HERCULANEUM — St. Vincent football coach Tim Schumer didn’t have much to say after Friday’s 29-13 loss to Herculaneum.
The Indians (1-3) were coming off a spectacular, last-second comeback victory over Perryville in Week 3, and it was an easy guess that the team would be fired up for their next game against the Blackcats (2-2), but that wasn’t exactly the case.
“It was kind of the same song and dance as the last few weeks,” Schumer said. “We just kind of got off to a slow start, got us in a hole early and then we try to build, bring us out of it. I was hoping after the Perryville game, we kind of woke up and weren’t going to try that again. However, it was not the case.”
Behind a big offensive performance from running back Clark Struckhof, Herculaneum built a 22-0 lead by halftime, leaving the Indians scrambling to catch up.
“We came out after halftime and scored right away,” Schumer said, “and then got some key stops on the defensive side of the ball, but couldn’t materialize anything more offensively.”
Stuckhof led Herculaneum’s offense with 152 yards on 26 carries, while quarterback Keaton Reeves rushed 11 times for 113 yards. He also completed 2 of 6 passing attempts for 37 yards and a touchdown.
As for the Indians, Schumer said his team was able to move the ball well, but was unable to make it count when it mattered.
“Offensively, we moved the ball well all night,” Schumer said. I know we had more than 300 yards passing and probably close to 100 yards rushing, so we moved the ball around. When it got time to push it in the red zone, we either shot ourselves in the foot with penalties or just couldn’t capitalize and get the ball in the end zone.”
Herculaneum’s defense didn’t help, intercepting St. Vincent quarterback Wyatt Winkler twice in the game.
Looking ahead, the Indians will host Hayti (2-2) on Friday at Indians Stadium in Perryville. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“They were a young team last year,” Schumer said, “and I know they brought most of their guys back. They lost their last two games to a couple of good teams, but I think they’re definitely not a team to take lightly. They can score from anywhere on the field. They’ve got some really good running backs, receivers and a very good quarterback who was a sophomore last year. I think he’s having a good year this year.”
Last week, Hayti suffered its worst loss of the season, falling 59-6 to Father Tolton Regional Catholic. Despite that lopsided loss, Hayti is still averaging 32.5 points per game, while allowing 38. St. Vincent is averaging 20.5 points per game and giving up 35.
“They’re going to be a tough test,” Schumer said. “That’s another good opponent to go to battle with.”
