St. Vincent football team picks up first win against Kelly

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- St. Vincent quarterback Joe Whistler was just looking for two yards and to move the chains when he burrowed behind junior center Ethan Pecaut on a third-down run on the Indians' first possession of the game at his own 21-yard line Friday night.

"That's designed for a yard or two, and then just keep driving your feet and see where you get," Whistler said.

Whistler kept his momentum going forward, and so did the Indians in a 38-19 victory over visiting Kelly.

Whistler ended up in the end zone on what amounted to a 79-yard quarterback sneak.

He added a conventional 1-yard sneak for a touchdown on St. Vincent's second possession on much the same play, part of a 217-yard rushing night for the senior.

St. Vincent's Blake Hellman, left, and Layne Hlavek congratulate Nick Cissell, center, after he blocked a pass to Kelly's Skylar Lemons, bottom, in the second quarter, Friday, Sept. 4, 2015, in Perryville. St. Vincent won 38-19. (Laura Simon)

"That's what sets the tone when you have a big play like that," said Indians junior running back Riley Riehn, who added two fourth-quarter touchdown runs of his own. "That sets the tone for the rest the game. That lets the other team know we're here, we're able to win."

That was something both teams, entering with 0-2 records, wanted to establish early.

Kelly (0-3) had the opportunity to seize the momentum when it took the game's opening kickoff and burned up more than half the quarter with a 12-play drive that ultimately stalled at the St. Vincent 13.

"We let them get going early, and the problem is we didn't finish on that opening drive, and it happened two times -- we got in the red zone in the first half," Kelly coach Lance Powers said. "We finish those drives, and obviously in high school, that's a big thing and the boys' confidence gets really high. Hats off to them. St. Vincent is a hard-nosed team and they played very good."

Whistler accumulated his yardage on 16 carries, with his last rush going for 36 yards and ending with a hard tackle with 5 minutes left in the game. He left the field under his own power after being attended to for several minutes but never returned.

"It's bruising up pretty good," said Whistler, wearing an ice pack on his throwing shoulder after the game.

Whistler initially called it a "stinger."

"He's going to be day to day," St. Vincent coach Nathan Rowland said. "He took a real hard shot there. He was really feeling some pain, and we're hoping he can continue to improve and we're hoping he'll be ready to go, but time will tell."

Outside the ending for Whistler, the rest of the game was what Rowland had envisioned for an offense that had struggled in losses to defending Class 1 state champion Valle Catholic and Scott City, when the Indians were hit for numerous penalties. The Indians had posted a total of six points on the season entering the game, but was facing a Kelly defense that had allowed a total of 106 points in losses to East Prairie and Crystal City.

Against the Hawks, the Indians were able to mount 475 yards offense, with 357 yards coming on the ground.

"We felt like we've done some things in the past that have kind of hurt us, and hurt what we were able to do and not show our true potential, and tonight we had some of the same penalties, but we were able to overcome them with some better plays," Rowland said. "That's just what high school football is. You're going to have some setbacks and you're going to have some things go your way, and it was just one of those nights where we were able to come out on top and make the plays when it was time to make the plays."

Riehn added 182 yards rushing on 24 carries as the Indians avenged last year's loss to Kelly, the first varsity win for the then first-year program.

"I feel we really pulled it together more than we have in the previous weeks," senior left guard Chase Schumer said. "We really talked about everything and worked it out, and we tried to get less [penalties], and it showed."

The Indians were hit with holding penalties on their first two drives, but they overcame both and drew just four other penalties in the game.

Whistler's second touchdown capped a nine-play drive that included a 46-yard pass to senior Trevor Leible that positioned St. Vincent at the Kelly 24. Four runs by Whistler and two by Riehn covered the remaining 24 yards, and Austin Dauster's extra-point kick gave the Indians a 14-0 lead at the 10:42 mark of the second quarter.

Kelly followed with another 12-play drive that stalled on downs in St. Vincent territory and ultimately entered halftime scoreless for the second time this season.

St. Vincent took the second-half kickoff and needed just one play from scrimmage to cover 53 yards to up its lead to 21-0. Whistler dumped a short pass over the middle to Leible, who went untouched as he pulled away from the Hawks' secondary.

"We try to get the ball to him whenever we can because he's probably our best athlete in space," Whistler said.

It was just the third pass attempt by the Indians, who rushed the ball 19 times in the first half for 148 yards. All the carries were by Whistler and Riehn, who finished the game with a combined 40 carries for 399 yards.

"Our offense is around No. 4 [Whistler] and No. 25 [Riehn] carrying the ball, and we showed tonight what we were hoping for the entire season, is those two shouldering the load and just moving the sticks and get us into the situation where we can open up the passing," Rowland said.

Kelly answered just 39 second later when senior Maurice Davis, the defending Class 2 state champion in the 100 meters, showcased his speed in a 49-yard run where he sprinted to the left sideline before turning upfield. Aaron Graham added the PAT to cut the lead to 21-7 at the 11:09 mark of the third quarter.

St. Vincent re-established its 21-point lead on a 34-yard run less than five minutes into the fourth quarter, but Kelly's Matt Burford countered with a 23-yard jaunt.

Dauster later kicked a 27-yard field goal with 3:49 left for a 31-13 lead.

Kelly scored on a 69-yard pass from junior quarterback Kyle Fitzgerald to Skylar Lemons with 3:37 left, but St. Vincent countered with a 56-yard run by Riehn 18 seconds later.

"I knew that the team that played against Valle and Scott City was not the team I knew," Riehn said. "The team I knew was the team that played tonight. We fought hard on every play and opened giant gaps. The Scott City and Valle game we didn't do that."

Kelly finished with 318 yards offense, with 166 yards on the ground. Burford led Kelly with 87 yards rushing on 10 carries, while Davis finished with 73 yards on six attempts.

St. Vincent will visit Herculaneum on Friday, while Kelly with host Confluence Prep.

"We like to kind of break our season up into thirds, and obviously the first third is not how we want it, but all we can do is get back in," Powers said.

Kelly 0 0 6 13 -- 19

St. Vincent 7 7 7 17 -- 38

K SV

First downs 13 16

Rushes-yards 34-166 46-357

Passing yards 152 118

Passes 8-17-0 4-8-0

Punts-average 5-31.8 5-28.8

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0

Penalties-yards 3-27 6-50

First quarter

SV -- Joe Whistler 79 run (Austin Dauster kick), 3:57

Second quarter

SV -- Whistler 1 run (Dauster kick), 10:42

Third quarter

SV -- Trevor Leible 53 pass from Whistler (Dauster kick), 11:48

K -- Maurice Davis 49 run (Aaron Graham kick), 11:09

Fourth quarter

SV -- Riley Riehn 34 run (Dauster kick), 7:45

K -- Matt Burford 23 run (kick failed), 3:49

SV -- Dauster 27 FG, 3:49

K -- Skylar Lemons 69 pass from Kyle Fitzgerald (pass failed), 3:37

SV -- Riehn 56 run (Dauster kick), 3:19

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Kelly, Natahan Jon Vicenzi 8-14, Davis 6-73, Burford 10-87, Fitzgerald 8-(-9), Luis Logeman 1-3, Team 1-(-2); St. Vincent, Riehn 24-182, Whistler 16-217, Gabe Naeger 1-(-2), Tyler Unterreiner 3-(-10), Team 2-(-30).

PASSING -- Kelly, Fitzgerald 8-17-0-152; St. Vincent, Whistler 4-8-0-118.

RECEIVING -- Kelly, Lemons 3-84, Davis 4-60, Graham 1-8; St. Vincent, Leible 2-99, Nick Cissell 1-13, Riehn 1-6