HERMANN —Hermann football took care of their first Four Rivers Conference opponent Friday night, Sep. 13, when they traveled to St. James and beat the Tigers 36-15 for their third consecutive win to start the season.

Hermann (3-0) went into Friday’s game against St. James (2-1) looking to build off of their strong start in non-conference play after outscoring their opponents 62-12 through their first two games, and while he thinks there are certainly things they can improve upon, Hermann head coach Jed Leeper believes their preparation and effort have paid off.

“Our players and coaches have invested a lot of time and effort up to this point so it’s nice to be off to a good start,” Leeper said. “As far as the game Friday, the Conference opener was ok, we have a lot to clean up, but overall I loved the effort of our team.”

One area Leeper pointed to as continuing to show improvement is their offense. Hermann scored five touchdowns on offense against St. James and while their run offense has been consistently reliable with two 200-plus yard games to start the year, their passing game under quarterback Henry Allebach is showing steady progress.

“Henry Allebach is starting to settle in, accounting for 3 passing touchdowns, two to Daeden Hopkins and one to Nolan Mericer,” Leeper noted.

Allebach threw for 183 yards and three touchdowns, both season highs, with one interception.

The Hermann passing offense also continues to be varied in its targets with Allebach completing passes to five different receivers. Aiden Eikermann, Hopkins, and Mercier all had multiple catches in the win, while Cole Traub and Tyler Woodle each had one.

Woodle and Allebach also had Hermann’s two rushing touchdowns against the Tigers on a night where five different Bearcats carried the ball a total of 37 times for 154 yards on the ground as a team. Allebach was their leading rusher with 71 yards, followed by Caden Humphrey with 41.

The Bearcat defense also thrived against the Tigers throughout the game and contributed to them taking a 24-0 lead into halftime.

“Defensive Coordinator, Chris Heldt did a nice job with our game plan, creating six turnovers and a defensive score,” coach Leeper said of their defensive performance.

Brackston Carr, Carter Epple, Kohlt Witthaus, Eikermann, and Mercier all came up with interceptions for Hermann, with Epple returning his for a 65-yard pick six late in the fourth quarter to firmly put the game out of reach.

Epple also had six total tackles, which was second on the team behind Chase Romig’s nine total tackles.

Hopkins and Kegin Sperry also made themselves felt as part of Hermann’s pass rush against St. James. Hopkins had two sacks and four total tackles, and Sperry had one sack and tackle each.

While St. James would eventually put some points on the board in the second half, the solid lead the Bearcats had built over the first two quarters, and another pair of touchdowns in the last two, kept them comfortably ahead and in control for their eventual 36-15 victory.

Hermann’s 1-0 start in conference play and 3-0 start overall puts them in a prime position early on to repeat as conference champions, considering the only other team in the FRC with two wins is St. James. Sullivan and St. Clair both have one win, whereas Union, Pacific, and Owensville are all still winless after three weeks of play.

However, the Bearcats will not be taking anything for granted as they progress to the middle part of their season and the competition begins to stiffen.

“Winning that first conference game is always important, from here on out we will be competing against schools one to two classes larger than us,” Leeper said, “I am confident our coaches will have our players ready for the challenge.”

Hermann’s next game will be this Saturday afternoon, Sep. 21, at home against the Central High School (New Madrid County) Eagles at 2 p.m. It will be their final non-conference game before taking on the rest of the FRC slate to close out the regular season.