St. James 21 Winnsboro 20
“Work Once;
Work Twice”
December 2, 1994 (Semi-final playoff)
By Kenny Hymel
In Coach Gaille's first two years at St. James,
the furthest the team traveled in the playoffs was Independence.
In this 1994 season, Gaille's third at St. James,
Wildcat fans would give birth to the "invasion." In the third
round of the playoffs, many Wildcat fans made the long trip to Lafayette to
watch the Wildcats defeat St. Thomas More 17-10. Up until that point,
that was the furthest game St. James played in a long time. However,
the following week presented Wildcat fans will a VERY long trip to northern
Louisiana to play the Winnsboro Wildcats (Now known as Franklin Parish) in
the battle of Wildcats and black and gold. St. James brought an
invasion and also a game worth being known as a
classic.
I personally didn't go to the game. I stayed
at home and we listened to the game in the car on the radio. One thing I'll never forget was when St. James scored the first
touchdown; the entire town of Vacherie erupted with the sounds of car
horns. Whoever was left in Vacherie,
they were listening to the game on their car radios as well.
Many may remember this game by Winnsboro's Anthony "Bogger"
McFarland who went on to LSU and then to the NFL. Winnsboro also had a guy name John Moffitt, who would go on to the 2004 Summer
Olympics in Track 'n Field and win a silver medal. Another thing many
fans may remember this game was the fact the Wildcats won, despite turning
the ball over 7 times.
St. James would score first, and it came from a 51-yard punt return by Ricky
Washington. The point after by Marlin Valentine was good and St. James
led 7-0 in the first quarter.
From that point, the game would go back and forth with big McFarland coming
up with a sack on St. James quarterback Dwayne Sterling and Martin Harry and Kendric Baptist coming up with a sack on Winnsboro
quarterback Lynn Middleton. St. James would fumble the ball away and
this time Winnsboro would strike back.
In the 2nd quarter, Winnsboro quarterbacks Lynn Middleton hit Anderson on a
61-yard touchdown pass. The point after was good and the game was tied
up a 7-7.
St. James drove all the way down to the Winnsboro 10-yard line however the drive would end scoreless for St. James as a
result of an Interception.
St. James didn't get off to a great start to the 2nd
half as they would yet again fumble the ball away on the kickoff to start the
half.
In the 3rd quarter, Winnsboro running back Antwan
Holmes made St. James pay for the turnover and gave his team the lead as he
scored on a 7-yard run. The point after was good and Winnsboro
now led 14-7.
The St. James Wildcats would get it back when Wallace Batiste scored on a
19-yard run. Valentine's extra point was good and the game was again tied at 14-14.
This is where the game really began to heat up. Winnsboro would once
again snatch the lead after stopping St. James on 4th down from their own
35-yard line, and then driving down the field, capping the drive off when Antwan Holmes scored on a
11-yard run. The Winnsboro extra point snap went high and right into
the kickers hands. A sea of St. James Wildcats
then quickly downed Winnsboro’s kicker. Thus, Winnsboro only led 20-14
at this point.
It was late in the game and it was do or die for the
St. James Wildcats. With just under 6 minutes left in the game, St.
James would give their fans a real panic when they would fumble the ball away
for the 7th time in the game. However, the St. James defense did an
excellent job and gave their offense one more chance at it's
own 43 with just 3:16 left in the game. Thus began the most
famous game ending drive in the history of St. James football.
St. James fullback Rory Weber who rushed for nearly
150-yards, did his thing and made some great hard runs to get the Wildcats
moving. One great play came when Wildcat split end Maxwell Mumphrey took an "end-around" reverse around
the left side to pick up the first down setting up a 1st and goal at the
5-yard line. St. James would have scored on the very
next play, however, a holding penalty erased Wallace Batiste's 5-yard
touchdown run. St. James would be down to a 3rd and goal from around
the 9-yard line. Coach Gaille called
the same play from just 3 plays ago; the "end-around” reverse. However, instead of going left, this time
the play was going right. Would a play like
that, as great as it was the first time, work again, just 3 plays later?
Again, St. James Wildcat split end Maxwell Mumphrey
took the same end around play to the other side and ran it in for one of the
biggest touchdowns in the history of St. James. No flags, and the game
was tied 20-20. The Wildcat's first trip ever to the Superdome would
come down to Wildcat extra point kicker, Marlin Valentine. While the
snap went high, holder Ryan Becnel was still able
to bring the ball back down, allowing Valentine to kick. The ball split
the uprights and St. James took a 21-20 lead with just seconds left in the
game.
The Wildcats ended the game for good when Terez
Octave and Marlin Valentine combined for a sack on Winnsboro's quarterback.
St. James won 21-20 and would go on to its first state
championship game since 1979.
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