Friday’s game between the St. Vincent Indians and Herculaneum Blackcats got off to a fast start with Clayton Gremaud running back the opening kickoff for St. Vincent, scoring the first of what turned out to be many touchdowns in the Indians’ 47-7 trouncing of the Herculaneum team.
By its fourth game against a conference rival this season, St. Vincent had already shown its stuff by beating Valle Catholic and Perryville in back-to-back games. Now, the team was ready to do the same with Herculaneum.
Coach Tim Schumer recalled the start of the game.
“Coming off back-to-back big wins with Valley and then Perryville, you're scared that your team may come in a little flat, so we preached all week that we wanted to come out ‘all systems go’ and firing on all cylinders. You know, start fast, get in our rhythm and play our game.
“Anytime you take the opening kickoff back, that's definitely the fastest you can start. We could take a deep breath on the sidelines and have a little less pressure on our shoulders as we went out. You take the field for the first time in defense, and when you get the ball in offense, you're already up. You can just let the game come to you.”
Everything fell into place, with Gremaud making the first touchdown in the early moments of the game, and the team making effective plays downfield.
With senior quarterback Nick Buchheit completing passes time after time, it wasn’t long before the Indians were running away with the game. By halftime, the Indians had a 40-0 lead, made even sweeter by Gus Unterreiner connecting two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half.
The St. Vincent team’s incredible passing is shooting them relentlessly forward towards the top spot in Class 1.
A year ago, Buchheit spent the team’s semifinal run sitting on the sideline while Christian Schaaf was quarterback. Now that he’s had his chance to make his mark, Buchheit doesn’t intend to let go.
In the first three games of the season, Buchheit has a wide margin in passing yards and hasn’t had an interception this year. Friday’s win continues his upward momentum.
And then there’s Clayton Grimaud.
“I definitely think that Clayton is one of our outstanding players right now,” Schumer said. “He had the opening kickoff return, and then he had another long touchdown reception for us. He’s made some big, explosive plays to get us going. Herky came out, set out to run the ball and keep it on the ground, and we were able to make that hard for them all night. We didn’t give up any big plays and put our offense in good positions.”
Gremaud and Schwartz took turns upturning the Herculaneum secondary, both deep down the field and through the screen game.
St. Vincent is now at a point in the season where no team left on its schedule is likely going to be able to put the brakes on the team entering postseason play. The Indians have reached the summit, and there’s little chance they won’t remain there.
Looking forward to Friday’s game against Hayti, Schumer said, “We’re going on the road again. It’s a long trip. My message to the team this week is to make sure we stay focused. We’re going to get on the bus, and we’re going there with a job to do, so we need to make sure we keep focused. Then, when we get down there, just go play the game that we’ve been playing all year. Hopefully, we can start fast and keep this thing rolling.”
It's been 20 years since the Indians won the 2004 title. This year, a state title may very well be in the crystal ball for St. Vincent in 2024.
