FESTUS — The Perryville Pirates fell to 3-3 after a 35-7 loss to Jefferson Friday night.
The lone Perryville touchdown was scored when Lucas Buchheit connected with Xyzavier Wilson.
While only able to score once, the PHS offense spread the ball, with multiple receivers getting targets and three quarterbacks completing passes.
Joshua Gremaud and Bryce Weber had three receptions each, Wilson had two, Adrien Mendoza and Aidan Jackson each had one.
Along with Buchheit, Nolan Behrle and Aiden Jackson completed passes.
Interceptions were a problem for the PHS offense, with four coming in the loss.
The rushing attack again was the most productive aspect of the Pirate attack. Aidan Jackson led the way with 62 yards on just three carries, for an average of more than 20 yards per carry. While Jackson provided the explosive run plays, Jasper Burress-Johnson represented a more ground and pound style, rushing for 58 yards on 17 carries, averaging just under 4 yards per carry. Buchheit contributed as well, with 20 yards on 8 quarterback keepers.
Head coach Brent Roth took a lot of the responsibility for the lack of offensive performance.
“I don’t think as a coach I did a good enough job of getting our guys to understand the game plan so that they can go out there and execute it,” Roth said. “ It seemed at times we were a little bit confused. We were doing too much thinking on the football field and not enough playing. Anytime that you’re on the field thinking, that’s just gonna make you that much slower. So, that’s on me, we gotta do a better job of getting our kids to understand what we want out of them.”
The Pirates dealt with injuries in the second half, further slowing them down.
“Our quarterback went down with an ankle injury in the third quarter so Nolan Burley had to come in,” Roth said. He did a good job, but it just kind of got us out of our rhythm. I guess we weren’t really in one, but we just weren’t really able to get any traction going offensively. And then at the end of the game, Adrian Mendoza went down with an apparent neck injury and ended up going to the hospital. It’s kind of a wild atmosphere there at the end and pretty scary for some of the parents involved and for us as coaches. We spend a lot of time with these kids so when you have to call the ambulance it’s a scary thing, but it seems like everything’s gonna be okay. We’re just gonna have to lick our wounds and move on to next week.”
PHS returns to Pirate Stadium Friday night for the first of their final two home games of the season. The game against Potosi will be “pink out night” in support of breast cancer awareness. Local businesses will be able to pledge donations based on touchdowns scored in the game, and every game in October. Kickoff against the Trojans is scheduled for 7 p.m.
