St. James Surges Past Eagles

The St. James offense came as good as advertised Friday.

Averaging nearly 40 points per game, the Tigers showed off explosiveness in the passing and running game and defeated Sullivan 48-7.

Quarterback Ryan Harlan passed for 380 yards and four touchdowns, ran for 133 yards and a touchdown. The Tigers racked up more than 500 yards and after allowing Sullivan to score on their opening drive, ripped off 41 straight points.

Sullivan (2-5) tries to rebound Friday at Owensville.

St. James scored on its opening drive, converting a third-and-7 with a 31-yard run and getting deep into Sullivan territory on a 22-yard scamper by Harlan.

Zach Coons scored on a 13-yard touchdown run off the option less than three minutes into the game.

Sullivan answered back quickly. Wyatt Schmidt caught a 15-yard pass from Levi Hurt and Balor Bartolotta ran for 20 yards to get to the St. James 30. On third-and-5, Sullivan drew the Tigers for an encroachment penalty. Later, Carter Dace went up the middle for a 7-yard touchdown run with 5:45 left in the quarter.

Sullivan just couldn’t keep up. St. James scored on the second play of the next drive when Harlan found Carter Keeny for a 46-yard touchdown, answering the Eagles in 43 seconds.

St. James added one more touchdown in the first quarter when Harlan aired out a pass to Conway. The ball was under thrown, but Conway cut back in, caught the pass and ran away from Sullivan’s defenders for a 78-yard touchdown with 1:04 to go and a 21-7 lead.

Sullivan battled St. James to a fourth-and-5 on the Tigers’ next possession, but Gunnar Seams rushed for 10 yards, eventually setting up an 8-yard touchdown run from Harlan.

Even when the Tigers made it difficult for themselves with penalties, they found a way to score. On a third-and-24, Harlan hit Keeny for 42 yards. Two plays later, he found Grant Conway for a 30-yard touchdown with 3:23 left in the half. St. James led 35-7 going into the third quarter.

Sullivan’s defense slowed the Tigers down some in the third quarter. Schmidt had his second interception in as many weeks, returning the ball to the St. James 28. Sullivan would turn the ball over on downs.

St. James scored with 24 seconds left on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Harlan to Cade Snitker, opening up a 42-7 lead. The Tigers kept their starters on the field with a running clock in the fourth quarter and Seams added a 7-yard touchdown with 4:45 left.