HHS offense stymied in home loss

Left or right. Run or pass. It didn’t matter. Nothing worked offensively for Houston.

The offensive numbers – or lack of – told the story Friday night as the Tigers were shut out 42-0 by St. James at Tiger Stadium.

HHS had minus-18 rushing yards and just two first downs against St. James’ aggressive defense. The Tigers were sacked five times and 12 of their 28 running plays were stopped for negative yardage.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this in 14 years of coaching,” Houston coach Eric Sloan said. “We asked (the offensive linemen) at halftime what they thought we could do up front, and they didn’t have an answer.”

Houston finished with 10 total yards of offense against a St. James team that blanked Cuba 60-0 the previous week.

“They are fast, physical and run so well,” Sloan said. “They close holes that were there for a second.”

A big part of the problem, Sloan said, was the offensive line’s inability to create running lanes. He said St. James had success blitzing defenders in every gap.

“I’m not sure why the confusion,” Sloan said. “To be honest, we’re running a middle school playbook up front. We can’t progress because we can’t – for whatever reason – run the base plays correctly.”

HHS quarterback Paydon Dixon was 3-of-10 passing for 28 yards with one interception. John Lane had two catches for 25 yards.

{{tncms-inline alignment=”right” content=”<p>Week 2 scores</p> <p>St. James 42, Houston 0</p> <p>Aurora 28, Liberty 21</p> <p>Hollister 29, Cabool 6</p> <p>Marionville 33, Willow Springs 6</p> <p>Salem 38, Sumner 30</p> <p>Mountain Grove 56, Strafford 14</p> <p>Thayer 54, New Madrid 24</p> <p>Ava 56, Forsyth 6</p> <p>Week 3 games</p> <p>Salem at Houston</p> <p>Cabool at Willow Springs</p> <p>MV-Liberty at Thayer</p> <p>Ava at Mountain Grove</p> <p>——</p> <p>ST. JAMES 42, HOUSTON 0</p> <p>St. James 15 7 13 7 –– 42</p> <p>Houston 0 0 0 0 –– 0</p> <p>First Quarter</p> <p>SJ –– Kenney 37 pass from Harlan (Courtois kick), 8:58.</p> <p>SJ –– Keeney 46 pass from Harlan (kick failed), 5:53.</p> <p>SJ –– Safety, 4:22.</p> <p>Second Quarter</p> <p>SJ –– Seams 1 run (Courtois kick), 0:06.</p> <p>Third Quarter</p> <p>SJ –– Roark 6 pass from Harlan (Courtois kick), 7:57.</p> <p>SJ –– Harlan 2 run (kick failed), 3:18.</p> <p>Fourth Quarter</p> <p>SJ –– Higginbotham 60 interception return (Courtois kick), 11:42.</p> <p>––––––</p> <p>HOU SJ</p> <p>First downs 2 18</p> <p>Total yards 10 445</p> <p>Rushes-yards 28-(-18) 32-217</p> <p>Passing 28 228</p> <p>Punt returns 0 10</p> <p>Kickoff returns 50 26</p> <p>Comp-att-int 3-10-1 13-26-2</p> <p>Sacked-yards lost 5-36 0-0</p> <p>Punts 9-31.2 1-37.0</p> <p>Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2</p> <p>Penalties-yards 7-34 7-40</p> <p>––––––</p> <p>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</p> <p>RUSHING –– St. James, Seams 16-91, Harlan 17-78, Lynch 6-35, Halbrook 2-12, Koons 1-1. Houston, Alston 11-6, Leier 1-6, Cichon 1-4, Martin 1-3, Sawyer 1-(minus 4), Burchett 1-(minus 10), Dion 12-(minus 23).</p> <p>PASSING –– St. James, Harlan 13-26-2 228. Houston, Dixon 3-10-1 28.</p> <p>RECEIVING –– St. James Keeney 3-95, Snitker 5-88, Seams 2-23, Roark 3-22, Houston, Lane 2-25, Alston 1-3.</p>” id=”79711c80-9382-48a7-9ee7-682d3890d5f6″ style-type=”bio” title=”BOX SCORE” type=”relcontent” width=”half”}}

Tristan Leier had one carry for six yards and freshman Chris Cichon had one for four yards to lead the Tigers’ ground game.

The Tigers’ defense forced four turnovers. Sophomores Connor Wilson and Dakota Burchett both had interceptions. Wilson also forced a fumble.

“The longer it goes, the more freshmen and sophomores you see out there on the field,” Sloan said. “The young kids are doing some positive things. You’re seeing the future right now.

St. James quarterback Ryan Harlan, who threw for 228 yards and three scores, hit Carter Keeney for scores of 37 and 46 yards in the first quarter.

A safety for St. James (2-0) gave the visiting Tigers a 15-0 first-quarter lead.

Harlan’s 1-yard run with 6.1 seconds in the half made it 22-0 at the half.

Houston didn’t get a first down until Dixon hit Lane on a 20-yard slant with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left in the third quarter. The Tigers trailed 35-0.

St. James’ Michael Higginbotham returned an interception 60 yards for a score on the first play of the fourth quarter for the final points.

Houston, which lost the season opener 36-14 at Ash Grove, opens conference play at home Friday against Salem.

“Our non-conference schedule is just as brutal as our SCA schedule,” Sloan said.

Week 2 scores

St. James 42, Houston 0

Aurora 28, Liberty 21

Hollister 29, Cabool 6

Marionville 33, Willow Springs 6

Salem 38, Sumner 30

Mountain Grove 56, Strafford 14

Thayer 54, New Madrid 24

Ava 56, Forsyth 6

Week 3 games

Salem at Houston

Cabool at Willow Springs

MV-Liberty at Thayer

Ava at Mountain Grove

——

ST. JAMES 42, HOUSTON 0

St. James 15 7 13 7 –– 42

Houston 0 0 0 0 –– 0

First Quarter

SJ –– Kenney 37 pass from Harlan (Courtois kick), 8:58.

SJ –– Keeney 46 pass from Harlan (kick failed), 5:53.

SJ –– Safety, 4:22.

Second Quarter

SJ –– Seams 1 run (Courtois kick), 0:06.

Third Quarter

SJ –– Roark 6 pass from Harlan (Courtois kick), 7:57.

SJ –– Harlan 2 run (kick failed), 3:18.

Fourth Quarter

SJ –– Higginbotham 60 interception return (Courtois kick), 11:42.

––––––

HOU SJ

First downs 2 18

Total yards 10 445

Rushes-yards 28-(-18) 32-217

Passing 28 228

Punt returns 0 10

Kickoff returns 50 26

Comp-att-int 3-10-1 13-26-2

Sacked-yards lost 5-36 0-0

Punts 9-31.2 1-37.0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2

Penalties-yards 7-34 7-40

––––––

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING –– St. James, Seams 16-91, Harlan 17-78, Lynch 6-35, Halbrook 2-12, Koons 1-1. Houston, Alston 11-6, Leier 1-6, Cichon 1-4, Martin 1-3, Sawyer 1-(minus 4), Burchett 1-(minus 10), Dion 12-(minus 23).

PASSING –– St. James, Harlan 13-26-2 228. Houston, Dixon 3-10-1 28.

RECEIVING –– St. James Keeney 3-95, Snitker 5-88, Seams 2-23, Roark 3-22, Houston, Lane 2-25, Alston 1-3.