The temperature might have been a little nippy while playing on the road Friday night, but it did nothing to stop St. Vincent’s quarterback Nick Buchheit, who was hot as a pistol on the field as he led the Indians to a 42-20 win against Grandview for the eighth time in that many years.
After the Eagles opened the game by forcing a turnover on downs deep in their own territory to open the game, the Indians trounced Grandview in the first half, 42-0, thanks to Buchheit, who threw for four touchdowns, including a 32-yard straight shot to John Schwartz on a third-and-long, and things began to smell like roses for the SV team.
Indians coach Tim Schumer may have forgotten his warm clothes at home, but watching his team warm up the field took away any chills he might have had at the start.
“I thought we honestly played really well in the first half, both offensively and defensively — 42 to nothing,” he said. “Defensively, I was really happy with everything. With the type of offense that they run, you have to be very attentive and do your job on each and every play. If they run the triple option and one guy doesn't do their job, they figure it out, and it could turn into a guy running free. So, I thought we did a really great job with that.”
After running up the score in the first half Schumer put the JV in the game for the second.
“That’s when they scored 20 points,” he said. “But overall, I was very happy.”
In addition to Buchheit’s outstanding job at quarterbacking, Schumer noted that the team’s offensive line did a great job.
Cruz Reitzel has been great all year, but he was able to get some things going in the running game for us,” he said. “A 60-yard touchdown run! That was just awesome to see, but like I said, the line was doing a great job opening up holes for the running backs. I think it was another week where Nick didn’t get sacked again, so that’s always great, keeping him upright and letting him do his thing.”
Thanks to the defensive unit, Buchheit is now the leading passer in the area and a candidate for All-State honors, his first as a starter in his senior year.
Grandview was able to put a couple of points on the scoreboard during the second half against St. Vincent’s JV, but the varsity players came back into the game to put the finishing touches on another win midway through the fourth.
With a still undefeated season, hopes for taking the first Quad County Conference title remain with Perryville winning decisively against Herculaneum in its homecoming game Saturday.
After getting a conference title last year thanks to a week nine win over Jefferson, it’s a familiar scene going into the final week of the regular season as no matter what happens to the Pirates’ it’ll be a de facto title game.
Going into week nine, the Indians will be playing away this Friday against Jefferson R7 on Friday.
“They’re always a very athletic, very well-coached team,” Schumer said. “Playing up there is a little bit of a challenge because it’s just a tough place to play. We haven't had much luck there in the past, but it’s another week where we’ve got to focus on one week at a time. As I’ve been saying all season long — and it’s hard to believe we’re already in week nine — our first goal is conference.
“So, we can shore up that first goal and then hopefully springboard that momentum into districts. We’re definitely going to have to play a very good game. They’re very talented. If you let them hang around, they can make you pay for it. They have some really good players. They have a really good quarterback who is very athletic and very mobile. They have a solid physical line that we’re going to have to get ready for.”
