St. Vincent stomps Herculaneum, doubling down on early dominance in I-55 rout

St. Vincent's Clayton Gremaud sprints up the sideline during a Friday, September 20, 2024 game between the St. Vincent Indians and the Herculaneum Blackcats at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo. St. Vincent defeated Herculaneum, 47-7.

Cole Lee ~ clee@semoball.com

The stars, or blockers, aligned for Clayton Gremaud as he ran back the opening kickoff for St. Vincent, scoring the first of many touchdowns in the Indians’ 47-7 rout of Herculaneum.

“I saw the biggest hole I've ever seen in my life,” Gremaud said, beaming. “I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, I might house this,’ and I did, so it was pretty nice.”

In a Week 4 battle against a conference rival, St. Vincent knew early that it had a chip on its shoulder. After two deep battles in back-to-back weeks against Valle Catholic and Perryville, the Indians opened it up on Friday.

“I preached all week that we wanted to come out firing on all cylinders,” Indians coach Tim Schumer said.

“We got it started with a kickoff return, which took all the pressure off, almost, and we were able to kind of settle in.”

Just about everything was working early, with Gremaud putting together a breakout game while fellow members of the wideout corps kept making plays downfield.

Every on-target deep ball from senior quarterback Nick Buchheit seemed to find a St. Vincent receiver in space, and the Indians started running away quickly.

A few long strikes, two to John Schwartz, one going for a touchdown, with another to Jacob Seabaugh in a big 1-on-1 win kept the chain crew sprinting.

By the half, the Indians had mounted a 40-0 lead, capped off by a pick from Gus Unterreiner to connect two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half.

Part of what’s made this St. Vincent team so special, in an ongoing battle for the No. 1 spot in Class 1, is the unbelievable passing attack that’s exploded onto the scene.

Buchheit was never the QB1 a year ago, spending last year’s semifinal run on the sideline behind the very successful Christian Schaaf, a two-way threat.

But now that he’s got his chance, Buchheit has shown he’s not going to let it escape him.

“Nick's developed a lot,” Schumer emphasized. “He's playing as good as I've ever had a quarterback play.”

Through three weeks, Buchheit led the area in passing yards by a wide margin, still without an interception on the year. With Friday’s win, it’ll only add to that insane résumé.

With a few big nights in the receiving game, including another 69-yard touchdown from Gremaud, this passing attack has proven to be one of the most dangerous around.

“This is one of the best receiving cores we’ve ever had,” Schumer said. “At any given moment, someone could pop off.”

On Friday night, it was Gremaud and Schwartz who took turns picking apart the Herculaneum secondary, whether it be deep down the field or through the screen game.

Without a projected loss left on the schedule for St. Vincent, these stats and stories are just going to continue to compound entering postseason play.

The Indians are one of the best teams in their class. Some say they’re the best, and that’s not an incorrect opinion. They’re right there at the top.

The best part? They know it. They embrace it. Best of all, they prove it.

Coming up from a heartbreaking loss at Marionville last year, the deck always felt stacked against St. Vincent, with the Comets magically moving into a semifinal district once again to block the Indians’ path to a state title appearance.

Few teams can say they have as much history as St. Vincent. The Indians boast a state championship and two runner-up finishes in the state.

Though it’s an uphill battle, this team’s continuing to crawl forward, garnering respect statewide from people near and far.

The expectation has been placed. Two months from now, the Indians know exactly where they want to be. Now, it’s just a matter of getting there.

“I’m sure,” Gremaud paused. “I hope we'll make it to the state championship.

“After the first three weeks, our confidence has gone through the roof,” Gremaud said. “We have a really good team.”

That being said, Schumer will be the first to tell you that there’s a lot left to accomplish before the Indians start highlighting their state championship hopes.

For Friday, it painted a picture that’s quite familiar for the Indian faithful: St. Vincent got one win closer to a conference championship in its rout of Herculaneum.

Every year, you set a handful of goals. Though a state title is right there at the top, with this year marking 20 gone since the 2004 title of yore, the I-55 Conference is always a heated race.

One step closer sure looks nice, and St. V’s did it in style.

“I don't want to even worry about it,” Schumer said of playoff hopes. “ Just take care of the conference games. If we take care of business there, it'll set us up in a good spot.”

“There’s a lot of noise. We’re just trying to keep them, you know, grounded. Working hard.”