Pirates fall to Dragons on senior night

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To say that Perryville football coach Blane Boss was in a somber mood following the game would be an understatement. The big play terrorized the Perryville defense throughout the night as the Pirates fell to the visiting Ste. Genevieve Dragons 41-0 on Friday on what was Perryville’s senior night.

The outcome certainly wasn’t how Boss wanted his seniors to spend what should have been a special night.

“It wasn’t how we wanted to spend tonight at all,” Boss said. “We had several seniors that could have tasted a win on senior night, but it didn’t happen. We have to play better, that’s all there is to it.”

The Pirates were able to recover a surprise onside kick to begin the game, but were unable to do anything with it. From there the game belonged to the Dragons.

On the first play from scrimmage, Ste. Genevieve quarterback Aiden Boyer found Zach Boyer on a short pass that resulted in a 75 yard catch and run for the touchdown, as the Dragon led 7-0 in what was the blink of an eye. The second drive was much the same as Boyer, again took a short catch 74 yards to the endzone, on a 3rd and 19 play to widen that lead to 14-0 Dragon lead with 4:27 in the first quarter.

Boyer led the offense with three catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns.

Boyer passed for 331 yards as Ste. Genevieve outgained Perryville 402-221 in the game.

“We gave up three or four plays over 60 yards and those are killers,” Boss said. “When you give up big plays like that on short curl routes and things like that.”

Payton Matthews scored on another big play in the second quarter, a 53-yard touchdown catch to bring the score to 21-0 at halftime.

For the Pirates, Evan Daugherty led the team with 44 yards on 10 carries, while Devon Seabaugh added 40 yards on 9 carries, and Fernando Bojorquez chipped in 41 yards on 9 carries. Through the air, Daugherty and junior Luke Bell competed two passes apiece for 19 yards. Seemingly, every time the Pirates would reach midfield, the drive would stall with a penalty or a tackle for loss, setting the team behind the sticks. On the team’s second drive of the night in the first half, the Pirates recorded first downs on runs by Seabaugh and Bojorquez to midfield, only to have a holding penalty stymie the drive and eventually force a punt.

“We aren’t a good football team right now, and we have to bounce back on offense,” Boss said. “We have to be able to shake this one off and come back next week ready to play.”

Perryville had two fumbles in the second half that were turned into short fields for the Dragons, which they capitalized on with scoring runs by Boyer and running back Austin McBride for the eventual final score.

Before the game, Perryville paid tribute to 12 seniors with a ceremony and Boss said that they are a bunch of hardworking players.

“They come into practice and during the offseason workouts and put the time in,” Boss said. “Hopefully in the next few games we can send the games out on the right note. These next few games, we will look to be a bit more competitive.”

Perryville will travel to Dexter (1-5) on Friday.