St. Vincent's unstoppable season continues with a 49-8 victory over Van-Far

St. Vincent players salute the fans after defeating Van-Far on Saturday, Nov. 16, in Perryville.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

On a rare Saturday afternoon, St Vincent defeated Van-Far 49-8 in a Class 1 District 1 battle with the Indians.

The win was No. 50 for head coach Tim Schumer, who played for St. Vincent during his high school days. 

At 11-0, St. Vincent remains one of two undefeated teams in Class 1. To continue the perfect streak on their way back to the state semifinals is the goal for the St. Vincent seniors.

"I mean, nobody's ever done that [in St. Vincent], nobody's ever been undefeated and kept winning in districts and in states," St. Vincent quarterback Nick Buchheit said. "It's a goal we all have."

Van-Far took an early 8-0 first-quarter lead after a deep touchdown pass. It turned out to be the only time those Indians would find the end zone.

"After [Van-Far receiver] scored that one touchdown, Coach [Schumer] put me on him, and he didn't catch another ball all day long," St. Vincent senior John Schwartz said, "Just shut him down."

St. Vincent went on to prove who is Class 1's most potent passing offense in the first half. Buchheit threw deep touchdown passes to Max Wheeler, Schwartz, and Jake Seabaugh to take a 21-8 halftime lead.

Schwartz scored his second touchdown at the start of the third quarter. The senior finished the afternoon with two touchdowns and two interceptions to match his previous season's total (seven INTs) and reached the 10-touchdown mark in his first year as a primary varsity receiver.

It shows that I haven't lost it on top of being a great receiver for our team, and I can't do any of that without getting pressure in the QB's face from my line and linebackers," Schwartz said. "As a receiver, offense wasn't even my thing, even coming into the season, but it kind of happened. I also got three other receivers that my QB can pass to, and they're just as good as me."

Buchheit has long led the Southeast Missouri area in passing yards and touchdowns. While most teams in the area operate their offenses through the ground game, St. Vincent throws the ball deep with the best of them.

"I know that there's definitely a matchup like with one of their not-as-good defenders, I know my receivers, even with them, I know that they're gonna be able to beat them and I just throw it up right before they can run underneath it and catch it," Buchheit said.

St. Vincent's defense was just as dominating. Seabaugh's touchdown was set up by a fumble forced by tackling leader Carson House, who has racked up over 100 tackles for the second year in a row.

In between two touchdown runs by senior running back Cruz Reitzel was also a defensive touchdown by senior Eli Abernathy on a scoop and score.

Much like last year, St. Vincent will host Crystal City in the C1D1 championship game on Friday, Nov. 22, in Perryville.