St. James comes up short against Andrews in back-and-forth game

When St. James quarterback Zach Werba found Jackson Hurston in the left corner of the end zone to tie Andrews at 26 with 6:36 to play, the host Sharks seemed to have all the momentum. Things are not always as they appear.

The visiting Yellow Jackets proceeded to march 80 yards in 15 plays on the ensuing possession, and Juan Pineda nailed a 21-yard field goal with 17.9 seconds on the clock as Andrews knocked off St. James 29-26 on Friday night.

“That is us in a nutshell. Take the football 80 yards in the last six and a half minutes and win the game,” Andrews coach Scott Durham said. “That is what we want to do. … Our goal every time we are out here, we want to be the toughest, most physical team on the field. If we got the ball late in the game, we are going to run the clock out or we are going to go down and get what we need. That is what we do.”

The big play of the winning drive was a fourth-and-3 from the Sharks’ 23. The first 10 plays of the drive were all runs, but Andrews went to the air hoping to surprise the Sharks and it worked. Sophomore quarterback Jaizell Murphy hit tight end Paten Powell with a quick hitter and the senior rumbled down to the St. James 1. The Sharks didn’t concede a touchdown and forced the Yellow Jackets to try a 21-yard field goal.

“That is one we kept in our pocket until we needed it,” Durham said of the fourth-down play. “You only get that about once a game. We felt like it would be there.”

Two last gasp passes from Werba fell incomplete as the clock ran out on the Sharks.

“It was an exciting game,’’ St. James coach Robby Brown said. “I told [my team] after the big win against Loris, ‘We are not there.’ … We made too many mistakes. We put it on the ground, we turned it over. Second half we had good field position and turned it over twice. We moved the ball up and down the field, but we just didn’t put it in the end zone.”

The Sharks (1-1) amassed 294 yards of offense led by senior Werba, who was 20-for-34 passing for 203 yards with three touchdown passes and a rushing score, but also an ill-timed interception. The Sharks’ first three drives of the second half started at their own 49, midfield, and the Andrews 20, yet none of the chances resulted in points. The first one ended in a fumble, the second was a three-and-out, and the third ended with Werba tossing a pass toward the sidelines but not far enough out of play to keep Andrews’ Isiah McCray from tiptoeing the boundary and making the pick.

“[Werba] is going to make mistakes, but he is smart,” Brown said. “… He made a lot of big throws at the end like the fade (to Hurston). That was a great throw. But he made a few poor decisions just like everybody. … He does a good job, and he is a good leader for us.”

Andrews (2-0) took its opening possession 80 yards in 10 plays and grabbed a 7-0 lead when Murphy found Tyreike Steele with a 7-yard scoring pass.

But Werba got going after that to quickly put the Sharks in front. Facing a third-and-7, the senior rolled to his left and found Trey Myers for a 7-yard score. On the next possession, Andrews mishandled a pitch on an option on its second play and the Sharks recovered at the Yellow Jackets’ 16. Werba went back to Myers for a 13-yard score that gave St. James a 13-7 lead inside the final minute of the opening quarter. Late in the third quarter with the Sharks trailing 20-13, Werba rolled to his right on a fourth-and-3 from the Andrews 6, but instead of passing he cut inside and found the end zone to bring the Sharks to within a point. However, a St. James penalty during the celebration pushed the extra point back 15 yards and the try was missed.

Hurston was Werba’s favorite target on the night as the senior caught nine passes for 95 yards and the score. Senior Jamarius Faulkner led the Sharks on the ground with 55 yards rushing on 15 carries.

Andrews used bruising fullback Maleek Johnson, 6-feet and 225 pounds, to wear down the Sharks. The senior carried 29 times for 114 yards including a 2-yard scoring run late in the first half, but he also created opportunities for his teammates as the Sharks had to key on the big guy. Murphy, starting his second varsity game at quarterback, had 84 yards rushing on seven carries including a 65-yard score early in the fourth quarter and also passed for 129 yards and two scores.

“[Johnson] is our workhorse,” Durham said. “We are going to feed him the ball. He is 225 pounds and in the fourth quarter he ain’t no fun to tackle.”

Next week, St. James will play at Carolina Forest while Andrews hosts Georgetown.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 12:03 AM with the headline "St. James comes up short against Andrews in back-and-forth game."