Montgomery Academy shuts out St. James in Johnson debut

Cosner Harrison of St. James is tackled behind the line of scrimmage by MA’s Thomas Kirkham in the Eagles’ shutout win on Friday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Both Montgomery Academy and St. James entered Friday’s season opener at Carlisle Field with plenty of question marks regarding their respective offenses.

Friday’s 24-0 win by Montgomery Academy didn’t answer questions for either side, although the final score made it a little easier on Robert Johnson, the former MA center making his coaching debut for the Eagles.

“I was very proud of our kids,” Johnson said. “We were very resilient. The defense played unbelievable. Coach Ethan McBride did an unbelievable job with our defense and having them prepared. I thought we controlled the game up front defensively. Their defense played very well against us. But we’ve got a lot to work on. It was a typical first ballgame on both sides.”

St. James coach Jimmy Perry, on the other hand, saw just about what he expected, which wasn’t a pleasant sight for a program accustomed to dominating performances by 1,000-yard rushers every year.

“We needed to play to see where we were,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to work on. We’ll go back to work on Sunday afternoon, get after it and see if we can’t get better.”

The two offenses combined for three first downs in the first quarter, looking for a break. When Montgomery Academy tailback Jamal Cooper fumbled and St. James defensive back AJ Alozie recovered on the MA 28-yard line, it looked like the opportunistic Trojans were about to seize the momentum.

Two penalties against the Eagles put the ball on Montgomery Academy 17-yard line but Cosner Harrison’s first-down run ended in disaster when he was separated from the ball. Cooper spotted the ball lying near the sideline, scooped it up at the 27 and sprinted 73 yards to give the Eagles a stunning 7-0 lead. 

“It’s a game changer,” Johnson said. “If they go down and score there instead of us going up, the whole game is different. It’s more than likely coming down to a last fourth-quarter drive to see if somebody can stop somebody or somebody can score. It was a huge difference.”

Three plays and a St. James’ punt later, the Eagles were back on the move, using a 42-yard run by Jashawn Cooper to put the ball on the St. James’ 17-yard line. The drive stalled, but Alex Kohn’s 28-yard field goal with 3:05 remaining in the first half suddenly put the Eagles firmly in control.

Three plays and another Trojan punt gave the Eagles one last shot and Britton Kohn’s first completion of the game went for 49 yards to Carter Wallis, who was dragged down at the 1-yard line. Kohn scored on the next play to give the Eagles a commanding 17-0 halftime lead.

Montgomery Academy would manage just four first downs in the second half, content to run out the clock, but the fourth first down came with a bonus as Kohn ran 76 yards down the sideline for a touchdown with eight minutes left in the game.

“Once we got the lead, (playing conservatively) was our only goal,” Johnson said. “We were just trying to run the clock. We were lucky that Britton busted loose on a little belly play. They were struggling a little bit offensively, our defense was playing great, we were like, hey, let’s just run clock.”

St. James would manage just 36 yards on 34 carries as the Trojan offense had 14 negative-yardage plays and freshman quarterback KJ Jackson completed his first pass before missing on six of the next seven. Perry said before the season he didn’t want to put any pressure on the 14-year-old Jackson in his first-ever varsity contest and despite the lack of a running attack, Perry said he would not deviate from the plan heading into next week’s game at Reeltown.

“Not yet,” he said. 

Johnson, meanwhile, wanted more out of his offense, but it did the job against the Trojan defense. Kohn rushed for 86 yards and a pair of touchdowns on eight carries, while Jashawn Cooper had 88 yards on 14 carries. Arch Lee led the MA defense with 10 tackles and a forced fumble, followed by Judson Lindsey with eight tackles and a fumble recovery.

St. James was led by Harrison’s 70 yards on 22 carries, while Dalton Washington had nine tackles to lead the defense.