On-field and classroom honors have been awarded by Class 3A District 2, with the Perry gridders well-represented on both accounts.
Seniors Alexis Garrido, Reece Dunlap, Brandon Kenyon, German Alvarenga and Mark Campos were joined by junior Kaleb Olejniczak in earning All-District grid honors. Seniors Donald Chavez, Mana Martinez and Ethan McFarland and sophomore Cole Snyder were placed on the Honorable Mention list.
Kenyon, Olejniczak and senior Jacob Huffman were joined by junior Justin Stammer and sophomore Kade Killmer in earning District 2 All-Academic recognition.
Garrido was 90-198-8 (48.4 percent) for 1,296 yards and 13 touchdowns through the air. His 13 TDs are the most by a Bluejay since at least 2002 and his total yardage is believed to be second-best in school history. Garrido also ran for 299 yards and five scores.
Dunlap (37-593, 6 TDs) and Kenyon (39-587, 6 TDs) made for a deadly combination of receivers. Dunlap also ran 37 times for 273 yards and two TDs, returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score and picked off four passes, bringing one back 44 yards for a TD.
Campos, despite limited play due to an injury, still managed 43.5 total tackles, included six for negative yards and one sack.
Olejniczak led the defense with 64.5 tackles, including three for a loss. He returned an interception 25 yards and fell on two opponent fumbles.
Alvarenga sparkled in both placekicking and punting duties. He hit his first 20 PAT kicks and finished 23-of-26 on such efforts while nailing 4-of-4 field goals, with a long of 35 and a game-winning 18-yard kick in overtime to beat Greene County. He had touch backs on 9-of-33 kickoffs while averaging 38 yards on 46 punts, fifth-best in 3A for those with at least 25 punts.
Perry finished 4-5 overall and 3-4 in district play. The Bluejays won four games in a season for the first time since 2013, and their three road wins were the most in a season away from Dewey Field in at least the past 15 years.
The team scored the most points in a game in modern school history with a 62-13 win at Iowa Falls-Alden, with the 49-point margin of victory the largest since a 55-0 silencing of Jefferson-Scranton in the 2003 Cowbell Game.
Dunlap scored six times from 40-plus yards, returning an interception 44 yards, running for six points from 83 yards away, hauling in TD passes of 55, 62 and 77 yards and taking a kickoff 95 yards to pay dirt.
Kenyon scored on TD passes of 63 and 80 yards, with Olejniczak finding the end zone on a 41-yard pass while Snyder returned an interception 60 yards for a TD.
Ben Coy and Matt Hardy serve as co-head coaches for Perry.
