Better. But not there yet.

As a result, the frustrating losing skid reached three for the St. James High School football squad, as the Tigers fell to Butler 18-14 Friday, Sept. 25 in the STJ Homecoming Game at Tiger Field.

St. James dropped to 2-3 while the Butler Bears improved to 3-2.

The Tigers grabbed a 14-12 advantage with 6:08 left in the fourth quarter when senior running back John Nicholson scored a TD and senior quarterback Owen Spurgeon ran in the two-point conversion.

That score was set up by a 59-yard kickoff return by junior Patrick Lonning to give St. James possession at the Butler 21 yardline. The drive was kept alive when senior fullback Steven Holt busted up the middle for three yards on a 4th-and-two situation at the Bear 13 yardline. After senior running back Gavyn King gained three yards, Nicholson sprinted into the endzone from seven yards out to make it 12-12. Spurgeon then gave St. James the 14-12 lead with the conversion run.

That advantage didn’t last long, however. After the ensuing kickoff was booted out of bounds, Butler took over at its own 35 yardline. The Bears put together a 65-yard, 13-play scoring drive - 11 of those plays on the ground. During the drive the Bears converted 4th-and-seven and a 3rd-and-five situations to keep things going.

Butler would take the lead for good when senior running back Lucas Davidson took a direct snap and busted in for an 18-yard TD run with 1:24 remaining. The Bears’ conversion run was short, leaving the score 18-14.

The Tigers got one final possession but could not get out of their side of the field, failing on a 4th-and-nine situation to turn it back over and allowing Butler to run out the clock.

“We improved on areas we said we needed to work on,” said St. James head coach Dusty Craft. “Now we’ve got to improve in the big-play category. And on their final drive they had a big fourth down they converted, and when you can’t get those stops you worry about the next play.

“The first quarter we just couldn’t get anything going really. At half we made some adjustments and came out and moved the ball better.”

Neither team did a lot offensively, particularly in the first half.

After a scoreless first quarter Butler broke the tie late in the second period. After St. James punted the Bears took over at their own 24 yardline. On the first play from scrimmage freshman quarterback Alden Hedrick fired a pass in the flat to sophomore wideout Renner Martin, who turned it up on the Bear sidelines and went the distance, 76 yards for a touchdown. Hedrick’s conversion pass was incomplete, leaving it 6-0 with 4:23 left in the half.

That would be the score at intermission.

The scoring picked up over the final two quarters. After Butler failed on a 4th-and-three situation, the Tigers took over and tied things up with a 42-yard, eight-play drive in the third quarter. King had consecutive runs of seven and 12 yards to get to the Butler 23. Five plays later Holt plowed over from one yard out for the TD at the 4:56 mark. Spurgeon attempted a QB keeper on the conversion but was hauled down short.

Butler would regain a 12-6 edge early in the fourth quarter, keeping the drive alive with a 34-yard pass from Hedrick to Davidson on a 4th-and-10 situation from the Tiger 35 yardline. Davidson was dragged down at the Tiger one, and after a two-yard loss on the next play, Davidson ended the drive with a three-yard TD run. The two-point conversion pass play was incomplete.

Butler had 245 yards of total offense compared to 133 for St. James. King ran for 61 yards on 12 carries. Davidson had a big game for the Bears, rushing for 94 yards and two touchdowns and the big 34-yard pass reception.

St. James returns to Four Rivers Conference play Friday, traveling to Hermann. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Hermann Bearcats are 0-5 overall and 0-2 in the FRC after losing at St. Clair 49-8 last week.

“They’re young,” Craft said. “They still have the younger Hopkins brother (senior Tayven) and (senior Kohlt) Witthaus. They will be their two studs. They run a flexbone offense. It will be a battle of similar styles.”

The box score:

Sept. 25 at St. James

Butler 18, St. James 14

Team Statistics

First Downs: STJ 8, BHS 8

Yards Rushing: STJ 116, BHS 118

Yards Passing: STJ 17, BHS 127

Total Yards: STJ 133, BHS 245

Passing: STJ 3-11, BHS 6-12

Int. Thrown: STJ 0, BHS 0

Fumbles Lost: STJ 1, BHS 2

Penalties: STJ 5-35, BHS 7-50

Punting: STJ 7-31.0; BHS 5-36.4

The score by periods:

Butler        0   6   0  12-18

St. James   0   0   6    8-14

The scoring plays:

Butler: Martin 76-yard pass from Hedrick, conversion fails (4:23).

St. James: Holt one-yard run, conversion fails (4:56).

Butler: Davidson three-yard run, conversion fails (8:16).

St. James: Nicholson seven-yard run, Spurgeon runs in conversion (6:08).

Butler: Davidson 18-yard run, conversion fails (1:24).

Individual Statistics

Rushing - St. James: King 12 for 61, Holt 7 for 23, Lonning 5 for 19, Nicholson 7 for 10, Spurgeon 12 for 3. Butler: Davidson 16 for 94, Wisdom 11 for 23, Woolace 5 for 6, Martin 1 for 0, Hedrick 1 for minus-3, TEAM 1 for minus-2.

Passing - St. James: Spurgeon 3-11-17-0. Butler: Hedrick 6-12-127-0.

Receiving - St. James: Cruz 1 for 3, Nicholson 1 for 7, Lonning 1 for 7. Butler: Hannah 2 fo 6, Martin 1 for 76, Ferrell 2 for 11, Davidson 1 for 34.

Tackles - St. James: O. Jackson 2 (solo)-6 (assists), Arnold 2-3, Ferguson 1-4, L. Jackson 1-1, Freeman 1-7, Gibson 1-1, Mathenia 0-13, Gunter 0-2. Butler: N/A.