HERCULANEUM — Solid defense from both teams, combined with top-notch clock management from the host Herulaneum Blackcats (5-3), left Perryville on the losing side of a low-scoring contest Friday, as the Pirates (5-3) fell 16-13.
“Herky’s a good football team,” said Perryville coach Brent Roth. “I mean, they were able to beat St. Vincent as well. From my understanding, they kind of did the same thing to us that they did to them. They killed the clock.”
Herculaneum got on the board early after Perryville’s opening drive stalled on an interception, giving the Blackcats an opportunity. They didn’t waste it, scoring a quick touchdown after a long return and adding a two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead.
They expanded that lead not long after on a hook-and-ladder play, and a second conversion put them up 16-0.
Perryville quarterback Drew Luckey carried for a touchdown just before the half, but a failed conversion left the Pirates trailing 16-6 at the break.
“We just didn’t play well, especially on the offensive side of things,” Roth said.
The Pirates' defense forced an interception to start the second half and got one more chance to score, this time on a run from senior Barrett Wheeler. A successful point-after kick left the score 16-13, where it would remain.
“I think we only had one more possession the rest of the game,” Roth said, “so we didn’t have a whole lot of opportunities on offense and didn’t capitalize on the ones that we had. It was a pretty disappointing performance all around. The defense played well. They did what they needed to do and the offense just didn’t carry their weight.”
The Pirates' defense made 2 interceptions in the game — one by Xzyavier Wilson and one by Joshua Gremaud — and forced 1 fumble. Cole Stephens had 9 solo tackles and 3 assists, Korbin Rollet had 9 tackles with 1 assist, and Drew Leuckel and Dawson Wolk had 8 tackles each.
The Pirates were missing one key ingredient on offense for the first half. Drew Leuckel was injured in Week 7’s victory over Saxony Lutheran and was what Roth described as a “game-time decision” for Friday.
“We decided to go ahead and just play him on defense to start the game,” Roth said. “And then, since our offense was struggling a little bit, we went ahead and played him on both sides of the ball the second half. It kind of threw us off of our rhythm as an offense not having him there in the first half and then trying to mix him into the second half. We just weren’t able to get things clicking. But he came out healthy, so that’s at least good news there. He was able to play both sides of the ball and come out healthy.”
Offensively, the Pirates finished with 246 yards of total offense, led by Wheeler, who ran 23 times for 109 yards and a touchdown and caught 1 pass for 20 yards. Luckey completed 7-of-12 passing attempts for 75 yards. He was sacked twice, intercepted once, and rushed 11 times for 52 yards and a touchdown. Wolk caught 1 pass for 30 yards, Gremaud caught 3 for 18, and Wilson caught 1 for 7.
Up next for the Pirates is their Homecoming game against Cuba. In Week 6, Cuba (2-6) canceled its own Homecoming game against St. Vincent because of injuries. Last week, they beat Bayless 48-20. Bayless forfeited its Week 5 game against St. Vincent because of illness.
Roth said he doesn’t expect any surprises this week. “As long as they came out healthy,” Roth said. “They were actually able to beat Bayless this last week, so it seems like, when they canceled on St. Vincent, they just kind of got banged up in the week prior. St. Pius beat up on them pretty good, too.”
Kickoff for the Pirates’ Homecoming game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Pirate Stadium.
