St. Vincent falls short of playoffs

~ The Indians needed a 10-point victory but suffered a 42-34 loss to Cleveland NJROTC

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The emotions immediately after Thursday night's game told the story.

Tears flowed from the St. Vincent players while smiles and laughs dominated the landscape on the Cleveland NJROTC side.

"We gave it all we had," an emotional St. Vincent senior Taylor Sauer said after the final game of his high school career. "We just came up short."

St. Vincent suffered a wild 42-34 loss to the visiting Commanders despite holding double-figure leads twice in the final regular-season contest for both football teams.

The Indians finished 4-6 overall and 0-3 in Class 1 District 2.

Cleveland (7-3, 2-1) will continue its season, while the Commanders gained the district's second and final playoff berth.

"It was the biggest game of my career," said Cleveland senior quarterback Brandon Harrell, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more scores. "We had to face a lot of adversity tonight."

St. Vincent's mission entering the game was clear. The Indians needed to win by at least 10 points and have Chaffee lose to Valle by at least five points. Valle cooperated by routing the Red Devils.

If that happened, then St. Vincent, Cleveland and Chaffee all would have 1-2 district records, and the Indians would make the playoffs based on point differential.

"We knew we had to come out and play tough and win big," Sauer said. "We couldn't get the job done."

There were times in the contest when it looked like the Indians would pull off the major task. They led 16-0 early in the second quarter and opened a 26-12 third-period advantage after Cleveland made it 16-12 at halftime.

But the Commanders kept battling back.

"At times, we looked really good and at other times we didn't," St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer said. "We struggled putting four quarters together all year, and tonight was no different."

There were many key plays in the game, but perhaps the biggest took place with less than five minutes left and St. Vincent ahead 34-28.

Cleveland faced fourth-and-25 from its own 25-yard line. The Commanders decided to go for it even though a loss by no more than nine points would get them into the playoffs.

Harrell lofted a bomb that freshman Juwaun Mister-Smith hauled in for a 49-yard gain and a first down at the St. Vincent 26.

"I thought it was a good play," Harrell said about the decision to go for it.

Harrell scored three plays later on a 2-yard run, and a 2-point conversion run by junior Monteze Latimore put the Commanders up 36-34 with 3 minutes, 30 seconds left.

"That fourth-down play, you felt pretty comfortable," coach Sauer said. "Then they complete that pass."

St Vincent's task of winning by at least 10 points now almost was monumental, but the Indians still wanted to end their season with a victory.

"Even at the end, you knew it would be tough with the points, but you're playing for pride," coach Sauer said.

The Indians drove inside the Cleveland 30-yard line, but an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown by sophomore Brian Crump with 1:02 left made it 42-34 and sealed Cleveland's win.

Senior Sean Martin's 28-yard field goal midway through the first quarter put St. Vincent up 3-0.

The Indians made it 10-0 just 22 seconds later when junior Dylan Richardet returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown.

Senior quarterback Tim Schumer's 21-yard pass to junior Trent Elder on the first play of the second quarter made it 16-0.

Cleveland scored twice in the final 1:11 of the half, once after recovering an onside kick, so it was 16-12 at the break.

Martin's 33-yard field goal early in the third quarter made it 19-12. Taylor Sauer then sacked Harrell, forced a fumble and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to make it 26-12 midway through the period.

"It gave us some momentum, but we weren't able to sustain it," Taylor Sauer said.

Cleveland scored 16 consecutive points for its first lead at 28-26.

Sauer's 14-yard touchdown reception from Schumer with 5:37 left in the game gave St. Vincent its final lead at 34-28.

Sauer, who hurt his ankle on the previous play, spent the rest of the contest on the sidelines and later needed crutches.

"I grew up with every one of these guys," said Taylor Sauer, one of seven St. Vincent seniors. "I wouldn't trade being here tonight with them for the world."

Cleveland 0 12 8 22 -- 42

St. Vincent 10 6 10 8 -- 34

First Quarter

SV -- Sean Martin 28 FG, 6:47

SV -- Dylan Richardet 20 INT return (Martin kick), 6:25

Second Quarter

SV -- Trent Elder 22 pass from Tim Schumer (kick failed), 11:54

C -- Monteze Latimore 44 pass from Brandon Harrell (run failed), 1:11

C -- Montey Dickerson 15 pass from Harrell (run failed), :0.6

Third Quarter

SV -- Martin 33 FG, 8:43

SV -- Taylor Sauer 22 fumble return (Martin kick), 6:15

C -- Harrell 13 run (Latimore run), 2:54

Fourth Quarter

C -- Ed Ware 2 pass from Harrell (Latimore run), 8:02

SV -- Sauer 14 pass from Schumer (Alex Winkler run), 5:37

C -- Harrell 2 run (Latimore run), 3:30

C -- Brian Crump 80 INT return (run failed), 1:02

C SV

First downs 19 14

Rushes-yards 45-171 30-84

Passing yards 140 162

Passes 7-18-2 9-27-2

Punts 3-93 4-124

Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0

Penalties-yards 15-120 10-93

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Cleveland, Michael Wells 26-135, Latimore 13-42, Harrell 4-14, Dominic Ball 1-5, Team 1-(-25). St. Vincent, Derek Joggerst 9-38, Schumer 14-36, Winkler 6-12, Levi Gotto 1-(-2).

PASSING -- Cleveland, Harrell 7-18-140-2. St. Vincent, Schumer 9-27-162-2.

RECEIVING -- Cleveland, Juwaun Mister-Smith 2-56, Ware 2-14, Latimore 1-44, Wells 1-21, Dickerson 1-15. St. Vincent, Winkler 4-71, Jesse Francis 2-44, Elder 2-33, Sauer 1-14.