Bluejays looking for answers after 44-0 mauling by Tigers

0
1115
Gilbert's Ryan Blum is corralled by Ivan Garcia, Kade VanKirk (2) and Donald Chavez (25) as Jacob Thompson (22) and Adan Medina (35) run toward the play.

Gilbert recorded their second shutout of Perry in as many seasons with a 44-0 humbling of the Bluejays in a non-district meeting at Dewey Field Friday.

The Tigers blanked the Bluejays, 35-0, last season and wasted little time in pouncing on Perry by jumping to a 23-0 lead after just 12 minutes of one-sided action. Gilbert led at the half, 30-0, then scored early in the fourth quarter to institute a continuous clock (which begins when one team leads by 35 or more points in the second half). Their sixth touchdown of the game came with just under two minutes remaining, adding insult to injury.

Perry had not been blanked at home since a 35-0 loss to Norwalk Sept. 9, 2011. The 44-point margin was the largest point spread in defeat since top-ranked Harlan crushed visiting Perry, 49-0, Sept. 28, 2007.

A frustrated Jason Olejniczak admitted afterwards that his team had been “beaten in all aspects of the game” and that there “will likely be some changes” made before Perry starts Class 3A District 2 play Sept. 18 with a trip to Boone.

Perry's Gisaveri Niyibizi brings down Gilbert's Eric Swart on the opening kickoff of their non-district game at Dewey Field Friday. Mark Campos (28) helped trip up Swart; Adan Medina (35) and Jacob Thompson (22) were also on the kick coverage squad.
Perry’s Gisaveri Niyibizi brings down Gilbert’s Eric Swart on the opening kickoff of their non-district game at Dewey Field Friday. Mark Campos (28) helped trip up Swart; Adan Medina (35) and Jacob Thompson (22) were also on the kick coverage squad.

“We will get back to basics and see what we can change up,” the Bluejay head coach said. “We made some moves on both sides of the ball this week and it obviously did not help us.

“Practice is going to be much more competitive,” Olejniczak added. “No one is safe, because we have got to find guys who are capable of making plays. We are not a physical team right now, but we had better start becoming one.”

Gilbert (2-1) had control of the line of scrimmage throughout the contest on both sides of the ball. The Tiger defense shredded the Bluejay offense line with constant penetration, leaving quarterback Ryan Rathje little, if any, time in which to find receivers and forcing him to dump the ball short on nearly every attempted pass.

Perry’s running game went nowhere for the third consecutive week. The Jay ground game entered the contest having gained just 77 yards on 39 rushes and were unofficially credited with only 22 yards on 17 carries against the Tigers, for a three-game total of only 99 yards on 56 runs.

Gilbert scored early in the first quarter after Perry was pinned at their own one-yard line by a Tiger punt. Taviar Lucas had been moved into the backfield to try and give the team a spark, but he was dragged down in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Gilbert lead.

The guests made it 9-0 minutes later when Cole Dryzcimski found Philip Roetman deep over the middle for a 31-yard scoring strike, with Steven Lawrence adding the PAT kick.

Perry quickly went three-and-out, with Cody Dvorak breaking tackles en route to a 41-yard touchdown run and a 16-0 Tiger lead with 1:27 to play in the first frame. The next Bluejay play was disastrous, as Jack Currans stepped in front of a screen pass, eluded Rathje and dashed 33 yards to pay dirt and a 23-0 Tiger advantage just 17 seconds after the Dvorak TD.

Dvorak found the east end zone in the second quarter on a 24-yard TD reception, as the Perry deficit grew to 30-0 at the intermission.

Solomon Pierce catches, and pulls down, Zachary Becker for a loss of two yards.
Solomon Pierce catches, and pulls down, Zachary Becker for a loss of two yards.

Neither team moved the ball well in the third quarter, but the Perry defense began to visibly tire as the offense could not stay on the field. Gilbert ran 53 offensive plays to only 26 for Perry, and the effect was obvious as time ticked away.

Gilbert tailback Zachary Becker had hammered away at the Perry defense throughout the game, as the powerfully-built 5-6, 195-pound junior proved hard to bring down. Becker finished with 121 yards on 22 carries and his two-yard TD with 11:33 remaining in the game put the continual clock in motion.

Cale Jensen capped the scoring by walking in untouched from three yards away at the 1:46 mark.

The game ended shortly afterwards, after three consecutive carries by senior reserve Gage Welch gained 27 yards. Welch leads all Perry runners with 76 yards on 11 rushes — all coming on the final Perry possession in each of the last two weeks.

Lucas caught four passes for 28 yards but found little room to run while in the backfield and finished with just six yards on eight rushes.

Rathje was 9-of-17 for 61 yards and an interception through the air. Aside from Lucas, he found Jacob Thompson three times of 15 yards, Adan Medina once for 10 yards and Nic Fellom once for eight yards.

Drzycimski was 5-of-6 for 58 yards and a score, with Lawrence 3-of-6 for 38 yards and a TD for Gilbert. Both threw one interception. The Tigers also ran 45 times, finishing with 244 total yards rushing.

Solomon Pierce led the defense with 7.5 tackles, with Kade VanKirk and Donald Chavez making six stops apiece while both Joe Olvera and Tyler Soll tallied five stops. Mark Campos had an interception and a fumble recovery for the Jays, with Grant Eklund also intercepting a pass.

“A handful of kids played well tonight,” Olejncizak said. “Taviar played well, and I thought Solomon, Joe and Tyler played well on defense. However, having only a few guys playing well is just not going to get it done.”

——————————————

GILBERT 44, PERRY 0
at Dewey Field, September 11

Team   1  2  3  4 — Final
GLB    23  7  0 14 — 44
PRY      0  0  0  0  — 0

Scoring by Quarters
First Quarter
GLB — Safety; Lucas tackled in end zone.
GLB — Roetman 31 pass from Drzycimski (Lawrence kick), 4:28.
GLB — Dvorak 35 run (Howell kick), 1:27.
GLB — Currans 33 Interception return (Howell kick), 1:10.
Second Quarter
GLB — Dvorak 24 pass from Lawrence (Howell kick).
Fourth Quarter
GLB — Becker 2 run (Howell kick), 11:33.
GLB — Jensen 3 run (Lawrence kick), 1:46.

————————————————-

 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.