ST. VINCENT PULLS STUNNER ON HERKY

If tiny Missouri Class 1A St. Vincent was going to win on the road against Class 3A powerhouse Herculaneum Friday night, it needed to win the battle of mistakes.

St. Vincent won the turnover battle, 3-1, and the war 14-12, to improve to 4-0 for the season.

"Going in, we wanted to be close in the fourth quarter and have an opportunity to win the football game," St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer said. "We didn't want any turnover to give them a chance to win the game.

"For the most part, we did that."

St. Vincent was outgained 308 yards to 98 but won the game becauseof a pair of key turnovers, and a bend-but-don't-break defensive effort.

Trailing 6-0 with four minutes left in the second quarter, middle linebacker Aaron Unterreiner recovered a fumble and ran it back 76 yards for a touchdown.

Outside linebacker Ben Favier helped to force the fumble, on a mishandled option pitch.

The Indians stretched their lead to 14-6 with 3:51 left in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard touchdown run by Bryan Meyer.

Jeremy Best's fumble recovery at the Black Cats' 9-yard line set up the score.

St. Vincent's defense, which has allowed only 39 points in four games this year, made the lead stand.

Unterreinger had eight solo tackles and seven assists. Linebacker Josh Robinson had eight solos and seven assists.

St. Vincent's win was its first over Herculaneum since it joined the Jefferson County Conference in 1994.

"I think our kids can take a lot of confidence from this game," Sauer said. "I don't think this makes us a (Class 1A) favorite, but our kids worked hard and played with a lot of emotion, and they saw it pay off.

"It took awhile to get them off the field."

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The first attempt to ice Joel Heuring did the trick.

The second started the thaw.

Heuring, a running back and kicker for Perryville, survived several minutes of psychological trauma to kick a game-winning 26-yard field goal against Scott City Friday at Perryville.

Heuring's second field goal of the game gave the Pirates (3-1) a 13-12 win over the fourth-ranked Class 2A team in Missouri, Scott City.

"When they called that first timeout, I think Joel was a little shook," Perryville coach Jerry Tucker said. "When they called the second, it gave him time to get himself together."

Heuring led the run-oriented Pirates with 93 yards on 15 carries. Perryville gained 247 yards on the ground on 247 carries and 92 yards through the air on 4-for-10 passing.

Perryville survived three interceptions.