Toreadors elude Bluejays in district 2 action

0
801
Two Toreadors were required to bring down Cori Alamina after the Perry fullback bulled through the first two Boone would-be tacklers during Friday's game.

BOONE — A total of 54 teams play Class 3A football in Iowa. Entering Friday’s game at Goeppinger Field, winless Boone was 54th in Ratings Percentage Index and winless Perry 53rd. Something had to give.

For 24 minutes of play the issue remained very much in doubt, as both teams suffered self-inflicted wounds and stumbled to an 8-0 halftime score in favor of the hosts.

It took all of 91 seconds in the second half to discover who would yield, and the answer would be Perry, who played the game with very few available reserves, a situation exacerbated by a series of injuries as the game wore on.

Tegan Bock’s 87-yard kickoff return to start the half, followed just over a minute later by a Ryan Hulse 16-yard run around right end all but settled the matter as the Toreadors surged to a 23-0 advantage.

Statistical information from neither team was available, but one set of numbers was certain for both — each team turned the ball over at critical times, with Perry guilty of giving away the pigskin six times and Boone twice.

Penalty flags flew as frequently as nervous pheasants on the opening day of the season, with the officiating crew seemingly able to spot infractions on a maddening number of plays for both teams — save on at least two occasions when clear violations committed the hosts were not called.

Boone junior Bock — listed at 5-4 and all of 130 pounds — vexed the Perry defense and special teams throughout the game and would have done even more damage had his 80-plus yard punt return in the second quarter not been erased by a flag.

Bock had fumbled on the first play of the second frame, with Ever Tobar recovering for Perry and carrying the ball from the Bluejay one-yard line out the 17. Tobar also turned away a second Boone push in the period by intercepting a Morgan Smith pass in the corner of the end zone.

The Perry offense — which had inexplicably allowed themselves to be called for delay of game on two of their first three plays of the game — then turned the ball right back over to Boone, with Jacob McIntire picking up a fumbled poor snap and stumbling to the nine yard line.

Starting quarterback Morgan Smith scored on a six-yard run, then hit Bock with a two-point conversion pass for an 8-0 Boone lead with 53 seconds left in the half.

Bock’s long kick return, an Ike Seeman PAT kick and reserve quarterback Hulse’s run pushed the score to 21-0, with Smith finding Marcus McPartland for a conversion connection to flip the scoreboard to 23-0.

Perry then began to turn the ball over with alarming frequency. Quarterback Jacob Nelson was intercepted twice in the second half, as was backup signal-caller Jeremiah Baker. A Cori Alamina fumble also stopped any chance of Perry moving the ball with success.

Boone had a 52-yard touchdown pass nullified by a holding penalty, with Perry also called for holding on the play, the offsetting fouls erasing the play. Hulse eventually capped the scoring in the stanza with a nine-yard scramble with 3:02 left to move the score to 29-0.

Ryan Ungs scored on nine-yard run of his own 14 seconds into the fourth quarter, moving the score to 35-0 and starting a continual clock, which Perry has endured in seven of their eight games.

What should have been a swift fourth frame instead turned into a tedious stop-and-stutter affair, as a flurry of flags littered the field, repeatedly halting the clock and beginning to grate on the coaching staffs of both teams. A rash of minor injuries also combined to drag out the final 11-plus minutes of play.

Perry received unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as the Jays and their coaches became visibly frustrated by events and what they felt were missed calls or ticky-tack violations.

An uncalled incidence of what the Bluejays felt was obvious pass interference set off the Perry faithful, already furious when a blatant holding violation in the open field that had allowed Ungs to score was not penalized. Moments later Nelson broke free from several tacklers on what could have been a considerable gain, only to have a late whistle blown as he was (apparently) ruled to have had his forward momentum stopped.

Boone’s Cole Burge returned an interception 40 yards for a final touchdown and 41-0 lead with 7:09 remaining on the clock.

Perry will attempt to avoid consecutive 0-9 seasons when they hosts Humboldt at Dewey Field Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Humboldt is 1-7, 1-3, and is coming off a 45-6 loss at Carroll. The lone Wildcat win of the year was a 7-6 victory at Boone.

 

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.