ST. VINCENT BLOCKS CRYSTAL CITY'S PATH TO VICTORY 19-14

St. Vincent's punt return team came up big in Friday night's Jefferson County Conference victory over Crystal City, earning eight points in the Indians' 19-14 road win.

The Indians blocked a Hornet punt in the first quarter, returning the block for the first score of the game and earned a safety late in the game when the snap went over the head of the Crystal City punter and into the end zone.

The victory improved St. Vincent to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the JeffCo small school division. Crystal City fell to 3-2 and 0-2 in the league.

The blocked punt propelled St. Vincent to a 17-0 first-half lead before Crystal City rallied to make it close. Pat Brown returned the block 26 yards and Dustin Moll's kick put the Indians ahead 7-0. Moll added a 20-yard field goal that made the score 10-0.

Indian quarterback Joey Ponder went over from two yards out to give St. Vincent its biggest lead of the game. Moll's kick made it 17-0.

The Indians led 17-6 at halftime and 17-14 late in the fourth quarter when the Hornets were forced to punt deep in their own territory with 3:47 left. But the snap went over the punter's head for a safety and the Indians held on to win.

St. Vincent battles JeffCo foe St. Pius -- 2-3 overall, but 2-0 in the small school division -- on the road Friday.

Call it a season

The Scott City Rams equalled their win total in each of the past two season under coach Terry Flannigan with a 59-0 victory at Chaffee Friday.

Scott City, now 4-1, will host Caruthersville next week with a good chance of getting elusive win No. 5 for Flannigan.

"We take it week by week, we don't look past each week," said Rams running back Howie Stubenrauch following the game. "Each week is like a round until we get to the final battle in the last week."

New training method?

Stubenrauch was one of three Scott City players that missed last week's win over Grandview for disciplinary reasons.

The players put in some extra time on the practice field this week, with Stubenrauch responding with 158 yards and four touchdown on only seven carries. One of Stubenrauch's TDs was a 75-yard punt return.

"During the discipline week we ran the dog out of them," said Flannigan. "But they were positive, took their punishment and came back and worked hard this week."

Caruthersville on the board

The Caruthersville Tigers scored for the first time in the 1997 season Friday night, getting in the end zone twice for a 13-12 win over East Prairie.

The Tigers improved to 1-3 overall. East Prairie dropped to 2-3.