St. Vincent finally defeats Jefferson, repeats as I55 Conference champions

It’s been a long time coming for the seniors of St. Vincent.

After three years of coming up short against Jefferson, the Indians finally got over the hump and prevailed over the Blue Jays 28-21 on Friday, Oct. 20, in Perryville, Mo.

"I've never beaten them in my career, and that's one thing I stressed a bunch this week," said St. Vincent senior linebacker Drake Robinson. "I wanted that one under my belt. It felt personal because it seemed like every year we were right there with Jefferson and we could never finish the game.

"This year we finally finished a close game," he added. "We haven't finished a close game yet so that was a big dealbreaker for us. Everybody's really excited and I'm ready to celebrate with the guys."

With the win, the Indians have won the I55 Conference championship for the second consecutive season.

"It's great just to show how much work we put in during the offseason," Senior quarterback Christian Schaaf said. "I know we lost a lot last year with the seniors, but know we came back with the younins and just dominated."

St. Vincent quarterback Christian Schaaf runs against Jefferson on Friday, Oct. 20, at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

The Indians were five yards away from potentially scoring their fifth touchdown of the game with half of a minute to go in the game. Schaaf could have simply run it in for his second score of the game after scoring a touchdown run in the third quarter, but instead, he took a knee, called it a day, and celebrated with his teammates.

"We don't get to do the victory formation very often but in a conference championship game, it just feels amazing," Schaaf said.

Junior running back Cruz Reitzel scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half to keep St Vincent tied with Jefferson 14-14. He scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter to add his season total to 12.

“It felt awesome,” Reitzel said. “It’s hype all the time.”

He got a lot of help from the front line that overpowered the Blue Jays in the trenches.

"Our offense line did amazing, opened up some holes for our running backs," Schaaf said. "We just destroyed the running game."

“The big boys up front have been putting in the work all season,” said junior offensive lineman Boston Tarrillion. “We’re just ready to run it down the mouth. You can’t stop us.”

St. Vincent defensive back John Schwartz celebrates intercepting a pass against Jefferson on Friday, Oct. 20, at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

The defense stepped up to limit the Blue Jays to only one touchdown in the second half.

"We made a couple of adjustments," Robinson said. "They had us with the double-wing and they were doing a lot of motions, a lot of fibs and stuff. It was really about containing their quarterback."

A couple of key turnovers, including an interception from defensive back John Schwartz, his sixth in the year, turned the tide in St. Vincent's favor.

"It really turned the whole emotion of the game around," Schwartz said. "We ended up scoring from it, which won us the game."

St. Vincent running back Cruz Reitzel crosses the goal line for the go-ahead touchdown against Jefferson on Friday, Oct. 20, at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

With the win, the Indians finished the regular season 6-3. They began the season 0-2 but went undefeated in conference play to finish the season strong.

"It feels great to actually go 6-0," Tarrillion said. "Last year we went 5-1 so it feels good to win out."

St. Vincent enters the Class 1 District 2 Tournament with the top seed and a bye in the first round. If the bracket is anything like last year, the Indians will await the winner between Chaffee (5) and Van-Far on Oct. 27. the Indians were the top seed of a different, much more loaded district last year but this year, their senior captains are fully confident in their chances this time around.

"I really think we can go as far as our minds think we can go," Robinson said. "It's really a mind game. If you believe you're gonna win a game, you're gonna win a game."

"Sky's the limit," Schaaf said. "For sure, we could go all the way through districts. The state tournament might be difficult but if we keep playing like we have been, there's not stopping us."