Paris ends St. Vincent's season in Class 1 football playoff opener

~ The Indians lost their Class 1 playoff opener 42-14 on Wednesday

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Paris backed St. Vincent into a big first-half corner Wednesday night.

The Indians battled their way out of it briefly, but in the end had few answers for a hot Coyotes team.

Paris made the bus ride of more than four hours well worth it as the Coyotes steamrolled St. Vincent 42-14 in a Class 1 regional playoff game.

"This is by far one of our best games of the season," Paris coach Josh Klusmeyer said. "We were able to click on offense."

St. Vincent's Tim Schumer carries against Paris during the second quarter of their Class 1 regional Wednesday in Perryville, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

The Coyotes (6-5) advanced to Monday's sectional matchup at undefeated Valle, which routed Paris 46-0 in last week's regular-season finale.

St. Vincent ended its season 5-6 after the Indians had a four-game winning streak snapped.

"They were pretty quick," St. Vincent senior Kyle Rollet said. "We didn't think they were going to be that good."

The Coyotes' record said they weren't that good during the regular season, although three of their losses were to undefeated squads.

But Paris, despite playing without its normal starting quarterback, dominated offensively as it scored on five of its seven possessions with its starters on the field.

"They played well, but we just didn't step up on defense," St. Vincent senior C.J. Pavlovsky said. "We should have done more to slow them down."

The Coyotes led 21-0 before St. Vincent even got a first down, thanks to three impressive first-half touchdown drives that covered 80, 75 and 71 yards.

"They really played well offensively," St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer said.

Despite being outplayed most of the night, St. Vincent used a flurry late in the first half to get back in the game.

The Indians, who had run just nine offensive plays by the time they fell behind 21-0, finally got their offense going.

St. Vincent picked up its initial first down of the opening half with less than five minutes remaining as the Indians crossed midfield for the first time.

The 55-yard drive ended on Pavlovsky's 3-yard run with 1 minute, 2 seconds left before the intermission. Rollet's PAT trimmed the Paris lead to 21-7.

Deciding not to play it safe, Paris went to the air deep in its own territory. Pavlovsky intercepted an Alex Thomas pass and returned it 17 yards to the Paris 28 with 47 seconds left.

Pavlovsky caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Tim Schumer with 11.2 seconds remaining. Rollet's PAT made it 21-14 and gave the Indians plenty of momentum.

"We thought at halftime we had something going," Sauer said.

The Indians continued to surge as they took the second-half kickoff and drove from their 35 to a first down at the Paris 31.

But consecutive motion penalties set the Indians back a total of 10 yards. They never could make up that distance and gave up the football on downs.

Paris answered with a 70-yard touchdown drive to make it 27-14. The Coyotes returned an interception for a touchdown on St. Vincent's next possession and the Indians were pretty much done for the night.

"We were driving, then we got the two penalties," Sauer said. "They came back and scored and really never looked back."

While Paris rushed for 128 yards, the Coyotes' passing attack hurt St. Vincent the most.

Thomas, a sophomore, completed 16 of 23 for 218 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for a score.

What made the performance of Thomas even more impressive is that he's not Paris' regular signal caller.

The Coyotes' starting quarterback suffered a broken leg the week before district play started.

Klusmeyer said Wednesday's contest was only the second full game behind center for Thomas, who began the season at fullback but was Paris' JV quarterback last year.

"He played the game of his life," Klusmeyer said.

Said Sauer: "He was very accurate. From what we saw on film, he wasn't near the passer the other guy was. But he stepped up tonight."

So did all-state senior wide receiver Jon Gilliam, who caught eight passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns.

Gilliam repeatedly made tough catches in traffic and he recorded an acrobatic, diving reception over the middle to set up the touchdown that made it 21-0.

"He caught everything they threw his way," Sauer said.

Klusmeyer said Gilliam already has been approached by the University of Missouri, which wants him to join the program as a preferred walk-on.

"He's a really good player," Klusmeyer said.

Paris finished with a total offense edge of 346 to 233, with about 50 of St. Vincent's yards coming in the closing minutes against Paris reserves.

Despite the loss, Sauer had praise for the Indians after they battled back from an 0-4 start to win five of their last seven games.

"I am very proud of them," Sauer said. "What a great bunch."

Paris 6 15 14 7 -- 42

St. Vincent 0 14 0 0 -- 14

First Quarter

P -- Alex Thomas 26 run (kick blocked), 7:22

Second Quarter

P -- Jon Gilliam 20 pass from Thomas (Hezzy Long pass from Thomas), 11:53

P -- Kable Ragsdale 5 pass from Thomas (Kevin Elizado Rojas kick), 5:09

SV -- C.J. Pavlovsky 3 run (Kyle Rollet kick), 1:02

SV -- Pavlovsky 23 pass from Tim Schumer (Rollet kick), :11

Third Quarter

P -- Gilliam 11 pass from Thomas (kick failed), 2:00

P -- Tyler Dunlap 35 interception return (Thomas pass from Gilliam), :21

Fourth Quarter

P -- Gilliam 30 pass from Thomas (Rojas kick), 5:21

P SV

First downs 19 16

Rushes-yards 35-128 43-151

Passing yards 218 82

Passes 16-23-1 6-15-2

Punts 1-26 2-32

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 11-90 7-75

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Paris, Dunlap 20-86, Thomas 6-48, Bradley Unterbrink 3-3, Ragsdale 1-9, Benjamin Unterbrink 2-5, Jordan Melendez 1-0, Steven Hayhurst 1-minus 2, team 1-minus 1. St. Vincent, Pavlovsky 22-73, Derek Triller 7-32, Schumer 10-25, Rollet 1-13, Alex Hunt 1-4, Dylan Geringer 1-3, Justin Eggers 1-1.

PASSING -- Paris, Thomas 16-23-1-218. St. Vincent, Schumer 6-15-2-82.

RECEIVING -- Paris, Gilliam 8-139, Ragsdale 7-69, Dunlap 1-10. St. Vincent, Rollet 3-31, Pavlovsky 2-28, Hunt 1-23.