St. Vincent earns homecoming victory over Grandview

St. Vincent is normally known for its ability to move the ball effectively through the air. But the Indians switched things up on Friday night. The rushing attack found some room as four different players found the endzone on the ground as won 49-0 over Grandview to put a high note on homecoming weekend.
“When you win on homecoming, there’s no other feeling like it,” St. Vincent football coach Tim Schumer said. “I think homecoming here at St. Vincent is one of the best traditions at the school, and it’s even more special when you put the exclamation point on it with a victory.”
Mason Light, Jett Reitzel, Evan DeWilde, and Connor McMillian all found the endzone through the rushing attack and Schumer speculated that it may be the first time in his tenure that the Indians found the endzone more on the ground than through the air (4-3).
“I’ll have to check on that,” he said.
St. Vincent still threw for 275 yards, while rushing for 122, but Schumer understands that to win consistently, his team must make a concerted effort to run the football and be successful doing so.
“The offensive line wore hats this week that said ‘run the ball’ and I think I got the message,” Schumer said. “We came out and ran the ball and we had four different guys get into the endzone and made the most of the opportunities.”
Light got the Indians on the scoreboard first with a 23 yard run to give St. Vincent a 7-0 lead. From there, St. Vincent seized control. The Indians found success through the air on the next drive when Phillip Ernst puled down a 56-yard touchdown catch from John Wibbenmeyer to give St. Vincent a 14-0 advantage.
The St. Vincent defense was also stout, forcing Grandview into four turnovers, including three fumbles and an interception. Grandview totaled 110 yards of total offense in the game.

“Our defense kept them in check, and made sure they played assignment sound football,” Schumer said. “We were able to win the turnover battle and the offense took advantage
Owen Light recovered the first of those fumbles with less than one minute to go in the first quarter. St. Vincent had one Ernst touchdown called back for a penalty on the ensuing drive, but was able to score on the next play, a 35 yard catch and run by Ernst on a screen pass to go up 21-0.
St. Vincent had multiple touchdowns taken off the board because of penalties, and while Schumer knows that it didn’t hurt his team on Friday, the ability to cut down on penalties will be critical moving forward.
“The score is one thing, but you always know there is more to work on,” he said. “For us stay calm out there and not set ourselves back with penalties.”
St. Vincent kept the momentum after failing to convert a fourth down when they recover another fumble and convert the opportunity into a 20-yard touchdown run by Reitzel to take a 28-0 lead into halftime.
St. Vincent recovered the onside kick to start the second half and punched it in te endzone with a five yard touchdown run by DeWilde. Brendon Moonier and McMillian added late touchdowns to seal the victory.
The win was the fifth in a row for St. Vincent, who will face Jefferson R-7 next week. The Bluejays defeated Chaffee 50-6 on Friday.
“We are happy with the five wins in a row, but we will take one week at a time,” Schumer said.