2025 -
GAME 2
Montgomery Academy 14, Saint James 7
M A 7 0 7 0 14
STJ 0 0 0 7 7
Friday, August 29 7:00 PM Carlisle Field
Game Conditions: Steady Early Rain, Cloudy, Drizzly Game Temperature: 73 WInds: NE < 5
SCORING SUMMARY
M A (1) 8:48 McBride 6 run (Ashworth kick) 7 - 0
M A (3) 10:56 McBride 1 run (Ashworth kick) 14 - 0
STJ (4) 1:28 Phillips 17 pass from Craig (Bass kick) 14 - 7
COMPLETE GAME RECAP
Saint James won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. However, three plays netted a loss of 17 yards and forced the Trojans to punt from their own two yard line. The punt only traveled to the 30, and the Eagles took immediate advantage of the stellar field position. After a first down completion by Reid McBride and a late hit out of bounds penalty two plays later, McBride would score the first of his two touchdowns on a sweep to the near side. Rob Ashworth converted the extra point and Montgomery Academy had a quick 7 - 0 lead.
An endzone kickoff again gave the Trojans minimal field position, but on second down Mason Craig lofted a deep pass and found Benton Offord 40 yards downfield to quickly flip the field. On the next play he connected with Andrew Shalayda for 16 more yards and suddenly Saint James was first and 10 at the Eagle 25. Grant Phillips took a handoff up the middle for 23 yards on the next play, and the Trojan sideline was electrified as they were only two yards from a potential tying touchdown. After a one yard gain, a penalty pushed the Trojans back to the 6, and on third down a Craig pass was intercepted by Mac Benefield and the drive was thwarted.
With the rain continuing, offenses were concerned with football management and the defenses on both sides played tough. After the pass interception, the next eight drives of the first half ended in either punts, turnovers on down, or in the case of the last drive, the half expiring with neither team seriously threatening, and Montgomery Academy held on to their narrow 7 - 0 lead at halftime.
The Eagles took the second half kickoff and quickly marched down the field. McBride romped for 33 on first down, and completed a pass on the next play down to the Trojan 2 in hurry-up mode. Two plays later, McBride would score again up the middle and Ashworth's kick doubled the lead to 14 - 0 and Trojan fans couldn't help but worry about a repeat from the previous week of great play and a close game at halftime but a diastrous third quarter to put the game away. It would not happen this night, even though Saint James was forced into a three and out. A short punt prevented Saint James from being pinned deep in their own territory, and the Trojans ate up nearly eight minutes of second half clock on a steady drive aided by a pair of defensive pass interference penalties, the second giving Saint James first and goal at the Eagle 7. Two Craig runs picked up five yards, but goalline disaster struck again as the third down snap was wayward and could not be handled by Craig; it was instead fallen upon by an Eagle and yet another serious scoring threat went by the wayside.
Montgomery Academy picked up several first downs while eating up the clock and forcing Saint James to use time outs to preserve the remainde. The Trojan defense forced a punt and gave the ball to the offense on its own 25 yard line with just over 4 minutes remaining. A Luke Catchings catch and a horsecollar tackle on a potential quarterback sack moved to ball to near midfield. Phillips ran for 14 on the next play, and then on third down caught a well-tossed pass by Craig for a 20 yard gain down to the 17. On the next play, Phillips was the receptor on a pass down the middle for a Trojan touchdown, and with 88 seconds remaining Ford Bass's extra point suddenly re-energized the home stands as the Trojans had cut the lead to 7.
Saint James lined up for the expected onside kick, and the ball took a fine bounce despite the soggy field. However, it was recovered by the Eagles just inside midfield and two kneeldowns were enough to secure the victory.
The Trojans begin 2025 region play with a pair of road games, the first against a noticeably improved Bullock County team the next Friday.
PRESS BOX STATISTICS - GAME TWO
SAINT JAMES RUSHING 34 attempts 116 yards (3.41 yards per carry) 0 TDs
6 Phillips 11 / 76
yards
7 Craig
15 / 32
1
Bass
5 /
4
30
Zukowski
3 / 4
PASSING
9 completions 20 attempts 1 INT 123
yards 1 TD
7
Craig
9 - 19 - 1 120 yards 1 TD
6
Phillips
1 - 1 - 0 3
yards
RECEIVING
2
Offord
1 / 40 6
Phillips 2 /
37 (1 TD) 22
Shalayda 1 / 16
8 Catchings 2 /
12 1
Bass
1 /
7
13
Yancy
1 / 6
12
Hassell 1
/ 5
TOTAL
YARDS: 239
KICKS: XP 1 / 1
FG 0 / 0
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 2 (34,11)
PUNTS: 4
(28,31,39,40)
KO RETURNS: 2 (13,20)
PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST
DOWNS: 17 (9 rushing, 5 passing, 3
penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 6 / 13
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
FUMBLES: 2,
lost 1
TURNOVER
MARGIN: - 2
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 7
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 6 / 56 yards
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 26:00
MONT
ACAD
RUSHING 29 attempts 91 yards 2
TDs (3.14 yards per carry)
PASSING
7 completions 15 attempts 0 INTs 78
yards 0 TDs
TOTAL
YARDS: 169
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 3 (34,EZ,43) PUNTS: 4 (23,23,11,34)
KO RETURNS: 2 (17,0) PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST DOWNS: 13 (8 rushing, 2 passing, 3 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 1 / 9
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 3 / 4
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 7
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
FUMBLES: 1, lost 0
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 7 / 57 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 22:00