Big plays were the name of the game for St. Clair in a homecoming football victory last Friday over Hermann.
The Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1) scored seven touchdowns in the first half, six of which went for 36 yards or more, in a 69-24 victory over the Bearcats.
“If we take care of things up front and block well, our guys are fast enough to make big plays,” said St. Clair Head Coach Cody McDowell. “We want to get the ball in the hands of our kids who can make plays and that’s what we did.”
Hermann’s defense had no answer for St. Clair’s play makers.
“St. Clair’s overall speed really hurt us,” said Hermann Head Coach Andy Emmons.
“I’m happy with the way our kids played,” McDowell said. “We had a tragedy earlier in the week that affected our team pretty hard. We also had to deal with some homecoming distractions. The kids did a good job staying focused and putting in a good week of practice.”
Borgia Preview
St. Clair hosts Borgia Friday in a contest between Class 4 District 3 rivals.
The Knights (4-3) lost last week to Westminster, another district team, 49-24.
“These kids we have haven’t beaten Borgia on the high school level, so that’s something we’ll be looking to do,” McDowell said. “It’s Borgia, and they’re in our district now, so it’s also a big game in that aspect. We’ll be ready.”
McDowell said the Bulldogs will focus on stopping Borgia quarterback John Baumstark, who also leads the team in rushing yards.
“They’re well-coached and disciplined. We have to contain their quarterback,” McDowell said. “If we execute and play our game, if we play with our speed, tempo and pace, play disciplined and not turn the ball over, we’ll be all right.”
Hermann (3-4, 2-2) plays at home Friday against Pacific (1-6, 1-3).
Statistics
St. Clair accumulated 535 total yards against Hermann, 373 rushing and 162 passing.
Quarterback Kyle Juergens was 6-8 passing for 162 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also carried the ball five times for 128 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Many of St. Clair’s starters, including Juergens, did not play in the second half due to the 49-8 halftime score.
Rickey Grivetti scored three touchdowns, all in the first half. He carried the ball four times for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two receptions for 21 yards and one touchdown.
Adam Brott scored two receiving touchdowns, both in the first half. He had three receptions for 128 yards.
Collin Scott took over at quarterback in the second half. He rushed for nine yards on one attempt.
Skyler Hutchison rushed for 59 yards on four attempts and scored a touchdown.
Josh Martin rushed for 52 yards on three carries and scored one touchdown.
Wyatt Mehler carried the ball six times for 30 yards and one touchdown.
Alex Miller and Brott also carried the ball. Blake Dierking had one reception for 13 yards.
Defensively, Hutchison led St. Clair with four solo tackles and three assists, including 3.5 tackles for loss.
Jacob Villalobos added three solos, including two for loss. Alan Barrett, Harley Love and Josh Moore each finished with two solos and one assist.
Brenden Murphy and Martin both registered one solo and three assists. Jake Yerkey added one solo and two assists, including two for loss. Neyko Dominguez and Juergens also had one solo and two assists. Josh Haynes recovered a fumble.
Hermann quarterback Craig Winkelmann carried the ball nine times for 34 yards and one touchdown.
Armando Matech had 16 carries for 43 yards. Kody Thompson added eight carries for 34 yards and a touchdown.
Jordan Leicht and Grant Ruediger both caught two-point conversions.
Saige Hale had eight returns for 225 yards, one of which went for a touchdown.
Hale had five solo tackles and two assists. Colton Hale added three tackles and recovered a fumble.
Game Summary
In the first quarter, Grivetti had touchdown runs of 41 and 37 yards to give St. Clair a 14-0 lead.
Later in the opening quarter, Juergens added touchdown runs of 79 and 61 yards to increase the advantage to 28-0.
Brott then had a pair of touchdown receptions in the second quarter from 69 and 36 yards to make the score 42-8.
Hermann’s score came on a one-yard run by Winkelmann.
Grivetti then scored for the third time in the final minute of the second quarter on a 19-yard pass from Juergens.
St. Clair’s third-quarter touchdowns came on runs by Hutchison from one yard and Martin from 14 yards to make the score 62-8.
Hale then returned a kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown to make the score 62-16 after three quarters.
Mehler added a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to increase the Bulldogs’ lead to 69-16.
Hermann finished the scoring late in the game on a five-yard touchdown run by Thompson.
Hermann 0-8-8-8-24
St. Clair 28-21-13-7-69
First Quarter
S-Rickey Grivetti 41 run (Jacob Meisel kick), 10:40
S-Grivetti 37 run (Meisel kick), 8:10
S-Kyle Juergens 79 run (Meisel kick), 4:25
S-Juergens 61 run (Meisel kick), 1:00
Second Quarter
S-Adam Brott 69 pass from Juergens (Meisel kick), 10:26
H-Craig Winkelmann 1 run (Jordan Leicht pass from Winkelmann), 5:57
S-Brott 36 pass from Juergens (Meisel kick), 5:48
S-Grivetti 19 pass from Juergens (Meisel kick), :45
Third Quarter
S-Skyler Hutchison 1 run (pass failed), 8:46
S-Josh Martin 14 run (Cody Miller kick), :24
H-Saige Hale 72 kickoff return (Winkelmann run), :09
Fourth Quarter
S-Wyatt Mehler 1 run (Miller kick), 7:39
H-Kody Thompson 5 run (Grant Ruediger pas from Thompson), 1:03
