St. Vincent sends off seniors in homecoming win

St. Vincent players salute the fans after defeating Cuba on Friday, Oct. 11, in Perryville. 

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

St. Vincent pulled out the stops for its final home game of the 2024 regular season on Friday, Oct. 11, in Perryville.

The Indians’ offensive fury engulfed the Cuba Wildcats like their homecoming bonfire in a 49-16 win to maintain their perfect record

Nearly every senior found the end zone for the Indians. Senior quarterback Nick Buchheit started the season having to earn the starting job. Now he has become the first quarterback in Southeast Missouri to throw for 20 touchdowns in 2024.

“Just a lot of repetition and just going through the seasons and practicing and being that kind of guy in the waiting,” St Vincent head coach Tim Schumer said. “Last year we had Christian [Schaaf] but I felt like if there was ever a time where he would have to sit down or something I felt good that Nick was back there kind of as a safety net.”

However, none had a bigger game than senior Eli Abernathy. Known more for his defensive prowess, Abernathy caught his first receiving touchdown of the season and ran for two more scores, including one for 89 yards down the sideline.

“Eli made a big play, linemen did a great job opening up the hole, John Schwartz had the block downfield that sprung him,” Schumer said, “but Eli finished it off. So I’m very happy for him to come out and finish it off.”

St. Vincent’s victory was virtually assured after Kale Meyer scored a touchdown on the opening kickoff. Prior to Friday, the Indians had two kickoff return touchdowns from senior Clayton Gremaud.

“It’s very nice getting the ball on the kickoff return to start the game and then be able to put six points on the board really quickly,” Schumer said. “I knew putting him back there, he was gonna get a chance, knowing that Clayton had two, so Kale took the most of his opportunity.”

Gremaud, the homecoming king, also caught his third touchdown of the season. Fellow senior John Schwartz, who entered the matchup leading the Southeast Missouri area with 487 receiving yards, caught his sixth touchdown of the season.

It was a special game for all the seniors, and Schumer emphasized the moment to his players.

“I told them before the game to take it in because right now this is our last regular season home game,” Schumer said. “Hopefully we’ll have some district games here in a couple of weeks but this is the last guaranteed game. So take a deep breath but then go put it all on the field and go out with a bang.”

Not to get lost in the fun, junior Max Wheeler was a star on both sides of the ball, catching a touchdown and bringing down an interception.

“He’s a key guy for us on both sides of the ball,” Schumer said.

St. Vincent (7-0) will travel to Grandview next week and Jefferson the week after, looking to secure the I55 Conference championship and a perfect regular season.

“It’s gonna be another tough test,” Schumer said. “We still got to take it one game at a time and then just take care of business.”