'14 years too many'; St. Vincent wins first district title since 2009

It's been 14 years since the St. Vincent football team won a district championship.

2009 was so long ago that Indians head coach Tim Schumer was the quarterback for that team.

"A long time coming," Schumer said. "14 years too many."

The Indians completed their Class 1 District 2 domination with a 45-14 win over Crystal City on Friday, Nov. 17, at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo. Even though the Indians have the Class 1 semifinals coming up next weekend and potentially the state championship game the week after, winning the district felt like the top of the mountain for the senior class.

"I feel like I've been striving towards this all my high school career," St. Vincent senior linebacker Drake Robinson said.

St. Vincent tight end Jacob Schremp said his fellow seniors have been talking about eventually winning the district championship since they were playing football for the first time in middle school. Robinson echoed that statement and added that it is "a warm feeling that it all came together."

"Just because we're so small, it seems like we're so close," Robinson said. "We've been through it all together, all the thick, all the thin. We've all been there for each other since we were little kids. We first started playing in seventh grade. It's just so rewarding, all the hours of time just coming together with the guys you grew up with. There's something special about that, something special about high school football."

It was not just a win for the current senior class but for those that came before them.

"A lot of the former players that I coached were here to celebrate," Schumer said. "[Winning the title] was as much for them as it was for the guys playing on the field. Most of those classes that I've been able to have the privilege of coaching laid the groundwork for what we were able to do tonight and this season."

St. Vincent head coach Tim Schumer, center, hoist the Class 1 District 2 championship trophy while addressing his team after defeating Crystal City in the Class 1 District 2 championship game on Friday, Nov. 17, at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo. Schumer was the quarterback the last time the Indians won a district title. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Cruz Reitzel scored the Indians' first and last touchdown of the game to bring his total up to 19 on the season. Schaaf turned a 4th-and-7 situation into a touchdown when he dumped the ball to John Schwarz, who dodged his defender and ran all the way to the end zone to give the Indians a 14-0 lead.

The Hornets responded with two touchdowns of their own to tie the game in the second quarter. However, the Indians finished the first half with a touchdown run by Schaaf to go to halftime up 21-14.

The Indians outscored Crystal City 24-0 throughout the second half.

"In the first half, we were kind of frustrated," Schremp said. "In the locker room, we talked it out and got a good game plan going."

St. Vincent quarterback Christian Schaaf scored two touchdowns on the ground and threw for two more in the game. He now has 20 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing touchdowns on the season.

"The feeling is amazing," Schaaf said. "Everybody worked together as one tonight."

Schaaf's second touchdown pass was a deep ball from captain to captain in the second half.

"The receiver just broked open, I had my lane to throw it," Schaaf said. "I just delivered the ball. My line gave me time to throw it."

"We're all trying to throw teams off their game, catch them by surprise," Schemp said.

St. Vincent's Kale Meyer raises his helmet alongside teammates in celebration after defeating Crystal City in the Class 1 District 2 championship game on Friday, Nov. 17, at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo.Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

It's been a long year for the Indians. Entering the season with high expectations, St. Vincent started 0-2 after close losses on the road at Thayer and Scott City, both teams that went far in their respective district tournaments. Defeating Perryville and Herculaneum by a combined score of 89-7 gave the Indians confidence that the best was yet to come.

They were then power bombed back down to earth by the Warriors of Valle Catholic in a devastating 54-0 loss that Schumer called a measuring stick game prior to kickoff.

Instead of folding at 2-3, the Indians ignited a blazing seven-game winning streak right through the I55 Conference and C1D2 Tournament en route to the Class 1 semifinals.

"I would say we probably exceeded [expectations] just because of how young we were at the start," Schumer said. "We graduated nine starters on offense last year and probably six or seven, if not more, on defense. So there was a lot of unknown."

For an institution rooted in faith, it was a good thing the players never lost it.

"I believed that before the season started," Robinson said. "I had faith all the way through."

Now with the conference and district title under their belt, the Indians await the winner between Portageville and Marionville on Saturday.