ST. JAMES FOOTBALL 2009	(Playoffs: First Round) at Brusly
St. James advances after 22-21 thriller over Brusly By Kenny Hymel www.stjameswildcats.com November 13, 2009  BRUSLY, LA -- The St. James Wildcats continue to live to fight another day. Only 80 of Louisiana's 285 high school football teams remain and St. James is one of them thanks to a highly emotional win over the Brusly Panthers in the Bi-District (first round) playoff round. St. James had defeated Brusly 26-0 at home back on October 9; however, the Panthers had not loss a game since and this one was going to be at Brusly. Also, most coaches agree that there is an added sense of difficulty when it comes down to having to beat a team twice in one year. Nevertheless, St. James knew this game could turn out to be a war, and they were right. On the fringe of the Louisiana State Capitol, St. James found themselves behind 21-14 in the third quarter. However, the Wildcats were tired of letting games get away and answered with a very dramatic game-ending performance -- taking the lead and then getting two highly significant punts from John Shepard. The game could not have had a more bizarre start. First, Brusly's defense scored when they picked up a fumble and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown. Then a few plays later, Wildcat John Shepard picked up a Brusly fumble and then returned it 15 yards for a touchdown. Both extra points were good, re-tying the game at the 6:14 mark in the first quarter. St. James achieved the game's only offensive score of the first half. Quarterback Antoine Landry scored on a quarterback sneak to cap off a drive in which Landry hit Alonzo Lewis to convert a clutch fourth-down pass play. Jaleel Steib was a perfect 2-for-2 on extra points for the night and his kick gave St. James a 14-7 lead with 7:25 left in the first half. Brusly's defense would deliver yet again. After Wildcat Dominique Adams intercepted as pass at the Brusly 3-yard line, St. James fumbled it right back on the ensuing offensive play and the Panthers recovered it in the end zone for an easy score. The extra point was good to re-tie the game at 14-14 going into halftime. In the third quarter, Brusly was finally able to generate a little offense and that is all they needed to take the lead with a 43-yard scoring run. The extra point was good, giving Brusly a 21-14 lead with 4:11 to play in the quarter. After having to give Brusly back the football, the St. James defense stepped it up and never looked back the rest of the game. St. James cut into the lead after forcing Brusly to a punt in which the snap went over the punter's head. St. James defenders ultimately chassed down the punter inside the end zone for a safety. This made the game 21-16 with just 1:20 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats could not get anything going on offense when getting the ball back off the safety, but John Shepard would come through with his first of two stellar punts. Shepard would blast off a 58-yarder that was very high in the air before being downed on the 1-yard line by the Wildcat coverage team. After stellar play by the defense, St. James quickly got the ball back with good field position. With the team and crowd now coming to life, St. James quarterback Anotoine Landry came through with another clutch play. On a third-and-ten from the Brusly 34-yard line, Landry shook off a Brusly defender, seen no one open, and then picked up the first down by running down the sideline for 20 yards. Two plays later, Wildcat Jaleel Steib found a hole and blasted in on a 14-yard scoring run that drew the most exciting reaction all season from the players, coaches, and fans. St. James regained the lead 22-21 after Steib's score and St. James elected to go for 2 but could not convert it. This made it 22-21 with 7:21 left in the game. Brusly was battling for their playoff lives moving the ball slowly down the field before St. James intercepted a pass with about 3:30 left in the game. St. James was unable to pick up a first down, but with just 1 minute left in the game, punter John Shepard delivered his best of the night. Shepard boomed the football high into the night sky, this one traveling an amazing 65 yards before being downed by the Wildcat coverage team inside the 5-yard line. Brusly went 4-and-out, turning the ball over to St. James with about 10 seconds left in the game to seal the dramatic victory. St. James will now advance to the Regionals round (second round) of the playoffs and return home next week to engage in another rematch from the regular season. This time, St. James will face the Patterson Lumberjacks, a team that the Wildcats lost to during the regular season. Back on September 25, St. James lost a heartbreaking game at Patterson by a score of 22-20. NOTABLES John Sheppard's final two punts of 58 and 65 yards are about as good as it gets on the high school level. Sheppard finished the game with 4 punts for a total of around 200 yards giving him near a 50-yard average. The national average in college football is 40 yards. Tonight's playoff game marked the 16th time in Coach Gaille's 18 seasons that St. James has made the playoffs, however it was only the first time that St. James opened up the playoffs with a road game. Of all the 10 teams on St. James' schedule this year, all 10 made the playoffs. That played a major role in getting St. James into the playoffs with just a 3-7 record. St. James still has yet to turn in 4 solid quarters in a game all season. This is not anything to brag about but it does indicate that perhaps St. James' best game of the season is still yet to come. RETURN TO HOME