ST. VINCENT'S SEASON ENDS IN 1A SEMIS

RICH HILL -- St. Vincent's bid for a second straight state championship game appearance was rebuffed Saturday by Rich Hill, the No. 1 team in the state, 21-0 in a Missouri Class 1A semifinal football game.

The Indians (11-2), ranked No. 2 in the state, managed just 45 rushing yards and 43 yards through the air.

Rich Hill improved to 13-0 and is the only undefeated Class 1A team left in the state. The Tigers will play Alma-Santa Fe which defeated South Harrison 20-0 in the other state semifinal. "They were by far the quickest team we played all year long -- both offensively and defensively," said St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer. "It seemed like they were beating us to the punch play in and play out."The Indians were also hurt by four turnovers and three punts which averaged less than 30 yards."Field position just hurt us," said Sauer. "It seemed like were playing on our end of the field all afternoon."St. Vincent didn't penetrate the Rich Hill 35-yard line until its final possession of the game.

Despite the turnovers and less than 100 yards total offense, St. Vincent's defense kept the game close until late.

Rich Hill broke a scoreless tie just before halftime when it cashed in on a St. Vincent turnover. An interception at the St. Vincent 30 with about two minutes left ultimately led to an 18-yard scoring pass from quarterback Ryan Rapp to Andrew Diehl with 1:06 left.

The score remained 7-0 going into the fourth quarter, but the Rapp-Diehl connection worked again for a 9-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-0. With less than two minutes left, William Wetter ran the ball in from 7 yards out to finish off the scoring.

Wetter was also a valuable clock killer for Rich Hill as he gained 107 yards on 36 carries.

Hoping to avoid the shutout, St. Vincent attempted a 39-yard field goal on the final play of the game but saw it fell short."Our kids worked hard and had a great year," said Sauer. "Our seniors would have loved to get back to the dome again. Unfortunately we played a real good football team today. It just wasn't meant to be."