If there was one message that Perryville Pirate football coach Brent Roth had for his team before Friday night’s game against New Madrid, it was to get better. Roth and his team faced an uphill battle against the unbeaten Eagles, who have put up 50 points in four games this season.
The quick and athletic Eagles displayed what has made them undefeated this year at times against Perryville and handed them a 47-12 loss on Friday.
The Pirates made a game of it in the first half as the Eagles scored on their first possession, and at one time, New Madrid was leading 14-6 in the second quarter after a touchdown by Chase Richardet, who had both touchdowns for the Pirates on the night. Perryville had a big play that got them inside the five-yard line, but Perryville turned it over with an interception that stopped the momentum.
“It was their homecoming and they had a big crowd that was quiet for a long time,” Roth said. “They were starting to get frustrated and arguing with each other. We held our own for about 1.5 quarters. It was a successful night for us in terms of getting better and to make sure that we were better at the end of the night than we were at the beginning.”
New Madrid senior Jadis Jones scored the first three touchdowns for the Eagles and Roth said the Coastal Carolina commit has immense talent.
“On two of them we had good coverage, but he is just five inches taller than everyone we have and can jump out of the gym,” Roth said. “Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the other team.”
The Pirates had 260 yards of total offense and Dominic Seiler had 106 yards receiving on the night as well. Barrett Wheeler also got in the act and threw a pass to Richardet on one of the scores for the Pirates. Richardet ended the night with 72 yards receieving.
“The plan was to have a good defense, by having a good offense,” Roth said. “We had to keep the ball out of their hands and shorten the game with our running attack and have lengthy possessions. Stopping the New Madrid for a full game was going to be difficult. We knew we were going to have to score four or five times to be in the game. They just have great athletes and there were about 8-10 plays where a guy would have a juke or a spin move and just say that it was a great play.”
Perryville (3-4) will travel to Herculaneum (3-4) at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The Blackcats defeated Bayless 40-0 in week 7.
“It’s time for us to take it to the next level,” Roth said. “We’ve beaten everyone that we should have, lost to two good teams, and lost 50/50 games. We haven’t beaten anybody that I would consider a superior opponent. I would consider this one of those 50/50 games and we have to find a way to get over the hump.”
