St. Vincent football made the most of the season with a trip to the state final four this fall. The same could be said for the team’s postseason honors. The Indians had five players be named to the Class 1 All-State team when it was recently announced.
St. Vincent had three first-team selections and two second team selections.
“It was very cool to see those guys get recognized on the state level,” St. Vincent coach Tim Schumer said. “It’s a testament to all their hard work and dedication.”
None were more vital to the success than senior linebacker Drake Robinson who led the team and all of the Southeast Missouri area with 173 total tackles this season to earn first team honors. Robinson also added 23 tackles for loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and one defensive touchdown.
“When I was at the state meeting he was up there among players with the most tackles,” Schumer said. “He was a guy that I thought should have gotten some recognition last year, but didn’t. Part of that is the teams that are farther in the playoffs get most of the recognition. He is a player that I feel deserve this more than any of them.”
Junior Boston Tarillion was named to the first team as an offensive lineman. While Tarillion doesn’t have too many individual stats, he was an anchor at right tackle for a young offensive line and a team that rushed for 1,900-plus yards, threw for more than 2,300 yards and broke the school record for points in a season (434).
“Coming into the year we graduated five offensive linemen, so there was a lot of unknown, but he did a great job of taking over as a leader for that position group,” Schumer said.
While Robinson was bringing down ball carriers at an impressive rate, junior John Schwartz was making sure no wide receivers were going anywhere either. Schwartz was a first team selection after compiling 47 total tackles, with one forced fumble, five pass breakups, a team leading seven interceptions and one defensive touchdown. Schwartz was only targeted 31 times and allowed just nine receptions all season.
“He was a key part of our defense all year and a shutdown guy for the receivers that he went up against,” Schumer said. “You just put him on the other team’s best players and he was essentially out of the game.”
Both of St. Vincent’s second team selections were a big part of the Indian offense as senior quarterback Christian Schaaf threw for 2,374 yards on a 67 percent completion rate with 21 touchdowns. He also used his feet quite frequently rushing for a team-high 719 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“I believe the passing yards could be a single season record for the program,” Schumer said. “He did a little bit of everything. He was always a passer, but he was able to use his legs more this year. When he and Cruz were working together they were a tough tandem to stop.”
Junior running back Cruz Reitzel was also a touchdown machine to garner second team honors. He rushed for 653 yards and 19 touchdowns, while also having 128 yards recieiving and another two scores.
“Cruz was a big part of our ability to be more of a balanced offense,” Schumer said. “He got into a groove in the middle of the season and took what the defense was giving him. He had a good nose for the goal line when we got close to the endzone.”
St. Vincent went 9-4 this season, and captured its second straight I-55 Conference title and first district title since 2009.
