St. James Academy Victorious in 4A Finals
The Thunder of St. James Academy are the 2020 state champions in class 4A. They defeated Arkansas City 56-34 on Friday night. St. James Academy finished 8-4 and ended the season on a 5 game win streak where they scored…
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Continue ReadingThe Thunder of St. James Academy are the 2020 state champions in class 4A. They defeated Arkansas City 56-34 on Friday night. St. James Academy finished 8-4 and ended the season on a 5 game win streak where they scored no less than 36 in every game. On Friday night, there were several players on both sides of the ball for the Thunder who stood out in the state championship. Here are a few of them.
La’james White RB/DB
The 5’9 175 lb Senior had an incredible final game of his high school career. He rushed for 264 yards on 22 carries and 5 TD. He also caught 5 passes for 28 yards as well. On the defensive side of the ball, he made 6 tackles and had an interception. He has really done it all for the Thunder this season as he rushed for 1,513 yards on 211 carries and scored 26 TD. He also caught 38 passes for 585 yards and 6 TD. On defense, he made 48 tackles (46 solo) with a TFL while also intercepting 4 passes, 5 fumble recoveries, 5 forced fumbles and 10 pass defensed. When looking at the film, he shows very good vision and burst through the hole as he quickly accelerates into the secondary. He displays good contact balance as he keeps his feet moving on contact when hit by LB and DB dragging them for several yards and uses his very good play strength to break the tackle afterwards. On defense, he lines up as a CB and uses his play speed to keep his man in front of him in off coverage. He shows very good ball skills as he reads the QB in zone coverage, tracks the ball in the air and uses his hands effectively to come down with the interception.
Dakota Burritt QB
The Senior signal caller performed well against Arkansas City in the state finals. He completed 8 of 15 passes for 170 yards and 2 TD. In 2020, he completed 184 of 310 passes for 2,783 yards and 28 TD while rushing for 351 yards on 69 carries and 4 TD. He keeps his eyes downfield constantly and does a good job finding the open receiver as he delivers an accurate ball on short and intermediate passes while showing great accuracy and touch on go routes. Shows good poise in the pocket as he consistently delivers an accurate ball with a DL or blitzing LB in his face. Although he is predominantly a pocket passer, he does show the ability to pick up yards for a first down when he needs to.
Harry Spencer DL/OL
The 6’2 268 lb Senior is a dominant player on both sides of the ball. He plays as a LT on offense and a DT in a 3T on defense. He had an awesome game against Arkansas City with 6 tackles, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and 3.5 TFL. In 2020, he made 31 tackles with 8.5 TFL and had 3.5 sacks with a forced fumble. As a LT, he shows good quickness and play speed to execute a scoop block on inside zone runs as he quickly gets to the 2nd level and uses his play strength and physical toughness as he drives the will LB out of the play. On defense, he shows good burst off the ball while using his good instincts to take the correct angle in pursuit of the RB and uses his play strength to bring him down easily with force.
Wade Spencer DL
The 6’2 210 lb Sophomore put up big numbers on Friday night as he made 7 tackles with 2 TFL, 2 sacks with a pass deflection, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. In 2020, he made 49 tackles with 4.5 TFL, 5 sacks, 2 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. He plays as a 5T or a 7T/Wide 9 if there is a TE on his side. When playing as a 5T, he wins with leverage against the OT and delivers a powerful hand punch to shed the block. When playing as a 7T or Wide 9, he uses his good play strength to overpower the TE with ease. He keeps his eyes on the ball carrier constantly and uses his play speed as well as his motor when in pursuit. He displays good range to play sideline to sideline and can bring down large RB with ease.
Tyler Claiborne Tyler Claiborne 6'3" | 180 lbs | WR St. James Academy | 2022 State KS WR
The 6’3 180 lb Junior was very reliable in the passing game against Arkansas City. He caught 4 passes for 93 yards and a TD. In 2020, he caught 76 passes for 1,151 yards and 12 TD. He plays on the outside as an “X” and a “Z”. He takes long strides and uses his play speed to get behind the CB in man coverage as he tracks the ball in the air on go routes while displaying very good manual dexterity to catch passes both in and out of his strike zone. He shows very good football intelligence as he reads the coverage and is able to find the soft spots in zone. He is able to adjust his body to put himself in position to make the catch on back-shoulder fades. Displays very good competitive toughness as he is reliable in the red zone as he uses his height and jumping ability to win battles against shorter CB for the TD.