St. Vincent football defeats St. Pius at homecoming

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- St. Vincent has won conference titles, district titles and a state championship.

So while the Indians have won bigger games than Friday night's 21-12 homecoming victory against visiting St. Pius, St. Vincent may have pieced together the most resourceful win in school history.

The Indians' improved to 2-3 despite:

* Playing their second full game without starting quarterback Tim Schumer, who was injured in a Week 3 victory. The Indians called on a junior center and a backup sophomore to direct the offense.

* Asking a senior receiver who had not played football since his freshman year to be the hero.

St. Vincent's Ryan Boxdorfer tries to break away from St. Pius' Nathan Kimes during the first quarter Friday at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo. St. Vincent won 21-12. (Kristin Eberts)

* Collecting 134 yards of total offense to 314 yards by their opponent.

* Giving away a considerable size advantage on both sides of the ball.

* Spotting their opponent a 12-0 lead.

"It's not exactly what we had planned, Tim going down, but we came together as a team tonight," said sophomore quarterback Trent Elder, who threw his first varsity touchdown pass to senior receiver Adam Winkler late in the first half to spark the comeback.

Winkler pulled in the 20-yard pass with 1 minute, 29 seconds left in the first half and Phillip Ernst kicked the extra point to cut the deficit to 12-7.

St. Vincent's Ryan Wiessing runs away from the tackle of St. Pius' Will Argana during the third quarter Friday.

The touchdown came on St. Vincent's second possession with Elder at the controls. Senior center Taylor Sauer started the game at quarterback but was moved back to the line when the Indians had trouble controlling St. Pius' 320-pound senior defensive tackle Bobby Tague.

"That hurt us a lot," Sauer said of losing Schumer. "It set us back offensively, but we're working our way back up."

Elder, who was questionable due to a strained rotator cuff in his nonthrowing shoulder, completed three passes on the 50-yard drive that immediately followed St. Pius's second touchdown.

"He was nervous, but he did one hell of a job," Winkler said of Elder. "After every play he got a little more calmed down and let the game come to him."

Sparked by Winkler's first varsity touchdown reception, the defense forced three incomplete passes by St. Pius quarterback Will Basler and a punt.

St. Vincent's Derek Joggerst runs the ball as St. Pius' Nathan Kimes falls to the ground and St. Vincent's Lucas Carroll, left, blocks during the second quarter Friday at St. Vincent.

Winkler took the punt on the bounce at his own 48 and headed down the right sideline before cutting back to the middle to complete the 52-yard touchdown. St. Vincent was flagged for celebrating the touchdown, but Ernst booted through the 33-yard extra-point kick for a 14-12 lead with 45 seconds left in the half.

"That was huge. Adam Winkler came up big both times," Taylor Sauer said.

Winkler simply was looking to make amends on the punt return after fumbling away his previous chance in the first quarter. The fumble set up a 45-yard touchdown drive that staked St. Pius to a 7-0 lead.

"After the first one I muffed, I was like, 'I got to get this one back for my team,'" Winkler said. "And Ryan Wiessing set the tone with that first block. I had to get that first one back. I had to redeem myself."

Winkler scored two touchdowns in a span of 44 seconds. It also helped temper the regret of not playing two years of football. Winkler and fellow senior receiver Ryan Boxdorfer both returned this year after playing as freshmen.

"Me and him are both glad we did," Winkler said. "If I could I'd go back and play again all over again. But I wouldn't trade it for anything right now. I'm so glad I came out."

St. Vincent took a 14-12 lead into halftime despite getting outplayed. St. Pius held a 194-102 yardage advantage in the first half as both teams committed two turnovers.

St. Vincent protected its lead in the second half with defense, numerous St. Pius penalties and a time-consuming touchdown drive.

It also did a better job of handling Tague, a senior transfer from Westminster Christian Academy who just became eligible last week.

"He was a big boy," Taylor Sauer said. "He was hard to stop. We got some double-team help from my guards, Josh [Welker] and Travis [Koenig]. That pretty much took care of him."

The 16-play scoring drive started with a couple of minutes left in the third quarter and ended with 5:59 left in the game. The drive included four defensive penalties -- three offsides penalties and a personal foul -- and three fourth-down conversions. Junior Derek Joggerst scored on fourth-and 1 from the 3 for a 21-12 lead.

St. Pius needed only two plays and a penalty to reach the St. Vincent 2, but Basler mishandled the snap and Sauer, the Indians' quarterback/center/defensive end, recovered at the 4.

"He's kind of a jack of all trades," coach Paul Sauer said of his son. "He's been around the game long enough."

"Anything I can do, I'll do for them," the younger Sauer said of his multiple roles.

A personal foul on the fumble recovery moved the ball out to the 19, and two more personal fouls were assessed on the St. Pius sideline after the next play, moving the Indians all the way into Warriors territory. A 48-yard punt by Justin Breig later pinned St. Pius at its own 4 with three minutes left, which finished off the ground-oriented Warriors, who found themselves in a similar situation in a 20-6 loss a week earlier at Chaffee.

"We're a pretty physical team," said St. Pius coach Jerry Woods, whose 1-4 team lost its fourth straight game. "We're just finding ways to lose instead of finding ways to win."

The Warriors committed 14 penalties for 133 yards in addition to three turnovers. It erased a large chunk of the lopsided advantage it held in yards.

Evan Temperato had 104 yards rushing for St. Pius, which had 260 yards on the ground.

St. Vincent had 79 yards rushing on 39 attempts as Mitchell Presnell led the way with 34 yards on 11 carries. The Indians held a one-yard advantage in passing.

"I talk to our kids a lot about sometimes we do more things to stop ourselves than what our opponent does," coach Sauer said. "And I think that's what happened with St. Pius tonight. They just had some incidents where they couldn't get out of their own way. That's tough when you hold yourself back."

St. Pius 6 6 0 0 -- 12

St. Vincent 0 14 0 7 -- 21

First Quarter

SP -- Jake Woods 34 run (kick fails), 5:29

Second Quarter

SP -- Evan Temperato 3 run (run fails), 2:56

SV -- Adam Winkler 20 pass from Trent Elder (Phillip Ernst kick), 1:29

SV -- Adam Winkler 52 punt return (Ernst kick), :45

Fourth Quarter

SV -- Derek Joggerst 3 run (Ernst kick), 5:59

SP SV

First downs 12 12

Rushes-yards 44-260 39-79

Passing yards 54 55

Passes 3-10-0 9-17-1

Punts 2-38 4-32.5

Fumbles-Lost 4-3 2-1

Penalties-Yards 14-133 7-75

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- St. Pius, Evan Temperato 18-104, Luke Linderer 7-20, Will Basler 8-40, Jake Woods 1-34, Charlie Argana 9-58, Bobby Tague 1-4; St. Vincent, Taylor Sauer 3-29, Ryan Weissing 7-7, Mitchell Presnell 11-34, Derek Joggerst 11-18, Trent Elder 6-(-14), Lucas Janet 1-5

PASSING -- St. Pius, Will Basler 3-10-54-0; St. Vincent, Taylor Sauer 3-6-21-1, Trent Elder 6-11-34-0

RECEIVING -- St. Pius, Luke Rumping 1-39, Luke Linderer 2-15; St. Vincent, Ryan Boxdorfer 2-16, Adam Winkler 4-27, Derek Joggerst 1-3, Phillip Ernst 2-9.