The Perry boys soccer team was up early — too early most had to think — and had to endure a 130-mile one-way trip to Hudson last year for their substate final. The Pirates were 2-1 winners, and the returning Bluejays players have been of one mind since the loss: Dewey Field needed to be the spot where their 2017 substate final would be played.
Seventh-ranked Perry (14-4) assured themselves of that scenario with a 4-0 blanking of Ballard (11-6) in their Substate 7 Semifinal Wednesday. The win sets up an unlikely substate final against unheralded Bondurant-Farrar (6-11), who stunned No. 9 ADM (13-6), 2-1, in Adel Wednesday to advance.
The two Bluejays teams met, in Bondurant, April 18. The hosts scored in the 36th minute for a 1-0 lead, but Perry tied the game on a penalty kick in the next minute. Two second-half goals gave Perry a 3-1 victory.
Wednesday’s win over Ballard was the the time this season the Bombers had been kept off the scoreboard.
Brandon Juarez placed a long pass right at the feet of Jesus Rodriguez early in the game, with the senior one-timing a blast from just under 20 yards out for a quick 1-0 lead.
Another long pass set up the second Perry score, as Anthony Velasco ran past the Bomber defense and onto the long boot. He dashed up the pitch with defenders trying vainly to stop him, with a last-second move and rifled shot from 15 yards too hard for the Ballard goalie to stop.
The goal, in the 23rd minute, created a 2-0 lead and changed the complexion of the game.
Perry made a final minor adjustments at the half and completely dominated the final 40 minutes, with Ballard crossing midfield in possession of the ball a scant few times after the intermission.
Rodriguez added his 24th goal of the season to give the Jays a 3-0 lead, with Velasco providing his second score of the contest — and seventh of the season — later in the half to cap the scoring.
