Perryville senior Treyton Barnett scored 6 goals in an 8-1 road victory over Southern Boone on Sept. 12. He finished with 2 assists for a total of 14 points, setting new school records in both categories.
PHS soccer coach Jerry Fulton said Barnett’s record-breaking effort came as a bit of a surprise.
“We took off against Southern Boone, and I didn’t realize Treyton had that many goals when the game was going on,” Fulton said. “At the end of the game, I saw he had recorded the first six goals, which is a school record. And then on top of that, he had two assists in that game, which gave him a point total for the game of 14 points, which was another school record.”
Since that game, the Pirates have recorded three more victories — 3-1 over Marshall, 8-0 over Festus, and 1-0 over Hillsboro — to improve to 8-0 on the season. During that span, Barnett added 6 more goals, leaving him atop the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s high school sports leaderboard in goals scored in the St. Louis region with 17 for the season. Warrenton’s Isaac Wagner and Alton Marquette’s Cameron Golike have 16 each. Carlyle’s Jayden Voss and Chanse Friedrich of Columbia have 15 each.
Fulton said that Barnett might even have a shot at the school record for goals in a season.
“Dayton Strattman set that back in 2021,” Fulton said. “Treyton’s at 16 after six games. He may have a shot. It takes a hell of a player. In 2021, we had two players that scored over 40 goals, and we went to the state finals that year and got second. Who knows what this year holds? We’re still trying to take it one game at a time.”
In 2021, Strattman set a Perryville school record with 43 goals and 34 assists for a total of 120 points. According to records from that season, Strattman scored the first goal in for the Pirates in every postseason game, except for the state championship game against Whitfield.
Strattman was named first-team all-state that season, along with co-offensive player of the year. At the time, Fulton said he wasn’t surprised.
“[Strattman] was dedicated all year and was very focused,” Fulton said in 2021. “The old school record was 26, and with 43, he nearly doubled it. He’s been a true leader for this team. He’s led this team in goals and assists, and he’s done it by example. It’s not that he will just sit there and talk a good game; he went out and showed it. He never let the team slow down and kept them firing on all cylinders.”
This season, Fulton has similar praise for Barnett, who serves as a team captain.
“Treyton is a good kid,” Fulton said. “He’s a real good kid. He puts his heart and soul in soccer. He plays on a high club level in St. Louis in the offseason, so he plays soccer year-round. Just a dedicated kid. We knew over the summer watching him play and everything that this could be a big year for Treyton. He’s a team player. He doesn’t only score goals — he actually also sets other people up to do so. He’s a captain on the team this year, and he’s just an outstanding player. He has skills that a lot of kids don’t possess.”
And he’s not alone. Barnett is just one of 10 seniors on a Perryville squad that has outscored its opponents 39-4 through 8 games.
Fulton said that level of experience has been handy for his team.
“They could have easily laid down against Marshall and said, ‘Coach, it’s just too hot,’” Fulton said. “And man, they didn’t do it. They dug down. I say it was heart and desire that forced them to play through that game. We eventually came back and won the thing. I’ve had a lot of teams in the past that would have probably caved underneath that pressure. These guys did not. They stayed fast to the task and got her done.”
The Pirates’ next task will be taking on visiting Jackson (2-3) on Thursday, followed by Clayton (5-4-1) on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
