Valle Catholic rolls to another district title

STE. GENEVIEVE – Koltyn Schilly approached 250 all-purpose yards and notched three touchdowns as the Valle Catholic football team added another district championship to its storied history.

The Warriors wasted no time scoring on seven possessions in the first half, and defeated Monroe City 56-18 for their 27th consecutive win Friday night in the Class 1, District 1 final.

Junior quarterback Connor Basler was 10-of-17 passing for 166 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for three scores and 99 yards in the victory.

Valle Catholic (12-0) allowed just two first downs prior to halftime, and drove 79 yards on its opening drive. Schilly capped it with a 34-yard run, and two Basler keepers would push the margin to 21-0.

Monroe City (8-4) executed a reverse on the ensuing kickoff, and Taylor Birt rumbled 81 yards to reach the end zone. But the Warriors needed just 34 seconds to respond.

Schilly returned a kickoff about 30 yards, then escaped an initial hit on first down to cover 34 more. He gave Valle Catholic a 28-6 advantage with a 13-yard jaunt on the next play.

Monroe City recovered a Valle fumble and Johnathan Shuck caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Devlin to make it 35-12 with 2:30 left in the first half.

The Warriors answered with two explosive scoring plays before the intermission. Schilly caught a deep pass over a defender and fought to the end zone on a 46-yard strike, capping a 7-play drive.

Senior defensive end Jacob Trautman recovered a subsequent fumble at the Panthers’ 27, and Basler found Garrett Jaegers crossing from that spot two plays later for a 49-12 halftime separation.

Schilly carried six times for 120 yards and caught three passes for 76 overall. Jaegers had a team-high four receptions and Tristan Huck added 55 yards on the ground.

Valle Catholic started the third quarter with a successful 9-play drive as Cole Wood caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Basler.

Trautman and Schilly recorded sacks for the Valle Catholic defense, and kicker Devon Kutz was perfect on eight extra points.

Tariq Garner tacked on a 3-yard TD run for the Panthers with 38 seconds left in the game. Shuck paced Monroe City with 79 rushing yards.

Valle Catholic will travel to Marionville on Saturday for a Class 1 quarterfinal. Those teams met last year at the same stage of the playoffs.