AFTER ROUGH STRETCH, ST. VINCENT ON A ROLL

In 1984, St. Vincent High's football team posted a 7-4 record and made its first playoff appearance. The Indians lost to Hayti in that first-round game, but a year later, they were back in the sectional round, this time carrying a 10-0 mark.

St. Vincent lost not only the game against John Burroughs but 22 seniors to graduation that year. And the Indians wouldn't be heard from again for eight years.

From 1986 to 1993, St. Vincent went 20-58. Especially lean was 1990 to 1993, when the Indians slogged through a 6-34 record.

Enrollment at St. Vincent was down during some of those years, and many of the boys in the school simply weren't interested in playing football. One particularly meager year, 1990, only 33 boys in grades nine through 12 went out for football, 17 of whom were freshmen. The Indians went 1-9 that season.

Meanwhile, Mineral Area Activities Association foes such as Valle of Ste. Genevieve, Potosi, Ste. Genevieve, Farmington and North County were enjoying winning records and playoff appearances.

"Playing those schools back-to-back-to-back-to-back weeks every year kind of took a toll on us," said Bruce Valleroy, who was an assistant football coach at St. Vincent in 1987 and head coach from 1988 to 1992. "That shied a few kids away (from playing football) when we were getting our butt beat week in and week out. The kids just didn't want to come out."

How times have changed.

Of 93 boys enrolled at St. Vincent this year, 70 went out for football. St. Vincent is in the midst of its fifth consecutive season with at least a 7-3 record. The Indians made their third straight playoff appearance this year, and even won their first playoff game in school history. And their second. And their third.

Now they look for the fourth. St. Vincent will play for the state championship at noon Friday against North Platte in the Trans World Dome in St. Louis.

The team's turnaround, which saw them improve from 1-9 in 1993 to 8-3 a year later, stemmed in large part from its move from the MAAA to the Jefferson County Conference's small-schools division. The Indians started playing more teams with enrollments similar to theirs, and the wins began to come.

Paul Sauer returned to his alma mater in 1995 and promptly led St. Vincent to a 7-3 record. In Sauer's five years, the Indians are 45-11.

"After we won a couple years, I think it's taken its course and gone on," said Valleroy, who has been athletics director at the school for the past six years.

"We've built the program. When I coached, I had one assistant in the whole program, grades 9 through 12. And when you've got two coaches to coach 50 kids, that's pretty tough. Now we have at least four or five coaches on the staff."

And the leader of that staff, Sauer, has thrived while presiding over the Indians' sustained success.

"Paul's done an excellent job," Valleroy said. "He came in and put in his system and the kids have adapted real well to it. He helped me one year when he was in college, and I knew then how knowledgeable he was. He relates very well to kids and understands them."

But even Sauer couldn't have predicted three years ago that this team would be 13-0 and play for the Class 1A state title. As freshmen, this season's seniors struggled to a 2-5 mark. But the next year they went 6-1 on the JV team.

Now, Valleroy said, they have even come up with a slogan:

Win state in '98.

Indians' Turnaround

After going 10-1 in 1985, St. Vincent had eight straight losing seasons. But the Indians have now had five consecutive winning seasons, capped by the 13-0 record they will carry into Friday's 1A championship game. Following is a look at how the Indians have fared over the last 14 years:

1998 - 13-0 1991 - 2-8

1997 - 8-3 1990 - 1-9

1996 - 9-2 1989 - 4-5

1995 - 7-3 1988 - 4-5

1994 - 8-3 1987 - 3-7

1993 - 1-9 1986 - 2-8

1992 - 2-8 1985 - 10-1