North County “came out with their pants on fire” and handed the second-seeded Perryville Pirates (7-4) a 51-7 loss Friday in the Class 4, District 1 quarterfinals at Pirate Stadium in Perryville.
“They were playing hard, physical football,” said Perryville coach Brent Roth. “They ran it down our throat, quite frankly. We got behind early and couldn’t seem to stop the bleeding.”
The sixth-seeded Raiders (6-5) opened the scoring 9:49 remaining in the first quarter, and quickly built a 21-0 lead before the start of the second.
“They handled us in the trenches,” Roth said. “They had a really good D-line, and then those same guys are playing on the O-line. That’s why they were able to run the ball, and then they were going, they were press manning us and not letting us get down the field.”
The Pirates’ only score came late in the second quarter, when senior running back Barrett Wheeler bulled his way into the endzone to make it 35-7 with 3:35 left in the half.
The Raiders, however, weren’t content with that margin, adding two more touchdowns before intermission — including one with just 26 seconds left on the clock — leaving the halftime score 49-7.
Part of the Pirates’ offensive problems extended to their aerial attack. Senior quarterback Kayd Luckey was able to complete just 4-of-20 passing attempts for 66 yards, was intercepted twice and sacked twice.
“We had guys open, we just weren’t able to connect,” Roth said. “Sometimes you just miss a little bit here or there, and then you do that early in the game, and all of a sudden, now you’re down three scores, and now you are kind of reeling.
“Things just kind of unraveled pretty quickly.”
Freshman receiver Joshua Gremaud had 2 catches for 29 yards, senior Drew Leuckel had 1 catch for 30 yards, and Wheeler had 1 for 7.
Conditions on the ground weren’t much better.
The Raiders’ line effectively controlled the middle of the field, making it almost impossible to find a seam.
Wheeler, who led the team with 1,477 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns, managed just 78 yards and 1 touchdown on 12 carries.
Gremaud was the only other rusher to gain more than 2 yards on a carry.
Despite the loss, Roth said he was proud of his team, especially his core group of seniors.
“The last two years, we won 17 games,” Roth said. “I’ve been a part of this program for a long time, and I’ve been a part of a lot of losses here. What we’ve done the last two years is two big steps in the right direction.”
