Schumer leads St. Vincent football team past Herculaneum

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The St. Vincent Indians had to listen to 48 clangs from Herculaneum's victory bell after the Blackcats scored 48 points in a home victory last year.

St. Vincent returned an earful Friday.

The Indians broke out their own rendition of the bell, banging a bass drum 28 times near midfield -- one beat for every point in St. Vincent's 28-20 victory against Herculaneum.

St. Vincent senior quarterback Tim Schumer deservedly had first honors with the mallet after throwing for three touchdowns and 313 yards.

"We just started that this year," Schumer said. "The first day of practice [coach Paul Sauer] came out with the drum, and we were wondering what he was going to do, and then he beat it and told us it was a victory drum. It gave us one more reason for us to want to win the games."

The Indians (2-2) had to wait until their third game of the season to break out the drum after losses to Park Hills and Scott City, games which the Indians totaled 19 points combined.

Schumer and the Indians' offense didn't miss a beat Friday, a week after posting 55 points in their first victory of the season against Missouri Military Academy last week.

Sauer, who coached at Herculaneum for four years, has seen the Indians lose a majority of the games with the Blackcats. Herculaneum had won six of the seven most recent meetings.

"There were a lot of years up there we had to listen to the bell," Sauer said. "In 1998, when we beat them up there, we had to try to keep our kids from trying to ring their victory bell because they had heard it so many times."

The Indians took 55 raps on the drum skin last week after their road win. They've taken 83 whacks in two games.

"It's been pretty durable so far," Sauer said.

And so has the Indians' quarterback, who missed the final seven games of last season with a knee injury.

Schumer looked healthy against Herculaneum (2-2), completing 14 of 18 passes for 193 yards in the first half and finishing the night 24 of 34.

"It makes a big difference to have a quarterback back there who can be a big threat to run, and he throws the ball real nice and spreads it around," Sauer said. "That was a big part or our success tonight."

Schumer completed passes to six receivers, with senior Taylor Sauer leading the way with 10 catches for 107 yards.

"Our offense functions a lot better with him back there," Taylor Sauer said.

Senior Sean Martin added five catches for 93 yards, including a touchdown.

"[Schumer] is a three-year starter. I think it's that we're more comfortable," Martin said about having the offensive leader back in the lineup. "Everything runs smoother. He knows everything that's going on. If you don't know, he'll tell you. I guess it's more relaxed, you can say."

Junior Trent Elder, the Indians' leading receiver entering the game, pulled in four catches for 45 yards, while Derek Joggerst had a touchdown reception among two catches. Alex Winkler also had two grabs, and Jesse Francis had one.

"The receivers did a great job," Schumer said. "I owe all my credit to the receivers and the line. I can put it there, but they have to catch it and they have to block for me or I can't do anything."

Schumer's lone miscue was a second-quarter interception.

"I feel great, especially here lately," Schumer said. "The first couple weeks it was a little sore, but now I'm like 100 percent. No worries."

The Indians' defense also held Herculaneum senior running back Frank Abate to 128 yards on 23 carries. Abate was one of two running backs to top 200 yards in the Blackcats' 49-14 win against the Indians last year.

"We really focused all our attention all week to stop him," coach Sauer said. "They did get us on one big run, but for the most part I thought we did a good job of wrapping him up."

St. Vincent struck for two touchdowns in the first quarter.

Martin capped an 86-yard, 11-play drive with a 7-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring, then booted through the first of his four extra points.

The Indians failed on a fourth-down attempt in their own territory on their first possession, but they stayed aggressive with an onside kick after the touchdown and recovered it at the Herculaneum 47.

Schumer hooked up with Martin for a 37-yard pass on the first play, and when Martin fumbled it around the 10, Francis pounced on it at the Herculaneum 2.

Joggerst scored over the right side on the next play for a 14-0 lead with 1 minute, 54 seconds left in the first quarter.

St. Vincent attempted another onside kick on the following kickoff, but Herculaneum recovered at its own 46 and followed with a 15-play drive. Abate scored from 6 yards out midway through the second quarter.

Schumer's interception on the following possession led to a 17-yard touchdown run by Abate. The extra point failed, and St. Vincent took a 14-13 lead into halftime.

Schumer threw for touchdowns on the Indians' first two possessions of the second half to extend the lead to 28-13. Sauer scored on a 5-yard pass, and Joggerst found the end zone on a 14-yard catch and run with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

"That was big for us come out good after halftime and put something up and put them in a hole," Martin said.

Herculaneum, which is more adept at running the ball, was forced to turn to the air.

The Blackcats trimmed the lead to 29-20 on a 2-yard run by quarterback Blake Womacks with 3:36 left.

Herculaneum then stopped the Indians on downs at its own 42 with 1 minute left, but Francis intercepted Womacks on second-and-10 to preserve the win.

Scoring Summary

Herculaneum 0 13 0 7 -- 20

St. Vincent 14 0 14 0 -- 28

First Quarter

SV -- Sean Martin 7 pass from Tim Schumer (Sean Martin kick), 2:20

SV -- Derek Joggerst 1 run (Martin kick), 1:54

Second Quarter

H -- Frank Abate 6 run (Alex O'Toole kick), 6:26

H -- Abate 17 run (kick failed), 3:43

Third Quarter

SV -- Taylor Sauer 5 pass from Schumer (Martin kick), 5:35

SV -- Joggerst 14 pass from Schumer (Martin kick), 1:19

Fourth Quarter

H -- Blake Womacks 2 run (O'Toole kick), 3:36

Team Statistics

First downs (Herculaneum-St. Vincent) 13 22

Rushes-yards 35-125 20-20

Passing yards 92 313

Passes 9-14-1 24-34-1

Punts 2-30.5 1-19

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 2-0

Penalties-Yards 7-70 4-25

Individual Statistics

RUSHING -- Herculaneum, Abate 23-128, Bill Duncan 4-2, Womacks 6-(-12), Devon Foote 1-3, O'Toole 1-4; St. Vincent, Joggerst 7-7, Schumer 12-5, Taylor Sauer 1-3, Dylan Richardet 1-2, Levi Gotto 1-3

PASSING -- Herculaneum, Womacks 9-14-1-102; St. Vincent, Schumer 24-34-1-313

RECEIVING -- Herculaneum, Aaron Fuller 5-39, Abate 1-19, Sean Hudson 1-13, O'Toole 2-21; St. Vincent, Joggerst 2-22, Alex Winkler 2-40, Martin 5-93, Sauer 10-107, Jesse Francis 1-8, Trent Elder 4-45.