OSCEOLA, IA — Perry and host Clarke found themselves tied, at 7-all, only a few minutes into Friday’s football game. By the time the quarter ended so had much of the drama, with the Indians seizing a 28-7 lead en route to a 68-7 thumping.
Perry fell to 0-3 overall (the week zero loss to Panorama officially ruled by the IHSAA as a scrimmage) action Friday when they host Des Moines Hoover for Homecoming at Dewey Field. Hoover (1-2) opened their season with losses of 48-7 to Des Moines Christian and of 30-6 to Des Moines North before topping Sioux City West, 35-33, Friday.
Clarke opened the game by recovering an onside kick. They were first to score but Perry countered when Juan Hernandez returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. Eric Lagos added the PAT kick to knot the score at 7-all.
“I was happy to see our special teams score a touchdown,” Perry head coach Bryce Pierce said. “We worked on a revamped kickoff returns in practice this week and I was glad to see us run it correctly.”
Unfortunately for the Bluejays, their hosts quickly took control of both sides of the line of scrimmage. A 38-yard screen pass, 20-yard interception returns and short run resulted in 21 points and a 28-7 Indian lead 12 minutes into the game.
“Clarke was a very physical team up front and we struggled to match that,” Pierce noted.
Three second quarter scores — an 81-yard pass, 35-yard run and nine-yard dive — pushed the score to 48-7 by the time the first half ended.
The Indians scored once in the third quarter and twice more in the fourth in pulling away for the lopsided win and have outscored their first three opponents by a combined 196-7.
Reserve quarterback Geren Kenney was 0-for-5 passing with an interception.
Egan Leber had 22 yards on 11 carries and Keegan Snyder 17 yards on six runs for the Jays, with Hernandez (2-4), Gavin Hegstrom (1-2) and Kenney (2, minus-20) also carring the pigskin.
Snyder led the defense with 6.5 total tackles, with Kevin Colin adding 4.5 stops. Hernandez had four tackles, with Tanner Burgin tallying three, including one for a loss of yardage.
“I told the guys that I want this to be the quickest flush of a game they have ever had,” Pierce said. “I know a number of guys have had the Hoover game circled for a year now.”
Hoover scored late to take a 14-9 lead over Perry last season. The Jays had two snaps from the five-yard line in the waning seconds and were stopped at the goal line on a power run as time expired, allowing the Huskies to escape with the victory.
“We’ve got work to do this week, but we are looking forward to bouncing back with a better performance this Friday,” Pierce said.
