St. Vincent wins Catholic showdown with Valle 14-7

~ Rollet sparks Indians with all-around strong game.

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The first time St. Vincent senior Josh Rollet played football was last fall, and he had a difficult start to his career.

Rollet broke his leg during a game about halfway through the season, which kept him from partaking in the Indians' postseason victory against heated rival Valle Catholic in the 2006 sectional playoffs.

But Rollet is making up for lost time in his second season, and he certainly made up for lost time against Valle on Friday.

He caught four passes for 32 yards, scored a touchdown, intercepted a pass during the fourth quarter and fell on an onside kick by Valle with less than a minute remaining to secure a 14-7 victory for the Indians.

"We thought about [the rivalry] all week in practice," Rollet said. "Me and Justin [L[']Hote] practicing and connecting and Eli [Hoeckele], the big man over here, running the ball for us. It is nice to come out here and get a win up on them. It just feels pretty good."

Rollet is cousins with first-year quarterback L'Hote.

L'Hote said throwing to a receiver he has always known has made his transition to the position easier. He said his father is Rollet's godfather, and he was the one who kind of convinced Rollet to play football last year.

"With him being my cousin, we've been pretty close my whole life and it's always just been there and it's just something that came natural to us," L'Hote said. "He is a good receiver. It was tough to fill in for him [when he broke his leg]. We did what we could and we are glad to have him back this year."

L'Hote connected with Rollet for the 6-yard touchdown with 11 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the contest. It capped off an eight-play drive, which saw Rollet also make catches of 12 and 14 yards. The touchdown catch and a successful extra point by Kyle Rollet gave the Indians a 14-0 lead.

L'Hote said he can remember playing catch with Rollet since they were young, but that does not make Rollet his main target.

"I feel like I can throw to anyone on this team, but I do like throwing to him and I like throwing to other people as well," L'Hote said. "It's just whatever helps the team."

The other St. Vincent score came with 8:57 remaining in the second quarter. After a 19-yard punt by Valle, St. Vincent started at the Warriors' 39-yard line.

Six plays later, Eli Hoeckele took a handoff from L'Hote and dashed up the middle for an easy 11-yard touchdown run. Rollet's extra point made it 7-0. Entering the contest, Eli Hoeckele led all Indians ball carriers with 35 carries for 169 yards. He finished with 44 yards on the ground.

"I wasn't picking up many blocks and just wasn't running the ball effectively," he said.

Valle finally was able to score its first and only points with 43 seconds remaining when Zach Uding caught a pass in the end zone. The extra point made it 14-7.

Seconds later, Rollet dashed any thoughts of a Valle comeback when he was able to secure the onside kick. The Indians offense took a couple knees to run out the clock.

Hoeckele said both L'Hote and Rollet really picked up the offense and the team.

"I knew they were both great players, but they definitely stepped up and played a lot better today," Hoeckele said. "I am really proud that everybody gave as much effort as they could. It's an amazing feeling. When we were in the huddle after the game, coach was telling us that this is our 45 [all-time] win against Valle. The overall record for us is 45 wins and 44 for them. So that just made us feel even better."