STJ-MA: Trojans strike early, often in win over Eagles
MA's Thomas Woodward (8) tries to bring down St. James' Cosner Harrison in the Trojans’ win on Friday. (Ryan Gayle photo)
By TIM GAYLE
Last year, Montgomery Academy senior Alex Kohn booted a field goal as time expired to hand St. James its only regular-season loss in the 2021 season opener.
K.J. Jackson made sure that formula wasn’t in play, launching an 80-yard bomb to teammate Ethan Beard on the first play of the game to set the tone as the Trojans put on an impressive display in a 42-14 rout of the Eagles at McLemore Field on Friday night.
“We weren’t going to give them a chance to kick a field goal and beat us,” Jackson said. “We weren’t going to make the game close. That’s what we talked about coming in, that we weren’t going to let anything happen that could affect this outcome. We were locked in.”
The junior put together a highlight tape in a matter of minutes, hitting Cosner Harrison with a 55-yard touchdown pass on the second possession, putting some touch on a pass to the back of the end zone for DJ Pollard and connecting with Ziggy Holloway over the middle on the Trojans’ fourth possession for a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter that turned what was expected to be a suspenseful matchup between two of the better teams in central Alabama into a surprising rout.
“They have a lot of speed,” Montgomery Academy coach Robert Johnson said. “K.J. played a heck of a game, ‘Cos’ ran the ball really well, their offensive line was spectacular. Offensively, they’re really something else. We had to score a lot to kind of hang with them, but we didn’t cash in.”
After Jackson hit Holloway over the middle with a 51-yard touchdown pass with 5:05 remaining in the first half, he could put his talented left arm back on the shelf for another week. In less than 19 minutes, he had connected with four different receivers in a 5 of 6 performance that piled up 230 yards and four touchdowns. His only miss was a pass that sailed between Pollard’s hands early in the second quarter.
“He doesn’t miss,” St. James coach Jimmy Perry said. “There’s a reason why he’s being recruited like he is. He was a great little field general tonight. He took what they gave him and made it work.”
Nothing was more impressive than his first pass, a strike over the middle to Beard that dropped into the senior’s hands at midfield as he outraced Montgomery Academy defenders to the end zone.
“(St. James offensive coordinator) Neal (Posey) had them dialed up good,” Perry said. “He came to us early in the week and said, ‘Hey, I think if we run this, we might score on the first play.’ I said, ‘Do it.’ But the kids made the play. We can draw it up all we want on the chalkboard, but the kids have to make the play.”
Jackson made it look easy, stepping into the throw as linebacker Jashawn Cooper came charging in from his left side too late to stop the stunning turn of events.
“I knew I was going to let it go when the safety was looking at the slot receiver too hard,” Jackson said. “I knew he was going to bite on it.”
For Montgomery Academy, the nightmare never stopped. With seconds to go in the first half, Carson Springer’s punt bounced on the St. James 40-yard line and as players were slow in downing the ball, Beard came sprinting in, grabbed the ball out of the air and went 60 yards for a touchdown and a 35-7 lead with 2.5 seconds left in the first half to finish demoralizing the Eagles.
“It kind of just bounced in my hands,” Beard said. “I had two holes, one toward my sideline and one on the far sideline. I just went where my momentum took me and it took me to the far sideline.”
Harrison, who finished with 102 yards on 16 carries, added a 19-yard touchdown run on the Trojans’ first possession of the second half for a 42-7 lead before the starters gave way to the reserves.
“We’ve got a lot of weapons on offense,” Beard noted. “All three of our top receivers got a touchdown. Cosner got a touchdown. The only thing missing was (tight end) Cooper (Wright) didn’t get a touchdown. But our offense was really hard to stop.
Montgomery Academy’s top offensive threat, Jashawn Cooper, managed just 51 yards on 13 carries and didn’t play in the final 20 minutes of the game. Starting quarterback Parker Cook was 2 of 7 for 26 yards with an interception. Springer came in and completed 4 of 9 passes for 106 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Thomas Woodward for the game’s final points. Springer was intercepted once but his third-quarter performance may have signaled a change at the position as the Eagles prepare for next week’s game with Trinity.
“He did really well,” Johnson said. “We’ll battle for positions next week.”
Perry said the final score wasn’t indicative of the two teams.
“We had a little more depth than they did,” he said, referring to a rotation along the defensive front that included eight players. “They’ve got a fine ballclub. Robert does an excellent job and he is first class in everything he does.”
Johnson challenged his players after the game to bounce back from the stinging defeat.
“When you see the film, there will be a lot of mistakes,” he said. “Same for them. Everybody makes mistakes in games. We feel like we’ve got to correct those mistakes and flush this game. We’ve been here before and come back on the other side. The question is, does this team have the heart and ability to do that? We’re going to find out.”
Perry, meanwhile, is tasked with getting his team ready next Friday as a heralded Handley team comes to Carlisle Field.
“All we’ve got to do is put the film of Handley on, that’ll get you back down to reality because they’re a big, strong, physical football team,” Perry said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’d rather get ready to play them after a win than after a loss.”