AN ARROW SHORT OF TITLE: ST. VINCENT FALLS 30-7 IN 1A FINAL

North Platte's Dave Pearson (83) tackled St. Vincent running back Bryan Meyer in the first half of Friday's 1A championship game at the Trans World Dome.

ST. LOUIS -- J.D. Biermann.

It's a name St. Vincent High players and fans may not soon forget.

Thanks to Biermann's record-setting performance, North Platte rolled to a 30-7 victory over St. Vincent in the Class 1A MSHSAA Show-Me Bowl at the Trans World Dome Friday afternoon.

North Platte, which posted records of just 2-7 and 3-6 the past two seasons respectively, finshed the season 12-2 and garnered its first state championship.

St. Vincent's best season ever ended at 13-1.

Biermann, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound senior, completed 14 of 26 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown. He also had a 22-yard touchdown run and on defense a key interception that led to a score.

Biermann's 14 completions established a Class 1A record, eclipsing the previous standard of 12. And the Panthers' 21 first downs were the most in the class' 30-year history, topping the 20 Ste. Genevieve Valle had in 1995. North Platte outgained the Indians 342 yards to 136.

North Platte coach Lance Johnston, who entered this season with a 13-15 career record in three seasons, proclaimed Biermann "probably the best quarterback in the state of Missouri, if not the Midwest."

St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer knew what to expect, as Biermann had already thrown for 2,800 yards this season. But stopping Biermann was another matter.

"I tip my hat to their quarterback," Sauer said. "He delivered the football into some tight spots. We hoped that we would have a little better coverage, but it just didn't happen today.

"I'd say he's probably the best (quarterback) we saw all year."

North Platte's Jake Denny caught seven passes for 106 yards and tied the record for receptions. And running back Josh Baker rushed 22 times for 99 yards and three touchdowns.

St. Vincent running back Bryan Meyer gained 137 yards on 20 carries but only 34 of those yards came in the second half. Meyer's 30-yard touchdown run in the second quarter provided all the Indians' scoring.

"I knew if we could shut down their toss-sweep and their lead, we'd win," Johnston said. "They had some runs on us in the first half because we were overpursuing. (Meyer) is a good little tailback, he's quick and he made some good runs.

"But we were able to make some adjustments at half to get him stopped."

The Indians could not have endured a much more catastrophic start. Punting from its 44 on its first possession, St. Vincent's Ryan Lindsley launched the snap past punter Gabe Hotop to the 5 and Hotop tracked it down and ran it to the 19 before being taken down. Beirmann's 15-yard toss to Denny made the score 6-0.

"We definitely didn't anticipate giving them the field position that we gave them early on," Sauer said. "That really hurt us."

Then on the first play of St. Vincent's ensuing possession, quarterback Joey Ponder was intercepted by Biermann. That set up a 3-yard Baker touchdown run, in which he slammed against a couple St. Vincent defenders before diving and scraping the ball against the endzone pylon.

Four minutes 40 seconds into the second quarter, North Platte boosted its lead to 18-0 as Biermann capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 22-yard touchdown scamper.

Down but not out, St. Vincent answered on its next possession with Meyer's 30-yard scoring run. Meyer broke right then saw an opening to the left and headed for the endzone.

Trailing 18-7 at halftime, the Indians were still in the game. But not for long.

"At halftime we still had faith that we could pull it out," Sauer said. "But that opening drive really hurt us."

Runs of 12 and 15 yards by Baker set up his 3-yard touchdown run with 7:30 remaining in the third quarter. The Panthers added a 15-play, 95-yard drive in the fourth quarter that resulted in Baker's third scoring run, this one of 1 yard.

In the interview room after the game, Sauer choked back tears while reflecting on an outstanding campaign that fell just a bit short.

"It was a tough loss today," Sauer said, "but I think in time you look back at it, and it's a pretty remarkable season."