Valle Catholic football team routs St. Vincent

The defending Class 1 state champion Valle Catholic Warriors posted 27 points in the first quarter and ran away with a 69-7 win over the fourth-seeded St. Vincent Indians in a Class 1 District 1 semifinal Friday in Ste. Genevieve.

"We saw the Class 1, state-ranked No. 1 team. They are physical, well-coached and have playmakers at every position," St. Vincent coach Nathan Rowland said. "They're one of the best teams in the state of Missouri, regardless of class."

St. Vincent (4-7) scored on a pass from Joe Whistler to Trevor Lieble on a seam route in the second quarter. Lieble caught the ball and shook the defender before running in for the score, but it wasn't enough to slow down Valle (11-0), which added 35 points in the second quarter and took a 62-7 lead into halftime.

Rowland said the Indians sustained several key injuries, including Whistler at quarterback.

"I couldn't see how any team in the state wouldn't want to emulate what Valle's got going on over there," Rowland said. "They have a program with a rich history and a tradition, and they are just winning on every single level. Their JV team is fantastic. Their freshman team is fantastic, and their varsity team is fantastic."

The Indians started the season 0-5 but won three of their last four games to close out the regular season.

"We had a lot of new coaches come in," Rowland said. "We had a few growing pains in the beginning. ... We finished the season on a sour note with this game, but overall, I was pretty happy with how we finished the season by winning some games and playing competitive in every single game.

"There were just a lot of positives going forward. We had a lot of young guys on this team, a bunch of sophomores and freshmen that stepped up to compete. We look forward to growing with these guys and seeing what they can do in the future."

It was an eye-opening experience for Rowland as well, who said there were plenty of trials in his first season as a head coach.

"It's not an easy job by any means, but it is one that's made a lot easier when you have great assistants like I have," he said.

-- From staff reports