St. Vincent football team uses big third quarter to beat Grandview

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- St. Vincent senior Derek Joggerst pancaked a Grandview defender while blocking on the kickoff to start the second half Tuesday.

The Indians never stopped delivering bone-crunching hits in the second half, which allowed them to rally for a 35-20 victory.

St. Vincent's defense suffocated the Eagles' attack after struggling in the first half.

"I kicked it off with a big hit right on the opening kickoff," Joggerst said. "We just stepped it up and played our hearts out. We didn't do stupid things."

St. Vincent (4-3) entered halftime down 20-12. Grandview gained 145 yards in the first half and converted two St. Vincent fumbles into touchdowns. One of the fumbles came when the Indians tried to punt, but the snap went over punter Dylan Richardet's head, and the Eagles recovered at the Indians' 3-yard line.

St. Vincent's Trenton Gremaud helps take down Grandview's Wes Sullivan during the first quarter Tuesday in Perryville, Mo. St. Vincent won 35-20. (Kristin Eberts)

"We come out and didn't seem like we were wanting to play and was very lethargic," St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer said. "Finally the second half, I think we woke up and decided we was ready to play."

The Indians managed to stay within a touchdown in the first half thanks to quarterback Tim Schumer and receiver Alex Winkler. The pair hooked up for two touchdown passes before intermission.

"Just doing what my coaches tell me to do and running hard," Winkler said. "They said that I was coming off the ball kind of slow. It's just one thing I've really worked on. I fired off fast, and it started working."

Schumer and Winkler went back to work on the opening drive of the second half. Schumer faked the handoff then lofted a pass to Winkler along the right sideline for their third touchdown connection of the night.

"I think they were more respecting the run because we had been running it on them," Schumer said about the Grandview defense. "So most of [the touchdowns] were off the play action. I think we noticed their corners bit a lot of the play action, so we'd fake it and look deep."

Winkler deflected the credit for getting open.

"The linemen and Derek Joggerst, they sold the fake great," he said. "They set it up perfectly. All the credit goes to them by far."

Schumer hit Trent Elder in the back of the end zone for the 2-point conversion and a 20-20 tie.

St. Vincent's defense started flying to the ball on the ensuing Grandview possession, and Taylor Sauer ended the Eagles' drive when he picked off Andrew Holland's third-down pass.

The Eagles (1-5) intercepted Schumer on the next play, but the Indians' defense wasted little time getting back the ball. Taylor Sauer threw Eagles ballcarriers for losses on first and second down, then Levi Gotto intercepted Holland and returned it to the Grandview 7-yard line.

"You come out and hit someone in the mouth, they're a little leery to come back next time," Taylor Sauer said. "I felt we did that after halftime, and they didn't know quite how to answer."

Schumer scooted into the end zone on the next play for the Indians' first lead. He also ran in the 2-point conversion for the 28-20 lead.

Schumer retreated to the sideline and tried to encourage his teammates before the kickoff by yelling, "Keep it up. Let's go," as they lined up for the kick.

His teammates immediately delivered.

Jesse Francis recovered the onside kick, meaning it was time for Schumer to go back to work.

"We thought we could get the momentum going a little bit and we thought we had the advantage there," coach Sauer said about the onside kick. "We've been working pretty hard on onside kicking it."

Taylor Sauer finished the six-play drive when he ran in from 5 yards out for a 35-20 lead.

The Indians' defense didn't allow a first down in the second half until there were 9 minutes, 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Grandview only gained 69 yards in the second half, and Holland was picked off three times after the intermission.

"We were flying around a lot more than we were the first half," coach Sauer said about his defense. "We were able to get in our pass coverage and pick some passes off. We were a lot more enthusiastic.

"That's something I thought early on this team was hanging their hat on, and they did the second half tonight. But starting the playoffs here, we've got to have that enthusiasm from the opening kickoff to the final horn."

One problem for the Indians this season has been running the ball. But St. Vincent gained 170 yards on the ground, and that included the 26-yard loss on the snap over Richardet's head, which counts as a rushing attempt. Joggerst led the way with 115 yards on 27 carries.

"I've just been working on running hard and giving it all I've got," he said.

The Indians averaged 5.5 yards per rush in the second half.

"We did a good job up front," coach Sauer said. "Our offensive line came off the ball and got us some holes, and the kids run hard. That's what we've got to have every down, every play."

The Indians now are off until they open Class 1 District 2 play Oct. 14 at Chaffee.

Grandview 14 6 0 0 -- 20

St. Vincent 6 6 23 0 -- 35

First Quarter

G -- Wes Sullivan 1 run (Kyle Ramsey kick), 7:55

S -- Alex Winkler 49 pass from Tim Schumer (kick failed), 6:16

G -- Christian Murphy 37 run (Ramsey kick), 1:25

Second Quarter

S -- Winkler 15 pass from Schumer (run failed), 7:00

G -- Murphy 1 pass from Andrew Holland (kick blocked), :12

Third Quarter

S -- Winkler 24 pass from Schumer (Trent Elder pass from Schumer), 8:14

S -- Schumer 7 run (Schumer run), 4:49

S -- Taylor Sauer 5 run (Dylan Richardet kick), 2:00

G S

First downs 12 17

Rushes-yards 37-104 43-170

Passing yards 110 120

Passes 13-25-3 9-14-2

Punts 2-77 1-45

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2

Penalties-yards 7-70 6-36

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Grandview, Christian Murphy 13-73, Wes Sullivan 18-49, Andrew Holland 6-(-18). St. Vincent, Alex Winkler 5-39, Tim Schumer 5-33, Dylan Richardet 1-(-26), Derek Joggerst 27-115, Team 1-(-1), Taylor Sauer 4-10.

PASSING -- Grandview, Andrew Holland 13-24-110-3, Team 0-1-0-0. St. Vincent, Tim Schumer 9-14-120-2.

RECEIVING -- Grandview, Christian Murphy 7-42, Andy Allen 4-39, Kyle Ramsey 1-11, Joey Graff 1-18. St. Vincent, Alex Winkler 4-91, Jesse Francis 2-15, Taylor Sauer 3-14.