RAMS' SILENCE ENDS IN WIN

SCOTT CITY -- As you may recall from childhood, if you step on a crack, you break your mother's back.

It seemed as though Scott City's football team thought something of the like would happen if it stepped on and over the goal line in the first half of its season opener Friday against St. Vincent.

The Rams coughed up the ball twice on the goal line in the first half, making it 10 straight quarters in which St. Vincent had held them scoreless.

But with its defense, which allowed St. Vincent only 44 yards on 35 rushes and 160 yards total offense, keeping it in the game, Scott City, trailing 3-0, scored once in the third quarter and again in the fourth, breaking the young Indians' back and winning 12-3.

St. Vincent, which went 9-2 last year but lost much of its team to graduation this season, had shut out Scott City the previous two seasons.

"It was a sloppy win, but we'll take it and enjoy the weekend. I'm pleased," said Scott City coach Terry Flannigan. "When you're inside their 10 you've got to score, and we shot ourselves in the foot when we should have done a few things, but our defense is going to have to carry us and we didn't do too bad."

After St. Vincent's Dustin Moll kicked a 25-yard field goal at the 8:49 mark of the third quarter to break the 0-0 tie, Scott City moved the ball 70 yards on its ensuing possession, which was capped by a 27-yard touchdown pass from Lance Amick to Jason Bickings.

Amick completed 11 of 16 attempts for 139 yards and was intercepted once. Bickings caught four passes for 55 yards, all in the second half.

The Rams added an 80-yard drive late in the game that running back Howie Stubenrauch finished with a 27-yard scoring run. Stubenrauch ran the ball eight times for 65 yards, 48 of which came during the scoring drive.

St. Vincent just didn't have the players to put together a long drive.

"Last year we had a lot of horses . . . (and this year) the shoe was on the other foot," said St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer. "Scott City's got a dandy team this year. We're just young and inexperienced and we have to learn from our mistakes tonight."

While Scott City's defense was solid and the offense was able to move the ball, turnovers prevented a more one-sided outcome.

On the Rams' second possession, running back Travis Burger fumbled away the ball on the goal line. Then on their next possession, Amick lost a snap on the goal line.