St. Paul's Jacob Davies rushed for over 200 yards during a 28-21 District 6-5A victory over Hammond on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.
Hammond's Jahiem Johnson, middle, is bottled up by the St. Paul's defense during a District 6-5A game at Hunter Stadium on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.
St. Paul's Jacob Davies rushed for over 200 yards during a 28-21 District 6-5A victory over Hammond on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.
Hammond's Jahiem Johnson, middle, is bottled up by the St. Paul's defense during a District 6-5A game at Hunter Stadium on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022.
Matthew Cody made a deal with his coach.
After getting flagged for celebration following a first-half interception against Hammond on Friday night, the St. Paul’s senior defensive back negotiated he wouldn’t have to run on Monday as punishment if he pulled down another. Cody previously recorded a pair of picks in a single game against West Jefferson earlier this year, but this would be a tougher task as the Tornadoes took the Wolves down to the wire with a one-score game under a minute to play.
With 40 seconds left before Cody’s deal expired, the St. Paul’s defense found itself teetering on the brink. Hammond set up for a crucial 4th-and-6 from the SPS 36. A stop and the Wolves secured a win over the district-leading Tors. If not, Hammond continued its pursuit of a potential game-winning drive with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
But with his team needing a big play, Cody found his redemption as the pass from Hammond quarterback Webb Anderson fell into Cody’s hands, locking up the 28-21 victory on Sept. 30.
“I made a deal with the coach,” a relieved Cody said. “If I got another interception then no running on Monday. So I’m good. No running.”
More to the point, Cody was relieved SPS (2-3, 1-1) came out with a much-needed win to break a three-game losing streak. That it came on Homecoming night only made it sweeter for the senior.
“It’s amazing,” Cody said. “Game-winning interception to run out the clock — it’s just amazing.”
But where the Wolves' defense made the crucial stop at the end, it all would have been for nothing had the offense not seen a dramatic shift in fortunes at halftime.
After a challenging first half that saw the Wolves go into the locker room down 7-6 to a team they had not lost to since Hammond rejoined the district in 2013, the offense sought a change of pace.
What they found was a two-headed rush attack from running back Jacob Davies and quarterback Ben Buisson.
Buisson came off the bench at halftime to lead St. Paul's to a touchdown on its first possession of the third quarter behind several big runs for the mobile passer. However, it was his arm on an 8-yard pass to Jake Walker that gave the Wolves their first lead of the night, 13-7.
While Davies continued to do most of the heavy lifting, Buisson’s mobility provided enough of a threat to keep the Hammond defense off balance. The Wolves scored 22 points in the third quarter alone, pushing to the 28-21 score that would carry through the fourth quarter.
“We definitely wanted to go under center more with some of the things we saw,” St. Paul's coach Ken Sears said. “From that point on we saw some things we thought we could do in the run game, and our guys executed tonight.”
But Buisson merely opened the door for Davies to do the work. The senior back rushed for a career high of 203 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries and tacked on a pair of catches for 11 yards to round out his night. Davies also punched in a valuable two-point conversion in the third quarter to keep it a seven-point lead.
St. Paul's took the lead for good as time expired on the third quarter, thanks to an 8-yard run by Joshua Yancey.
Davies credited the team mindset and confidence for not collapsing when they went down early. But most importantly he credited his offensive line.
“I promise the O-line if I get 100 yards I’ll buy them food,” Davies said. “I guess I have to buy them two portions now.”
HHS: Jahiem Johnson 5 run (Nicholas Bartee kick), 8:14, 7-0
SPS: Jacob Davies 5 run (kick failed), 5:37, 7-6
SPS: Jake Walker 8 pass from Ben Buisson (Drew Talley kick), 9:32, 13-7
HHS: Eli Johnson 16 run (Bartee kick), 7:37, 14-13
SPS: Tristan Davenport 1 run (Davies run), 4:33, 14-21
HHS: Jahiem Johnson 29 pass from Webb Anderson (Bartee kick), 2:22, 21-21
SPS: Joshua Yancey 8 run (Talley kick), 0:00, 21-28
Hammond, 265 total yards (56 passing, 209 rushing)
Rushing: Jahiem Johnson, 11-45, TD; Tyrese Wilson, 10-138; Chris Dunn, 3-8; Webb Anderson, 4-(-19); Eli Johnson, 6-37, TD.
Receiving: Wilson, 1-8; Raymond May, 1-13; Jahiem Johnson, 2-35, TD.
Passing: Anderson, 4-12, 56 yards, TD, 3 INTs.
St. Paul's, 328 total yards (51 passing, 277 rushing)
Rushing: Jacob Davies, 29-203, TD; Joshua Yancey, 7-34, TD; Tristan Davenport, 4-24, TD; Ben Buisson, 4-48; Brennan Keim, 1-(-7); TEAM, 2-(-25).
Receiving: Yancey, 1-12, Davies, 2-11; Jeb Reina, 1-8; Roman Cumberland, 1-5; Matt Gower, 1-7; Jake Walker, 1-14, TD.
Passing: Keim, 6-12, 43 yards; Buisson, 1-2, 8 yards, TD, INT.
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