St. Vincent overcomes slow start to dominate Hayti 35-0

For the second time in its past three games, St. Vincent was unable to score in the first half.

That didn’t prove to be too detrimental, as it got a kickoff return on the opening play of the third quarter on its way to a 35-0 win at Hayti on Friday, Sept. 27.

Clayton Gremaud provided the special teams score, giving SV a 6-0 lead 12 seconds after halftime.

"That was a big boost getting points right away to start the second half,” St. Vincent coach Tim Schumer said.

Minutes later, quarterback Nick Buchheit connected with John Schwartz for a 43-yard touchdown reception, giving St. Vincent a 14-0 advantage with 6:55 remaining in the third quarter

A 20-yard TD scamper by Cruz Reitzel pushed the Indians’ edge to 21-0 with 3:23 to go in the third quarter.

Following a turnover on downs by host Hayti, St. Vincent was quickly in the end zone again, this time on a 27-yard run by Jacob Seabaugh.

Reitzel closed out the game’s scoring with a 3-yard TD run in the final seconds.

Quarterback/placekicker Nick Buchheit was a perfect five-for-five on extra-point attempts.

St. Vincent’s initial drive in the first quarter began at its own 26, and after a pair of offsides penalties against Hayti, they were given a first-and-10 at their own 38. Eight plays later, it was fourth-and-7 from the Hayti 30, and Buchheit’s pass to Gremaud fell incomplete in the end zone with 5:05 left in the first quarter.

"We moved the ball, got down deep in their zone, threw the ball and didn’t get it,” Schumer said.

Hayti’s best scoring chance came on its next possession, as it drove to the St. Vincent 15. But a fourth-and-11 run by the quarterback was stopped about a yard short of the line to gain, giving SV possession on its own 5 with two minutes left in the opening quarter.

"The defense played lights out in the second half,” Schumer said. "They kept them contained."

St. Vincent found ways to gain positive yards in the first half - it punted just two times and was 3-for-5 on third down attempts. Hayti was 0-for-4 on third-down conversions in the opening game and punted three times.

"It was kind of back and forth with them in the first half, especially with the elements,”

The Indians moved the ball in the first two quarters, the drives just ended up stalling out. Buchheit was just 3-for-8 for 13 points through two quarters while the St. Vincent rushing attack collected 84 yards on 16 carries.

Schumer wanted his team to focus after halftime.

"They were not doing that we couldn’t deal with,” he said. "We just had to come out, play our game, and execute on both sides of the ball.”

While it took the Indians’ offense a couple of quarters to reach the end zone, the defense continued to keep the pressure on the home team. In total, the St. Vincent defense forced the Hayti offense into three turnovers on downs.

St. Vincent (5-0) will host Bayless next week.

"We can always start faster, it’s just a matter of being able to go out there and execute,” Schumer said. "We kind of went through the motions a little bit. Next week, we have to do a better job of making sure we’re ready to go."

Hayti entered the game averaging 31 points per game and was coming off a 58-21 win over Veritas Christian. St. Vincent, which entered the contest averaging 38.25 points a game, saw that drop slightly, to 37.6, as it has now scored 188 points in five games. The shutout was the Indians’ second of the season. It defeated Ste. Genevieve 53-0 in Week 1.

St. Vincent has surrendered seven points or fewer in four of its five wins. The lone exception was the 29-25 road win at Perryville High School.