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ST. JAMES FOOTBALL 2009 |
(Week-3) at East St. John |
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St. James falls short to East St. John 27-34
By Kenny
Hymel www.stjameswildcats.com September 18,
2009 LA PLACE, LA -- The St. James Wildcats clearly continue
to see improvement week by week, however, the Wildcats of St. James just couldn't quite finish the job against the Wildcats of East
St. John on a rainy and muddy night in La Place. The game itself seen quite a few lead changes along with
ties at 6, 13, and 20 points. East St.
John simply made a few more plays than St. James and
also St. James couldn't hold when taking leads. The game started fast for both teams. First, East St. John scored quickly with a
25-yard scoring run. St. James blocked
the extra point making the score 6-0. A nice kickoff return to the East St. John 45-yard line
by Kenneth Armant set up an answering score by St.
James. Wildcat quarterback Antoine
Landry scored on a 43-yard "quarterback sneak" play. The extra point was no good thus tying the
game at 6-6 at just the 9:40 mark in the first quarter. East St. John came back and hit another quick big play,
this time scoring on a 43-yard keeper out of the newly trended
"Wildcat" formation. The
extra point was good giving East St. John a 13-7 lead. Finally, the St. James defense began to stiffen and
finally St. James forced East St. John into a mistake. Pressure on the quarterback of East St.
John led to an errant throw that St. James' Dovonte
Jackson intercepted. A few plays
later, Jaleel Steib
punched it in on a 1-yard dive play. Steib kicked the extra point to tie the game at 13-13 with
11:12 left before halftime. St. James then hit a big play to take the lead when Landry
hit Alonzo Lewis on a short comeback route.
Lewis caught the pass and then stiff-armed the defender before
sprinting 91 yards for the score. Steib's extra point gave St. James a 20-13 lead at the
4:38 mark in the half. East St. John would earn their next score after
converting a 4th-and-long with the receiver coming up with a spectacular
catch between 3 St. James defenders, all in fairly decent
position. A few plays later, East St.
John scored on a 10-yard pass shortly before halftime. The extra point tied the game at 20 going
into halftime. The amazing catch was
perhaps the key moment of the game for East St. John. St. James received the ball to start the second half and
looked like a "St. James" team by marching the ball right down the
field on a scoring drive. Jaleel Steib found a hole and
hit hard for a 19-yard touchdown run. Steib kicked his extra point to put St. James up 27-20
with 8:18 to go in the third quarter. The St. James defense just could not make a stop with
the lead, and East St. John drew the game to within 1 point when they took in
a quarterback sneak play from the 1-yard line. The extra point was no good, thus St. James
held on to a 27-26 lead. East St. John got their go-ahead touchdown when the
running back took it up-the-middle, and then outside
in route to a 53-yard run. East St.
John went for two and successfully converted it to take a 34-27 lead with
7:24 left in the game. St. James made an effort late in the game but could not
finish the drive with a score. East St. John wins 34-27. Now St. James is in a truly unique situation. An improving team, but still 0-3 and another
difficult opponent lies ahead. St.
James will travel down to Patterson to take on the Lumberjacks -- always a
good Class-3A team. NOTABLES Coach Gaille said it best in
his post-game speech to the players.
"We clearly have improved each week but the biggest challenge for
us is can we all stay together and keep a positive attitude -- can you grow
your heart? We're
getting much better, and if we stay focus, we will not let this disappointing
start to the season hamper what we can do down the line. It's all us." Coach Gaille also told his
team to expect some negative talk about the team and that not listening to
any of that and remaining positive will be very important.
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