2014 - GAME 7

Saint James took advantage of some sloppy Bullock County play to score four rapid touchdowns in the second quarter and pull away on their way to a comfortable 42 - 0 Homecoming victory over the visiting Hornets at Sweet Home Saint James.

After a nice Jaylen McCoy kickoff return to start the game, Jonathan Robinson, who again passed the 100 yard mark in a game, picked up 17 and 15 yards on his first two carries to advance the ball to the Hornet 33.  However, the drive stalled and a fourth down incomplete pass gave the ball to Bullock County.  After picking up one first down, two penalties forced a punt.  However, the ball was muffed and the Hornets fell on the bouncing ball, finally, at the Saint James 36.  Several plays later however, a mishandled snap went to the ground and Jalen Harris ended up with the ball on the bottom of a large scrum as he recovered the first of five Hornet turnovers.

Robinson picked up 24 yards on a nifty third down and long screen pass.  Two plays later Dozier Dean added 13 on a reception of his own.  McCoy then picked up nine yards on a pair of consecutive runs, and then Robinson carried four times in a row with the final carry coming from just inside the one yard line for the first score of the night.  Coleman Taylor's extra point was good, and it took nearly an entire quarter, but Saint James was up on the Hornets 7 - 0.

Bullock County picked up 17 yards on a pass from Trezman Palmer to Jarvis Burgess on the first play of the second quarter, but the remainder of the period was basically repeating disasters for the unfortunate Hornets.  A block in the back penalty erased what would have been another first down, and several plays later a punt which could not have been more than five yards off the ground amazingly went through about 15 players without hitting anyone, rolling dead just inside Trojan territory.  Connor Collier found Jalen Harris on a nice quarterback scramble and toss for 27 yards on first down, but a holding penalty, the only Trojan penalty of the evening, slowed the drive.  On fourth down and 2 however, Robinson took the handoff and outraced potential tacklers to the endzone for his second touchdown.  Taylor's perfect night on extra points continues, and the Trojans were up 14 - 0 midway through the second quarter.

The next seven minutes were frightening for the Hornets and their supporters.  On fourth down from their own 26, a snap back to punter Xavier Harris went well over his head and all the way back to the endzone where it was controlled by Trojan Wes Cherry and he was credited with an immediate touchdown.  The Taylor extra point quickly boosted the score to 21 - 0 Saint James.  On the next series, on fourth down from the 26 once more, the snapper overcompensated and a bouncing snap went back toward Harris.  He did get his hands on the ball but could not maintain control, and the Trojans fell on the loose ball once more, this time at the Hornet nine yard line.  Blake Underwood was called upon for his first two carries of the night, a tough four yarder and an opened hole five yarder for his first touchdown of the evening, and within seconds Saint James had increased the lead to 28 points.

On the next drive, punter Harris was spared as fourth down was never reached.  On third down, the quarterback Palmer was heavily pressured and sacked and the ball was knocked loose.  Jalen Harris picked up the ball at the 8 yard line and strode into the endzone with the fourth touchdown of the quarter, and Taylor's extra point gave Saint James a 35 - 0 lead.  The three losses of yardage by the Hornets  (the two bad snaps and the sack and resulting fumble) resulted in a total of 60 negative yards, cutting their total offensive production for the evening more than half.  After a holding penalty on the kickoff return, the Hornets decided enough was enough and allowed the halftime to clock to run out.

After an uplifting performance by the Bullock County marching band and equally uplifting color commentary by "Chili", the 2014 Homecoming festivities took place as Win Woodson was crowned Homecoming Queen during the halftime ceremony.

The Hornets had the first possession of the third quarter but could make little headway, and Jaylen McCoy returned a much improved punt to midfield.  With the exception of two incomplete passes, Robinson was called on for 8 running plays, the two longest of which were for 21 and 13 yards.  His one yarder at the end of the drive would wrap up the night for most of the starters and the scoring for both teams as Taylor's extra point gave the Trojans a 42 - 0 lead and the incentive was to maintain the shutout.

The remainder of the third quarter was mostly teams just using substitutes and running basic plays to run clock.  Early in the fourth quarter, it appeared the Hornets had erased the shutout as Burgess ran a sweep to the near sidelines and outraced pursuers to the endzone on a reverse sweep for a 44 yard touchdown, but a block in the back well behind the line of scrimmage to set up the block resulted in a 20 yard setback from the line of scrimmage.  Several plays later, a Palmer pass was tipped and nicely intercepted by Mitchell Madore, and with the help of traffic moreso than blocking, he almost returned the interception what would have been 67 yards for a score.  However, he was caught and tackled out of bounds at the Hornet 11.  Josh Garnett got his first quarterback action with the 2014 varsity for most of the remainder of the game, along with Teddy Bridges as well.  Underwood netted a gain of two yards on three carries, and junior varsity backup kicker McKay Taylor was called upon to attempt a 25 yard field goal.  The kick was well high enough and far but ventured wide left and the attempt failed.

Shaw Woodson halted the next drive with a tackle on a running play and then a 12 yard sack of Palmer on the next play.  The Trojans took over after a punt, and three Underwood first down runs were more than enough to evaporate the fourth quarter clock as the players, cheerleaders, and student fans looked forward to the Homecoming Dance taking place after the conclusion of the game, while the coaching staff continued to look forward to one of the biggest regular season matchups at Carlisle Field in sometime.  Saint James, with a win over region opponent Ashford the following week, would claim its first ever Region championship since football went to 7 and 8 team regions in 2000, guaranteeing a first round home playoff contest.

---

SIDELINE STATISTICS - GAME SEVEN

SAINT JAMES    RUSHING   39 attempts   198 yards   4 TDs   (5.07 yards per carry)

                                1   Robinson           20  / 139  (3 TDs)       5   Underwood       10 / 55   (1 TD)     12   Collier              3 / 11
                                6   McCoy                 2 /     9                    28   Bridges               1 /   2                    27   Williamson      1 / -2
                              14   Garnett                 1 /  - 7                       2   Melendez            1 / -9

                              PASSING   4 completions  9 attempts  0 INTs   69 yards

                                2   Melendez               2 - 4 - 0        37 yards
                              12   Collier                    2 - 5 - 0        32 yards

                              RECEIVING

                              43   Harris                    2  / 32                      1   Robinson             1 / 24                   10   Dean               1 / 13

                              TOTAL YARDS:  267

                              KICKS:      XP  6 / 6      FG   0 / 1   (25 missed)
                              2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                              KICKOFFS:  7  (EZ,57,56,57,57,49,57)    PUNTS:  1  (30)
                              KO RETURNS:  1  (19)                             PUNT RETURNS:   2  (0F,10)
                              FIRST DOWNS:   15   (12 rushing, 3 passing)
                              THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS:   4 / 9
                              FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS:  2 / 3
                              FUMBLES:  3, lost 1
                              TURNOVER MARGIN:  + 4
                              INTERCEPTION RETURNS:  1  (52)
                              POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:  28
                              ACCEPTED PENALTIES:   1 / 10
                              TIME OF POSSESSION:  22:38

BULLOCK CO     RUSHING    35 attempts  17 yards  0 TDs  (<< 1 yard per carry)
                              PASSING     5 completions  17 attempts  1 INT   27 yards  0 TDs
                              TOTAL YARDS:  44

                              KICKS:      XP  0 / 0      FG   0 / 0
                              2 POINT CONVERSIONS:  0 / 0
                              KICKOFFS:  1  (44)                                  PUNTS:  5 (27,26,28,27,32)
                              KO RETURNS:  6  (22,15,25,22,24,24)   PUNT RETURNS:  0
                              FIRST DOWNS:  7  (6 rushing, 1 passing)
                              THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS:  3 / 13
                              FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS:  1 / 3
                              FUMBLES:  5, lost 4
                              POINTS OFF TURNOVERS:  0
                              ACCEPTED PENALTIES:  8 / 63 yards
                              TIME OF POSSESSION:  25:22