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St. James 14 Parkview Baptist 13
“Razzle Dazzle”
November 29, 2002 (Quarter-final
playoff)
By Kenny HymelIt was the day after Thanksgiving and the St. James Wildcats were
playing Football on that day for the first time since 1999. In years
past, the “day-after-Thanksgiving” games for St. James had been hard fought
battles. Going into this game, many said this one could be another St.
James classic. The game would not fail
to live up to those expectations. St. James battled the Parkview Baptist Eagles in a rematch from a
regular season game in which St. James won in St. James. This time, the
game was going to be played in Baton Rouge at
Parkview Baptist. At the time of this game, Parkview had won 25 of
their last 27 games and one of those losses came to St. James. It’s been said that the toughest thing to do in high
school football is beat a team twice in one season. It’s
especially hard to beat a team of Parkview’s caliber twice. The stage
was set on a cold night in late November of 2002. This game marked the only time St. James fans would take the road for
a playoff game in 2002. The line to the St. James gate began lining up
at 4:30. St. James brought its typical
“invasion” crowd. The visitor bleachers were fully
packed before 5:30. Parkview took the ball on offense to start the game and marched on a long
time consuming drive for a touchdown.
The drive lasted 17 plays, going 80 yards, and taking 8:22 off the
clock. Parkview scored when their quarterback ran in on a 14-yard run
and with the PAT good, the game was 7-0 in favor of Parkview Baptist. St. James finally got the ball, but only two plays later
an interception gave Parkview the ball back with excellent field position
from the St. James 39-yard line. This time, the St. James defense would
come up big, forcing Parkview to a quick 3 and out. St. James, however, still couldn’t get anything going as they only managed 3 plays
and 4 yards of offense in the 1st quarter. It was clearly evident
at this point that Parkview Baptist was well prepared for this rematch. While St. James picked up things slowly in the 2nd
quarter, Parkview struck again. With
7:51 remaining in the 1st half, Parkview Baptist scored on a
26-yard run. A key moment in the game
would come when Wildcat David “Sausage Brown” Johnson blocked the ensuing
extra point. Parkview now led 13-0 and
the Eagles would take that lead into halftime. Halftime was a strange time for St. James and it’s
crowd. It was very quiet and fans
began to feel like the season was coming to an end
that night. There was this one lady in the St. James crowd who I had never seen before
and I’ve never seen since. This lady was the only person trying to lift the spirits of the
crowd. Her motivation seemed to spark
some interest as the Wildcats received a standing ovation and loud cheer from
the crowd as they returned to the field from the locker room. It was the first time of the night Wildcat
fans where cheering. It seemed like an ordinary punt when Parkview punted the ball out of
bounds at the Wildcat 38-yard line with 5:01 left in the 3rd
quarter. Wildcat fans were still
somewhat emotionally down, however, no one would ever believe that they were
just about to see perhaps the biggest play in the history of St. James
football. Moving left to right from their fans perspective, St. James took the
ball 1st and 10 at the 38-yard line to begin the drive. Very strangely, the entire Wildcat
offensive line suddenly shifted to their right just before they would take
their stance. The tight end, Jarell Price, would end up becoming the “center” as the
remaining 6 linemen were lined up to his right in a full unbalanced
line. Parkview’s defense, like Wildcat
fans, had no idea what was going on and there was confusion throughout the
entire stadium. As Price snapped the
ball to Wildcat quarterback Blake Falgoust, Price’s
hands remained down as Falgoust dropped the ball
right back into his hands. You can define it as being a loose ball, fumble,
or even a “pass” to the tight end. Two
Parkview players ran right past Price as everyone
believed the quarterback still had the ball.
Next thing you know, Price is scampering down the sideline, running
over a Parkview linebacker in the process.
Still confused, Wildcat fans remained somewhat quiet, watching the
referee to see if this play was in fact still alive as Price was now in the
end zone with the ball. As the referee
signaled touchdown, the place erupted. Parkview was so frustrated that one of
their players were ejected shortly after. Melvin Dumas hit the extra point and
Parkview’s lead was cut to 6. St. James and their crowd were right back into it. Parkview, however, was still pounding
yardage and managed to reach the Wildcat 23-yard line before the Wildcats
would recover a fumble. One the first play of the drive, Falgoust
hit Price on a screen pass and Price got moving down the field at a
“devastating” speed before being caught only by his
ankles on a touchdown saving tackle.
Some Parkview players were seen clearly
running backwards away from Price. Two
plays later, Falgoust hit Donovan Williams in the
flat, and Williams used his speed and agility to make some moves as he took
it 49-yards for the score. The extra point by #40 Melvin Dumas was good and
thus St. James was now leading the game 14-13. St. James would stop Parkview ensuing drive but then fumbled the ball
back to Parkview giving the Eagles one more shot. Parkview would drive it all the way down to
the 11-yard line and with 4 seconds left in the game, they would attempt a
field goal that would give them the victory. The field goal sailed wide
right and thus the clock ran out and St. James won the game 14-13. What
a game! There is no doubt about it, Parkview Baptist clearly dominated this game physically with the exception of our Jarell Price swatting away would be tacklers. In the end, there were only two parts of the game in which St. James outnumbered Parkview Baptist. They were number of big plays and then, the most important part, the score. Was it the trick play? Was it the fan in the stands at halftime, motivating our crowd to fire up the Wildcats returning from the locker room? Was it the St. James players believing in themselves even while losing on the road in the playoffs 13-0? You could have given player of the game to a lot of different St. James players. They truly came together as a team that night. It could have been any number of things but this was truly one of the best games in St. James history. |
