If there was one thing that St. Vincent football coach Tim Schumer learned about his team, it was his player’s determination to never give up.
Scott City raced out to a big lead in the second half, but St. Vincent rallied with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter before ultimately falling 49-35 Friday in the Class 1, District 1 semifinals on Friday.
Although the outcome wasn’t the result St. Vincent was looking for, Schumer was proud of the way his team fought until the very end.
“With the way things were going it would have been easy to say that it wasn’t meant to be,” Schumer said. “Our guys worked their tails off and made a game out of it. That’s the best thing to come out of this game and the best thing they could have learned from us as coaches. We fight through adversity and never say die.”
That much was obvious as St. Vincent fell behind 49-14 midway through third quarter and the comeback began. Trevor Moonier started it off with a 16-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter and then Kaden Kassel intercepted a Mark Panagos pass at midfield with 9:19 left in the game. The Indians converted the turnover into points with a 40-yard catch by Evan DeWilde to the Rams’ 15-yard line. The Indians cashed in a few plays later with a three yard run by quarterback Christian Schaaf, who accounted for four touchdowns in the game. (three pass, one rush). The Indians cut the Rams lead to 49-28 with 7:51 left in the game.
Connor McMillian recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and Moonier picked up a long third down with a 19-yard pass. Couple that with a late hit out of bounds by the Rams and St. Vincent was able to score once more with a one yard reception by Kassel to bring the Indians within 49-35 with six minutes left in the game.
The defense was able to stop the Rams one more time to get the ball back, but the Indians faltered to end the comeback.