After three quarters the Salem Tigers had just grabbed the momentum with a long touchdown run.
However, with eight minutes remaining it was the St. James Tigers who grabbed Big Mo right back.
St. James put up two touchdowns midway through the final period to pull away from scrappy Salem and post a 25-6 non-conference victory Friday, Aug. 29 at SHS’s Schuchardt Stadium.
It was the fourth consecutive year that St. James opened its season with a win over Salem. And during that span this was the most competitive.
St. James looked like it was ready to run away early on, with a little help from Salem.
Senior slotback Nick Gleason got things started for the STJ Tigers by breaking off a 36-yard touchdown run at the 3:47 mark of the first period. The PAT attempt failed.
The second St. James’ touchdown came on a Salem miscue. Senior defensive back Cooper Schacht forced a Salem fumble, which was scooped up by Gleason. Gleason sprinted 54 yards for the fumble recovery touchdown return with 1:32 remaining in the opening quarter. STJ attempted a two-point conversion but failed.
However, the Salem defense would shut down St. James over the next two quarters, as that 12-0 score stood at halftime.
And the home team made a game of it with a breakaway run by its senior quarterback, Hayden Ragsdale. In the final seconds of the third period Ragsdale found a gap and took off, running 83 yards for a touchdown with 29 seconds left in the quarter. Salem attempted a two-point conversion but came up short, leaving it 12-6.
“Salem had stopped us twice before their long touchdown run,” said St. James head coach Dusty Craft. “I felt our backs were against the wall and turned to the players and asked them how are they going to respond to that? And they responded the right way.”
Following its TD Salem tried an on-side kick, which St. James recovered. St. James’ offensive drive was then kept alive when junior quarterback Owen Spurgeon hit senior wideout Aiden Boone with a pass to convert a third down situation. A few plays later senior slotback Jonathan Bell rushed in for a five-yard touchdown run. Again STJ attempted a two-point conversion and again it failed with 6:46 remaining.
St. James iced the victory on a TD set up by a bad snap on a Salem punt attempt. STJ senior running back Zane Achterberg capped the short drive with a four-yard TD run. Preston Hash added the PAT to end the scoring.
“We had a lot of momentum until about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter,” Salem head coach Neal Myers said. “It was a good game, 12-6 with eight minutes left. It was a closer game than it looks like. I thought on defense we played exceptional. And I thought we came out and planned for them well.”
“We played pretty well,” Craft said. “We made some mistakes; at the end of the first half I thought we could have played better. Obviously it was Week 1, and mistakes were going to be made. But I was proud of the way the kids played.”
St. James had 253 yards of total offense while Salem had 203.
Salem had an effective 1-2 rushing punch, as Ragsdale finished with 76 yards on nine carries while junior running back Sylis DuBois added 67 yards on 12 attempts. Ragsdale hit on 2-of-9 passes for 17 yards.
“Salem had been down for a few years but they’ve had some consistency the last couple of years with Coach Myers,” Craft said. “They have athletes all over the field.”
Gleason led a balanced STJ rushing attack with 66 yards on nine carries while junior running back Steven Holt had 47. Spurgeon connected on an efficient 7-of-9 passes for 83 yards, with Gleason catching three passes for 55 yards and Boone four for 28. Gleason ended up with nearly 200 all-purpose yards, including his kick return totals.
Both teams suffered injuries in the opener. Salem lost two key, two-way starters in senior linebacker/fullback Everett Campbell (knee) and junior halfback/safety Brody Ray (ankle). Myers said Campbell will miss at least a game while Ray was day-to-day.
For St. James Bell suffered an ankle injury and Craft feels he’ll be out at least a week.
The box score:
Aug. 29 at Salem
St. James 25, Salem 6
The score by periods:
St. James 12 0 0 13-25
Salem 0 0 6 0- 6
The scoring plays:
St. James: Gleason 36-yard run, kick fails (3:47).
St. James: Gleason 54-yard fumble recovery, conversion fails (1:32).
Salem: Ragsdale 83-yard run, conversion fails (:29).
St. James: J. Bell five-yard run, conversion fails (6:46).
St. James: Achterberg four-yard run, Hash kick (4:17).
Individual Statistics
Rushing - Salem: Ragsdale 9 for 76, DuBois 12 for 67, Malone 8 or 26, May 5 for 17. St. James: Holt 6 for 47, Spurgeon 8 for 7, Achterberg 4 for 24, Gleason 9 for 66, J. Bell 3 for 4, King 5 for 22.
Passing - Salem: Ragsdale 2-9-17-0. St. James: Spurgeon 7-9-83-0.
Receiving - Salem: Halinar 1 for 11, Schloemer 1 for 6. St. James: Gleason 3 for 55, Boone 4 for 28.
