Eagles Dominate St. James On Homecoming Night

Sullivan battered St. James with four touchdowns in the first quarter Friday and cruised to a 49-0 win on a chilly Homecoming night.

Ethan Krygiel ran for two touchdowns, giving him six in the last three games. Trey Blankenship, Kristian Harms, Carter Dace and Alex Goly each had one. Levi Hurt completed a touchdown pass to Jacob Hatcher and Devyn Harmon kicked a 21-yard field goal on a night where the Eagles were able to spread the ball around.

The defense allowed St. James to advance into their territory just twice in posting their second shutout of the season.

Sullivan (4-3) has won three straight games to reverse a three-game losing streak. They have savaged their opponents 98-18 over that span. Their 49 points on Friday matched their total through the season’s first four games.

Everything is pointing up.

“The atmosphere is electric right now,” said head coach Cody Davis. “We went through a tough stretch there. At St. Clair, I said we’re not quite ready to win games like that. Every Friday we’re getting a little bit closer. We’re hitting our late season stride.”

The roles Friday were reversed from the last time St. James visited Sullivan in 2017. St. James, an offensive juggernaut loaded with seniors, poured it on Sullivan in a 48-7 win. They left their starters in for most of the second half even with a big lead.

St. James found itself in that position Friday. The Tigers have just one victory this season. Sullivan came out determined and didn’t give them an inch.

“We’re not taking anyone lightly,” Davis said. “We’re not good enough to take anyone lightly. Our guys came out focused. That was the word of the week.”

The Eagles kept seniors Tristan Brown and Evan Shetley out of the game after both suffered injuries in the previous week against Hermann.

“We didn’t have to play them, which was nice,” Davis said. “We were able to give them a week of rest and hopefully they should be healthy next week.”

He credited Derek Johnson and David Wysong for stepping up in their place.

“We had a great push up front,” Davis said. “Our guys have committed to getting better fundamentally.”

Sullivan ran St. James off the field with a three-and-out on the opening drive. Their first offensive play saw Krygiel run for a 38-yard touchdown. 

Blankenship recovered a fumble on the next drive, which set up a a 7-yard touchdown run by Krygiel.

Blankenship bowled his way into the end zone from four yards on the next drive. Sullivan took a 20-0 lead with 4:16 left in the first quarter.

With five seconds remaining, Hurt found Hatcher in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Eagles a 27-0 lead.

St. James gave the Eagles prime field position when their punter dropped the ball. Sullivan fell on him and on the first play of the next drive, Harms swept right and into the end zone for another score. The extra point was blocked for a 33-0 lead.

Krygiel nearly had a third touchdown run on the next drive. He was trapped in the back field, shook off defenders and dove past the pylon, but a penalty pulled it back. On a third-and-goal from the St. James 18, Harms ran the ball for 14 yards. With a chance to secure a running clock to begin the second half, Sullivan called out Harmon for a field goal. He easily split the uprights for a 21-yard kick with 47 seconds to go in the half. Sullivan led 36-0 at the half.

Dace and Goly both had touchdowns in the second half as Sullivan continued their rout.

Sullivan Independent News

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