VALLE DOWNS ST. VINCENT, WINS DISTRICT TITLE

PERRYVILLE -- In the battle for the Class 1A, District 1 football title between host St. Vincent High and Valle, the Warriors proved too much.

They topped the Indians 26-8 Friday night to claim the district championship.

But the victory did not come easily.

The key momentum swing came at the end of the first half. Valle (8-1) led just 6-0 thanks to a stingy St. Vincent defense. The Indians took possession of the ball on a punt at their own 26-yard line with just over a minute in the half.

St. Vincent (6-3) elected to try and move the ball via the air for a late minute score. But, a sack, an incomplete pass, and a costly interception of a Josh Leible pass by Jeremy Carron set up Valle deep in Indian territory.

On the very next play, Judd Naeger hit Eric Roth with a 17-yard touchdown pass at the 20-second mark to put the Warriors on top 12-0 and in charge for the rest of the game.

"I don't feel like a called a good game," St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer said. "There were some stupid mistakes made on my part, especially at the end of the first half. We should have sat on the football."

After St. Vincent went three and out to start the third period, Valle struck quickly on a four-play, 81-yard drive that culminated with a Naeger to Roth connection for a 35-yard touchdown at the 8:04 mark. Keith Gettinger added the two point conversion to put Valle ahead at 20-0.

On the night, Naeger went 11-of-15 in the air for 142 yards and the two touchdowns with Roth catching three of those for 74 yards. Gettinger led all running backs with 129 yards on 20 totes.

St. Vincent scored on their next possession. On a six-minute, 13-play possession that covered 74 yards, the Indians used Ben Besand's seven rushing attempts and a couple of long pass plays by Josh Leible to move down the field.

Leible threw the touchdown pass to Jonathan Wengert covering 16 yards. Leible tossed to Besand for the two point conversion to make the score 20-8.

Valle's last score was set up by Leible's second interception of the night. Dean Meyer culminated a short 46-yard drive with a three yard run for the score to give Valle a 26-8 lead with 8:23 left to play.

"We had a couple of turnovers that hurt us tonight," said Sauer. "They were untimely."

Valle's first touchdown came on the first drive of the game. They went 73 yards on 16 plays covering over eight minutes. Gettinger scored from three yards out to get the Warriors on the scoreboard first.

Said Sauer, "We did a real good job on defense, but we had a couple of breakdowns. But, overall, things went pretty well, especially in the first half.

"We played a pretty good game against a tough opponent. Now we have just got to get ready for next week."

St. Vincent closes out the season next Friday night at Chaffee.