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ST. JAMES FOOTBALL 2009 |
(Week 5) at Salmen |
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Wildcats overwhelmed by Spartans 42-12
By
Kenny Hymel www.stjameswildcats.com October 1,
2009 SLIDELL, LA -- The St. James Wildcats traveled to
Slidell for this Thursday night game and got a chance to play yet another one
of the state's premier football teams, the Salmen
Spartans. Salmen,
the second-ranked team in Class-4A, implemented a very physical and speedy
attack that was a little too much for a St. James team who is still searching
for their heart. St. James will now take aim at winning the four district
games that would win the District Championship and a playoff spot regardless
of win-loss record or power points. St. James actually started the game pretty well when the
Wildcats forced a fumble on the punt of the first drive. Recovering the ball at the Salmen 35-yard line, the Wildcats drove down the field
and scored when Jaleel Steib
punched it in on a 1-yard run. The
extra point was blocked, thus the score was 6-0 at the 6:33 mark in the first.
The Wildcat defense then forced the highly explosive Spartan
offense to a three-and-out, requiring the Spartans to give the ball right back
to St. James. The Wildcat offense was forced
to punt and from that point, the game was all Salmen. Outstanding Salmen quarterback
Daniel Sams provided the first two Spartan
scores. First, Sams
threw a 25-yard touchdown pass and then came back on the
next drive and outran everyone for a 60-yard score. The Spartans then got a score from their special teams,
with a 62-yard scoring punt return at the 7:57 mark in the first half. The Spartans picked up another first-half score on a
1-yard run. Salmen
would not miss an extra point throughout the entire game, thus the score was
now 28-6 at halftime. St. James finally showed a little glimpse of fighting
back when the Wildcats forced a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second
half. A few plays later, Wildcat
quarterback Antoine Landry connected with Alonzo Lewis in the end zone on a
10-yard fade pass. The extra point was
no good, making the score now 28-12. The Wildcat defense did tighten up some and forced Salmen to give the ball back to St. James, however the
Wildcats couldn't muster up anything more on
offense. At the 10:40 mark in the fourth quarter, Salmen scored on a 10-yard run, then came back later, and
scored at the 1:55 mark on an 18-yard pass from Daniel Sams
to produce the game's final score of 42-12. 3 starters now out for the season, about 20 players on
the current injury list, and a 0-5 record; yet St. James still has an
achievable shot to save the season. St. James will begin "season-two" next Friday
night when they finally return home to open up the district season against
the Brusly Panthers. Coach Gaille wasted no time telling his team that the theme for
this opening week of the district season will be to "win each
play." NOTABLES The St. James defense, hampered by the "injury bug"
the most, did come up with a nice goal-line stand against Salmen's
first offense during the fourth quarter. Salmen's quarterback Daniel Sams (junior, 6-3, 195 lb) may remind many high school
football followers of former Salmen quarterback Tristan
Smith. Smith practically single-handedly
defeated John Curtis in the 2000 State Championship before going on to Tulane. Daniel Sams is
bigger and maybe even faster than Smith was.
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