, Duncan carried the ball and several tacklers for a majority of an amazing 33 yard gain down to the Hornet 8, and on the next play Walker Woodson picked up a touchdown.  On this conversion attempt, Duncan called his own number and bounced off a potential tackler at the two into the endzone for the two point conversion, and Saint James was up 28 - 0 with just 67 seconds remaining until halftime.

Then the bizarre really got going.  After a kickoff return to the twenty, Kentavious Jenkins carried for 12 yards and a first down.  After an incomplete pass and a sack, the Trojans called timeout, their first, with 21.1 seconds on the clock.  A double reverse play to Bennett lost 10 more yards, and Saint James called their second timeout with 13.1 seconds left.  During the timeout, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called on the Hornets, and the ball was moved back half the distance to the eight.  On fourth down, Saint James rushed the ball and made audible contact with the punt as well as the kicker.  Jabour returned the punt to the Hornet 24, but roughing the kicker was called on the Trojans despite the fact the ball had been deflected by the rushers.  Saint James called its final timeout of the first half with 3.9 seconds remaining, and a dead ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Saint James moved the Hornets out to their own 38.  They called what appeared to be a safe play, a handoff up the middle to Bennett.  However, he was grabbed from the side and the ball popped loose.  Alex Pattie picked up the loose ball just outside a scrum and followed a newly-turned blocker 34 yards into the endzone well after the halftime horn had sounded.  The touchdown was permitted, and after an incomplete pass on the two point conversion, the Trojans had scored 27 points in less than ten minutes clock time, giving them a comfortable lead headed toward the third quarter.

Zach Taylor returned a short kickoff to the Trojan 40, and Saint James embarked on a methodical twelve play drive.  After two Woodson runs, Moody and Cal Cherry took most of the handoffs.  Two plays after converting a fourth down at the Hornet 12, Moody carried in from six yards out for the score.  Being at the western end of the field, Riley Newton was called on to kick the extra point which he did, and it was the end of the night for most of the starters early as Saint James was up 41 - 0 halfway through the third quarter.  James Pritchett threatened to run the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown, but he was tripped up at the Trojan 45.  Three plays later, on fourth and two, Beachem was again stopped for no gain and the second team offense took the field.  They had driven as far as the Hornet 33 before a bad snap was barely touched by backup quarterback Griffin Slater and Bullock County fell on the loose ball.  A no-gain run on the last play of the third quarter left Bullock County with a fourth and six.

Most of us have seen a "running clock", where the clock is not stopped in the last quarter except on scoring plays, penalties, and changes of possessions.  The clock runs continuously despite first downs, incomplete passes, or out of bounds plays.  However, the coaches in this game agreed to play only a six minute fourth quarter once that solution was offered.  The first real cold wave of the season may have played a huge part in that decision.  An incomplete pass on fourth down to start the final quarter turned the ball back over to Saint James.  Tyler Haveard and Tait Holder picked up one first down on the ground, but only one, before Wilson Adams boomed a punt 55 yards down inside the Hornet two.  Against the shivering reserves, Bullock County erased a night of negative rushing yardage and steadily moved 98 yards down the field to score.  On third down from the Hornet four, Beachem finally broke loose on a run, carrying for 59 yards before being stopped at the Trojan 37.  Bennett's later run for nine yards picked up another first down, and two plays later a pass from Beachem to Pritchett gave the Hornets first down at the Trojan 2.  On the next play, Beachem called his own number and Bullock County had ended the shutout.  But not the peculiar.

Bennett had reached the endzone on the Hornet two point conversion attempt, but while doing so a lineman had beautifully, but illegally, tackled a Trojan pursuer.  However, offensive lineman aren't in the game to tackle, except maybe on a turnover return, so the resulting holding penalty pushed the conversion try back to the thirteen yard line.  Still going for two, Beacham kept and came up several yards short, but his face mask was grabbed on the way.  A half the distance penalty moved the ball almost down to the six.  From there, Beacham tried again but just missed on an incomplete pass on the third attempt, and the shortened quarter meant Saint James only had to run one play after downing the kickoff to clinch second place in 4A Region 2 with the final regular season game looming, a visit from neighboring Catholic.

SIDELINE STATISTICS  - GAME NINE

SAINT JAMES   RUSHING    33 attempts  230 yards  3 TDs   (6.97 yards per carry)

                        20   Moody        12 / 118  (2 TDs)     5   Duncan            4 / 57          4   Woodson         6 / 30  (1 TD)
                        36   Cherry          4 /   17                 44   Haveard           4 /   7        16   Holder             1 /  5
                        12   Slater            2 /  - 4            

                        PASSING      6 completions  14 attempts  0 INTs  66 yards  2 TDs  (no sacks of)

                          5   Duncan         6 - 14 - 0      66 yards   2 TDs

                        RECEIVING

                        20   Moody          3 /  25  (1 TD)      30   Jabour             1 / 25          2   Adams            1 / 10  (1 TD)
                        11   Norwood       1 /   6

                        TOTAL YARDS:   296

                        KICKS:  XP  3 / 3                FG  0 / 0
                        2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  1 / 3
                        KICKOFFS:   6  (57,51,56,53,58,57)                         PUNTS:   2 (37,55)
                        KO RETURNS:  2  (14,10)                                       PUNT RETURNS:  0
                        FUMBLE RETURNS:  1  (34TD)
                         FIRST DOWNS:   15  (12 rushing, 3 passing)
                        FUMBLES:  1, lost 1
                        TURNOVER MARGIN:   + 1
                        PENALTIES:   7 / 71 yards
                        TIME OF POSSESSION:  18:32  (see note below)

BULLOCK CO  RUSHING    32 attempts  72 yards  1 TD  (2.25 yards per carry, 59 yards on one carry)
                        PASSING      10 completions  20 attempts  0 INTs  103 yards  (5 sacks of, - 30 yards)
                        TOTAL YARDS:   175

                         KICKS:  XP  0 / 0                FG  0 / 0
                        2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 1
                        KICKOFFS:  2  (34,32)                                            PUNTS:  2  (23,39)
                        KO RETURNS:   6  (19,15,36,26,18,52)                   PUNT RETURNS:  0
                        FIRST DOWNS:   11  (6 rushing, 4 passing, 1 penalty)
                        FUMBLES:  2, lost 2
                        PENALTIES:  9 / 69 yards
                        TIME OF POSSESSION:  23:28  (see note below)

                        TOTAL TIME OF POSSESSION:  42:00  (fourth quarter shortened to six minutes)

RETURN TO THE SAINT JAMES FOOTBALL 2011 HOMEPAGE