For the first time since 2007, St. Vincent defeated Valle Catholic in a football game. And the Indian fan base let them know just how proud they were with one loud roar at the game’s end Friday night at Father Dempsey Field.
The Indians twice struck early and never looked back as their defense finished the rest, thus handing the host Warriors a 24-7 defeat in Week 2.
Unlike in the past 17 years, St. Vincent (2-0) did not want to let the host Warriors get rolling.
The Indians charged out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter — giving them 67 points on the season before allowing one single point — and answered Valle’s only score in the third period with two more scores of their own, also in the third.
Every Indian scoring drive was in three minutes or less, with their first and last scores, both coming in under 10 seconds. Each of their drives needed no more than only nine plays.
The win set up a Week 3 matchup against crosstown rival Perryville at St. Vincent. Both teams are undefeated after two games.
The Pirates held off De Soto 31-28 this past Friday and beat Fredericktown 28-14 in the season opener.
The Indians also rolled over Ste. Genevieve 53-0 in Week 1.
On Friday, quarterback Nick Buchheit and tight end Jacob Seabaugh, both seniors, twice hooked up for touchdown passes, while junior Wyatt Winkler added a 31-yard field goal plus three extra-point kicks for six total points of his own.
But it was senior running back Cruz Reitzel who got the party started on the Indians’ very first play from scrimmage — a 43-yard touchdown run just over one minute into the game. That score came just after Valle went 3-and-out to punt.
Buchheit and Seabaugh’s first connection came a short while later for a 14-point lead with 7:20 remaining in the first.
The Warriors, who left three potential scores on the field with dropped passes, finally scored late in the third frame when senior quarterback Wyatt Fallert hit senior Colin Henderson for a 31-yard TD pass, followed by senior kicker Wil Kuehn’s PAT for their only score of the game. It was the only play of the drive at that.
After another Buchheit to Seabaugh TD pass two minutes later, Winkler booted his 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining in the third for the eventual final score.
Defensively, senior defensive back John Schwartz had an interception.
No other stats were available.
It was the first time Valle had been shut out at halftime in a few years.
St. Vincent scored 24 points on Valle for the first time since its 2004 state title season and the first time it scored more than 14 points against Valle since 2010.
It is also the first time St. Vincent beat both Ste. Genevieve and Valle Catholic in the same season for several decades.
Looking back at his team’s win over the Warriors, Coach Tim Schumer was pleased that the Indians scored on their first offensive play.
“I was able to capitalize on some more points to give us the lead, and then it was kind of a back-and-forth game from there, but we were able to stay on top and finish it out,” he said. “We came out with a lot of energy and got them to go three and out the first drive and then capitalized on our first offensive play with a 43-yard touchdown. Then, you know, kind of coming back out on defense, forcing the turnover, and again getting another score in the end zone to extend the lead and give us a little cushion.
“The rest of the first half was a very good back-and-forth game, but I thought our defense came up big with a few key stops. They made it all the way inside the 10-yard line, and we were able to get them to turn it over on downs to keep the momentum going on our side and keep them off the scoreboard. Then, in the second half, they punched one in to cut our lead in half to 14 to 7. We responded by driving right down the field and got back up two scores. That gave us a little cushion back, which was very big.”
Not singling out any of his players for the win, Schumer said, “All hands were on deck. It was just a total team effort.”
Looking ahead to this week, Coach Schumer is well aware that Friday’s game against the Perryville Pirates is one of the most important games of the season.
“That's a big game — especially for our players — because they’re getting to play the people they grew up with from across the town,” he said. “It's definitely one that you want to make sure you're focusing on all the little things and not letting the outside noise get to you too much. Coming off of a big game last week like we had, you definitely don't want to fall into that trap mentality. We’ve celebrated the win, but now we're ready to start going back to work.”
