2025 -
GAME 6
Trinity 34,
Saint James 28
TPS 14 0 7 13 34
STJ 7 7 7 7 28
Friday, September 26, 2025 Carlisle Field. Game Conditions: Mostly cloudy Game Temperature: 81 Wind: Variable 5 mph
SCORING SUMMARY
STJ (1) 9:41 Phillips 59 run (Hines kick) 7 - 0
TPS (1) 7:30 Hall 53 pass from Sharpless (Basile kick) 7 - 7
TPS (1) 1:42 Clements 66 run (Basile kick) 7 - 14
STJ (2) 10:15 Phillips 6 run (Hines kick) 14 - 14
STJ (3) 7:34 Phillips 53 run (Hines kick) 21 - 14
TPS (3) 4:24 Schroll 29 pass from Sharpless (Basile kick) 21 - 21
STJ (4) 10:24 Craig 1 run (Hines kick) 28 - 21
TPS (4) 6:30 Clements 20 pass from Sharpless (Basile kick) 28 - 28
TPS (4) 1:14 Clements 34 run (kick blocked) 28 - 34
COMPLETE GAME RECAP
Saint James again began with the first offensive possession as they won the coin toss and elected to receive. It took them only four plays, all on the ground, to traverse 74 yards for a quick touchdown. After a loss on the first play, Miles Zukowski ran for 12 and a first down. A second Zukowski carry earned 5 yards, and on the next play Grant Phillips broke loose from a near stalemate at midfield for a 59 yard touchdown. Dylan Hines converted the first of his four extra points, and the Trojans were up by seven just over two minutes into the game.
Trinity took about the same amount of time to travel 80 yards for a touchdown. Lucas Snyder caught the first Land Sharpless pass for a 21 yard first down. Three plays later, it was Sharpless to Luke Hall for a 53 yard catch and mostly run touchdown as he broke away from three potential tacklers. Ryan Basile's extra point tied the game midway through the first quarter.
A 23 yard pass completion from Mason Craig to Benton Offord gave Saint James possession near midfield, but an endzone punt gave Trinity another chance for an 80 yard drive, and they delivered in only three plays. The last two were Tillman Clements who had runs of 10 and 66 yards, part of his game high 214 (the remainder of the team had a combined minus 18 yards rushing), and Basile put Trinity ahead by a touchdown, still in the first quarter.
Mikell Delbridge returned the kickoff to the Wildcat 43, and on the second play of the second quarter Craig completed a 24 yard pass to Phillips for a first down where an ankle tackle saved a touchdown. Temporarily. Phillips ran for 1 yard and then for 6 for Saint James second touchdown, and the score was 14 - 14 less than 14 minutes into the game.
The Wildcats committed turnovers on their next two drives; Luke Catchings intercepted a deep Sharpless pass, and a fumbled handoff was recovered by Zukowski giving the Trojans two scoring opportunities. However, a missed 49 yard field goal and a punt, one of only three in the game, were all the Trojans could muster.
Dylan Hines had an opportunity, just as the previous week, to kick a school record 52 yard field goal as the half ended. His kick was short, but a roughing the kicker penalty moved the ball 15 yards closer and gave Saint James an untimed down at the end of the half. However, the second Hines attempt - which was actually the third of the quarter - was missed wide to the right and the score remained tied at 14 at halftime.
Trinity drove as deep as the Saint James 24 on the opening possession of the second half, but a semi-trick play attempt on fourth down backfired as Hall was dropped for a 7 yard loss and the Trojans took over. Consecutive 6 yard runs by Zukowski advanced the ball to the 47, and on the next play gain Phillips showed some of his get up and go as he broke through tacklers, again, and raced for 53 yards and his third touchdown of the game. Hines' extra point gave the lead back to Saint James at 21 - 14 midway through the third quarter. Momentarily. Almost exclusively through the air, Sharpless found several receivers as Trinity again covered 80 yards. John Allen Schroll was the recipient of a wide open post pattern pass and the Basile kick tied the score yet again, at 21.
The Trojans, which by far had their best rushing night of the season, used a 34 yard quarterback keeper by Craig and a 26 yard run by Ford Bass to run out the third quarter and give Saint James first down on the Trinity 5. Zukowski picked up 3 yards and 1 yard, and Craig pounded his way through a pile of Trojans and Wildcats to find the endzone on a run which couldn't have been longer than the football itself. Hines gave Saint James its 7 point lead back. However, Trinity finally got to return a kickoff which had not reached the endzone, and they started from their own 33. A costly personal foul penalty on a no gain play on third down and six gave the Wildcats a free first down. Despite an offensive hold on the next play which prevented a first and goal situation, Sharpless found Charlie Reese for an 11 yard case and found Clements on the end of a pass for 20 yards and another touchdown, his fourth of the game. The Basile kick tied the game for the fourth time, at 28.
Saint James drove into Trinity territory, but could not convert a pass completion on fourth down and 2. There were less than 3 minutes remaining on the clock, but after a pass interference penalty it took only three plays for the Wildcats to score again; Clements running for 34 against a determined but tiring defense. However, for the first time in the game, an extra point was not successful thanks to a Trojan block, and with 74 seconds remaining the Trojans were only down by 6. A decent kickoff return by Mikell Delbridge, one of several on the night, gave Saint James the ball at the 35 yard line. However, a 6 yard run, a spike to stop the clock, and two incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs and Sharpless only had to kneel once to run out the clock for a very exciting game.
Saint James for the second consecutive year lost to each of its three Capital City Conference opponents, their three non-region games of the season. However, even with a 1 - 5 record, they still had a shot at the playoffs having lost to two of the three undefeated teams in 4A Region 3 and preparing to travel to face the third, the BTW Golden Eagles in Tuskegee, the following week.
PRESS BOX STATISTICS - GAME SIX
SAINT JAMES RUSHING 40 attempts 269 yards 4 TDs (6.73 yards per carry)
6 Phillips 11 / 131
yards (3 TDs) 30
Zukowski 16 /
64 1
Bass 4
/ 36
7
Craig
6 /
33
(1 TD) 8
Catchings 1 /
8 87 Knowles 1 / -
1
13
Yancy 1
/ - 2
PASSING 3 completions 9 attempts 0 INTs 77 yards 0 TDs
7
Craig
3 - 8 - 0 7 yards
6 Phillips 0
- 1 - 0
RECEIVING
6 Phillips 2 /
54
2 Offord 1 / 23
TOTAL
YARDS: 346
KICKS: XP 4 / 4
FG 0 / 2 (49, 37 missed)
2
POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 5
(EZ,EZ,EZ,EZ,48)
PUNTS:
2 (47EZ,36)
KO RETURNS: 5 (30,12,45,6,21,28)
PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST
DOWNS: 15 (11 rushing, 3 passing, 1
penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 5 / 9
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 2
FUMBLES: 0
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: 1 (0)
TURNOVER
MARGIN: + 2
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: 0
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 3 / 35
TIME
OF POSSESSION: 27:38
TRINITY
RUSHING 28 attempts 196 yards
2 TDs (7.00 yards per carry - 3 Clements 18 / 214
yards)
PASSING
12 completions 18 attempts 1 INT 214
yards 3 TDs
TOTAL
YARDS: 410
2 POINT CONVERSIONS: 0 / 0
KICKOFFS: 6 (54,48,48,48,48,53) PUNTS: 1 (24)
KO RETURNS: 1 (21) PUNT RETURNS: 0
FIRST DOWNS: 18 (8 rushing, 8 passing, 2 penalty)
THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: 6 / 10
FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS: 0 / 1
FUMBLES: 2, lost 1
ACCEPTED PENALTIES: 5 / 50 yards
TIME OF POSSESSION: 20:22