ST. VINCENT TAKES TEAM APPROACH TO PLAYOFFS

PERRYVILLE -- Coaches say the phrase all the time and it sometimes makes cliche-hating reporters cringe in postgame interviews.

But St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer speaks the truth when he says "It's a total team effort."St. Vincent doesn't have a runner with more than 500 yards. It doesn't have a 1,000-yard passer. And it doesn't have a receiver with more than 18 receptions.

The Indians, who played in last year's state championship game, don't even have a player with more than six touchdowns.

Yet St. Vincent is 9-1, ranked second in Class 1A and is figured to win tonight when it takes on Lutheran-St. Charles in a Class 1A sectional game. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m."That's part of our success," Sauer said. "There's not one guy you can key on."The Indians' overall parity and success, according to Lutheran St. Charles coach Dave Steinbacher, is a reflection of the coaching staff."They're very solid in all three phases," Steinbacher said. "They hustle all over the field and they have very strong special teams. That tells you they're very well coached. They may not have one outstanding athlete but they have a whole lot of very good athletes and they play very well."The Cougars come in with a record of 8-2, fresh off a 30-26 win over Cardinal Ritter for the District 2 championship.

Against common opponents, St. Charles hasn't fared as well as St. Vincent.

The Cougars beat Grandview just 22-20, while St. Vincent clobbered the same team 61-13. Against Crystal City, St. Charles won 28-0, while St. Vincent knocked off the Hornets 31-0.

St. Charles is led offensively and defensively by Marcus Birk and Matt Marty.

Birk, the quarterback, is 32 of 76 this season for 658 yards and nine touchdowns. Birk, on defense leads the St. Louis region with eight interceptions."Marcus has been playing pretty well for us," Steinbacher said. "He's got eight interceptions so he's covered a lot of ground. He was our cornerback as a sophomore and junior. We moved him to safety this year and it has paid off.""He's a good athlete and a good ballplayer," Sauer said. "He runs the offense well and plays good defense. Matt Marty scares me too. He's 6-foot-2, 216 and runs the ball pretty hard. He'll carry it the majority of the time for him."Marty has carried the ball 82 times this season for 427 yards (5.21 yards per carry). Marty, an inside linebacker, also leads the team with 95 tackles, twice more than any of his teammates.

St. Vincent quarterback Jonathan Paulus has quietly put forth an impressive season. He has completed 48 of 92 passes for 788 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. Last week, he completed nine of 11 passes in an easy win over Hayti."He's really come on of late," Sauer said. "We need to keep that going."Mark Gotto leads St. Vincent's running attack with 345 yards on 43 carries. He has six touchdowns.

But perhaps the most important player for St. Vincent doesn't carry or throw the ball at all.

He kicks it.

Derek Kutz gives St. Vincent an enormous advantage by getting his team good field position."We've had exceptionally good field position," Sauer said. "We've been getting the ball on their side of the 50 and they've been getting it on the 20. That's part of why some of our offensive numbers aren't so good: We only have to go 50 yards."Kutz has nailed nine field goals this season, is 37-for-37 on his extra-point attempts and regularly puts the ball through the end zone. And he's also one of the best punters in the region."That kids got a heck of a leg," Steinbacher said. "If your putting the ball into the end zone (on the kickoffs) all the time, all of a sudden your forcing a team to go 80 yards and that's difficult to do at the high school level."