Indians' repeat bid ends vs. Valle

~ St. Vincent, the defending Class 1 state champions, will not make the playoffs after a 26-0 loss.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The epic meeting between defending Class 1 state champion St. Vincent and perennial power Valle Catholic of Ste. Genevieve turned out to be historic -- though not exactly for the expected reasons.

The Indians lost to a Class 1 team for the first time since 2003 and were shut out for the first time in 43 games dating back to 2002, as Valle posted a 26-0 victory to claim the District 1 championship and the Mississippi Area Football Conference Blue Division title.

Both teams entered 6-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play. And both teams, emphasizing power football, knew that establishing the run would decide the winner.

Valle Catholic racked up 205 yards on the ground, as two-time all-state receiver Jay Pope had 101 yards on 15 carries in his first start at tailback. Fullback Nathan Grass added 71 yards, and quarterback Sean Odneal completed eight of nine passes for 111 yards and three touchdowns.

"We knew we had to stop the Grass, Odneal and Pope combination," St. Vincent coach Keith Winkler. "They just executed. They made the plays when they had to."

St. Vincent, meanwhile, ended up with just 88 yards rushing.

"We knew we had to stop the running game," Valle coach Judd Naeger said. "If they could beat us by throwing the football, they were going to beat us."

St. Vincent quarterback Tim Guilliams completed 11 of 20 passes to seven different receivers for 114 yards. But the Indians were in more third-and-long situations than they desired, and converted just two of 10.

"My hat's off to Valle," Winkler said. "They did a great job on defense. They didn't miss a tackle. They got their arms around us and made tackles."

The Warriors put 20 points on the scoreboard before St. Vincent was able to pick up a first down in the final minutes of the first half.

After the teams traded punts on the opening possessions, Valle hogged up the ball for the rest of the first half in nearly unstoppable fashion.

A 50-yard drive -- aided by a 4-yard pass from Odneal to Ben Kist on fourth-and-3 and a facemask penalty on the Indians -- ended with a 4-yard pass from Odneal to Kist for the game's first score with 44 seconds left in the opening period.

After a three-and-out by St. Vincent and 43-yard punt by Waylon Richardet, Valle put together a 95-yard scoring drive. Odneal passed to Pope, who raced through the Indians secondary for a 58-yard scoring play to make it 14-0.

Valle's next drive covered 62 yards and was capped by Grass. One play after plowing the entire St. Vincent defense 14 yards to the 1, the 6-foot-1, 221-pound junior finished the drive. The kick was blocked.

Although struggling, St. Vincent had its chances to swing the momentum.

Trailing 20-0, the Indians had a 40-yard kick return from Eric Clements to spark a drive into the red zone. Guilliams completed a 17-yard pass to Dustin Winkler on a fourth-down play and threw a pass that Clements could not haul in on the goal line before the drive ended on downs.

St. Vincent opened the second half with a drive from its own 32 to the red zone again. The drive featured a play in which Richardet had his punt blocked, then picked it up and ran 17 yards for a first down. Guilliams also made a 21-yard pass to Greg Finger after ducking a sack, but the Indians stalled out on the 13.

Valle didn't take long to answer, as Pope ran 32 yards on the first play of an 87-yard drive that ran out the period. Odneal threw a jump ball to Kist on a fourth-and-goal to cap the drive.

"I thought our kids played hard," Winkler said. "We kept trying to score and we kept trying to stop them.

"We set our goals high, and it hurts when you don't achieve those goals. But we've got Hayti next week and we'll find out how our kids bounce back from adversity."