Perry turned a pair of Iowa Falls-Alden fumbles into six quick points at Dewey Field Friday, but the Cadets answered with the next five scores to record a 42-20 win in their regular season finale.
Perry (2-7, 0-7) used big hits on special teams to force fumbles on both the opening kick off of the game and a Bluejays kick off after their first score, but could only come away with a pair of German Alvarenga field goals to open a 6-0 lead. Unfortunately for the hosts, those points did not come with the answer on how to stop Iowa Falls-Alden (4-5, 2-5) once the Cadets went on offense.
Donald Chavez recovered the first Cadet fumble, but the Perry offense could not move the ball, and the team settled for an Alvarenga 41-yard field goal, which sailed through the uprights with enough distance that the kick may have been good from 61 yards.
That seemed to spark the hosts, and they cashed in immediately, as Brandon Kenyon stripped the ball away from the Cadet return man, with Devon Archer falling on the pigskin.
Kenyon hauled in a 41-yard pass from Alexis Garrido as the Jays moved deep into Cadet territory, but the drive stalled, with Perry receiving a 31-yard Alvarenga field goal for a 6-0 lead with three minutes and one second having been played.
Enter Logan Ward. The 5-8, 170 pound senior ran wild all game behind an offensive line that dominated the trenches and opened gaping holes through which to run. Ward ran 33 times for 347 yards and five touchdowns in the game and was rarely stopped with a yard or two of the line of scrimmage.
Ward scored on a 24-yard run to give IF-A the lead, at 7-6, after one quarter of play and added a 50-yard run on a fake punt late in the second quarter to push the Cadet advantage to 14-6 at the intermission.
A one-yard dive from Ward capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive with 7:28 to play in the third quarter. Ben Scadden hit Ben Steinfeldt for a 34-yard pass to the one-yard line — with Ward plunging over on the next play — to finish off a nine-play, 74-yard drive and move the score to 28-6 with 2:28 left in the third.
Perry was able to move the ball in the second half, but were unable to sustain drives. One punt left the Cadets starting from their own eight-yard line, but the visitors went 92 yards in six plays to open a 35-6 lead, with a 40-yard run up the far sideline by Ward capping the march.
The hosts finally broke through with 3:28 to play when junior Mark Campos scored on a short run to put the score at 35-13.
The scoreboard moved again just 43 seconds later when IF-A’s Lucas Haverkamp broke loose on a sweep and bolted 73 yards to the end zone for a 42-13 Cadet lead.
Campos continued to run hard for the Bluejays, chewing up chunks of yardage over the waning moments and finally breaking free for a 22-yard TD run that finished the scoring.
Haverkamp (2-87, 1 TD), Michael Kent (7-38), Montana Marchant (3-13) and Scadden (2-6) joined Ward in racking up 491 team rushing yards and six scores on 47 carries.
Scadden was 7-of-10 for 68 yards in the air. Tyjon Rose (4-25), Steinfeldt (1-34), Logan Steelman (1-6) and Marchant (1-3) all caught passes. Marchant and Steelman each had interceptions for the Cadet defense.
Alexis Garrido was 8-18-2 for 118 yards passing for Perry, with Wyatt Halling 2-of-3 for 22 yards. Kenyon (4-93), Reece Dunlap (2-18), Janier Puente (2-14), Adan Medina (1-8) and Nic Fellom (1-7) caught passes for the Jays.
Campos finished with two TDs and 88 yards rushing on 10 carries to lead Perry. Garrido (13-39), Medina (6-27) and Dunlap (3-11) also had carries.
Campos led the defense with 8.5 tackles, with Fellom making six stops while Dunlap, Puente and Luke Holthorf had 5.5 denials apiece. Chavez recovered two fumbles, with Archer and Dunlap also falling on fumbles — with Dunlap’s recovery coming when Ward fumbled into the end zone in the third quarter.
The following seniors played their final prep football games Friday for Perry: Archer, Fellom, Halling, Medina, Puente, Juan Campos, Gabe Cubillo, Grant Eklund, Brandon Juarez, Kevin Lopez and Tyler Soll.
