Perry outplayed Humboldt for the middle 24 minutes of Friday’s Class 3A District 2 battle at Dewey Field. Unfortunately for the Bluejays, the Wildcats were able to do enough damage in the begging and ending stages of the game to pull out a 35-13 victory in a game where the final score did not reflect the closeness of the contest.
The victory sends Humboldt (4-5, 3-3) into a first round playoff game at district champion Webster City (9-0), who topped the Wildcats, 20-6, earlier this season. The state tries to match district champions with the fourth-seeded team in a different district without making any team drive more than 125 miles away in the first round; the way Class 3A played out this year forced the rematch.
Perry (0-9, 0-6) finished winless for the first time since the 2006 season, although the team played with an energy and urgency Friday that was not always evident at some points this year.
“I really liked the emotion and the intensity we showed for most of the game tonight,” Perry head coach Jason Olejniczak said. “The kids played with some pride tonight. Obviously no one want to be winless, and we played hard tonight but hurt ourselves with some untimely penalties and then just could not get a stop late in the game when we needed one.”
Humboldt took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on nine plays in 4 minutes and 20 seconds to take a 7-0 lead when quarterback Drew Thomas stepped into the end zone off left tackle for a yard out.
Perry moved the ball well on their second possession, but Colton Monson’s eight interception of the season halted the drive. Monson stepped in front of a Ryan Rathje pass over the middle at the Wildcat 44 and returned the ball to the three-yard line, where he was blasted out of bounds by a hustling Eli Saemisch, who temporarily saved a touchdown.
Kyle McBeth dove across the line seconds later, with the first of five Alonso Castillo PAT kicks pushing the score to 14-0 with 1:08 on the first quarter clock.
Perry was penalized eight times for 105 yards in the game, with Bluejay infractions keeping Wildcat drives alive on three different occasions. A pass interference call on a 4th-and-3 play sustained Humboldt in the second frame, with Thomas scoring from 17 yards away on a quarterback draw for a 21-0 lead with just over six minutes to play in the half — the fifth time this season the Jays found themselves trailing by three touchdowns in the first half.
The Bluejay offense began to fire on all cylinders after the Thomas score, with the hosts moving smartly down the field on solid runs from Saemisch and Taviar Lucas and key receptions from Jacob Thompson.
The drive appeared to stall with less than a minute remaining when Perry faced a 4th-and-5 from the Humboldt eight-yard line, but Rathje found Solomon Pierce alone in the back of the end zone. Pierce made a leaping grab, came down in-bounds, then held on while receiving a big hit from a pair of defenders. The PAT was blocked, but Perry, although down 21-6 at the half, was very much alive.
That was shown immediately in the third quarter, as Perry took the ball on their most impressive drive of the season, a march that covered 81 yards and took exactly six minutes off the clock.
Saemisch twice broke free on bruising runs, with Thompson converting a key third down with an 11-yard snag while Lucas added a strong run and an elusive catch-and-run as the Jays tramped down the grid. The drive was capped by Rathje — who had scrambled twice for key yards — found Pierce open again in the back of the end zone, this time from nine-yards out. Alvaro Soto’s PAT kick brought the hosts to within a score at 21-13.
Kade VanKirk had set up one Perry score with an interception, and Adan Medina looked to repeat the feat with a pick of his own, but the Humboldt defense stiffened and forced a quick three-and-out.
The ensuing Wildcat drive was kept alive by the third of Perry’s six 15-yard penalties, with a pair of 10-yard-plus runs from Trayton Harris and a Trevor Satern 26-yard burst setting the stage for a short scoring dive from Harris with 9:55 left in the game.
The threatening skies cut loose minutes later, dousing the area with an outburst of much intensity. The rain blew sideways into the faces of the Jays, hampering one drive and then aiding the Wildcats on what became the fatal blow, a seven-play slosh to paydirt capped by a Harris score with 4:35 to play.
“I thought we were very balanced on offense tonight, and that helped us move the ball,” Olejncizak said. “We had some guys make some plays tonight, but there guys just made a few more plays than we did.”
Rathje was 13-22-1 for 87 yards and two scores. Pierce caught both scores for 17 total yards, with Thompson (4-22), Lucas (5-27) and Medina (1-1) also making grabs.
Saemisch carried 18 times for 84 yards, with Lucas rushing five times for 21 yards.
Joe Olvera led the defense with 9.5 tackles, with Mana Martinez making 6.5 stops, Tyler Soll 5.5, Nic Fellom five and VanKirk 4.5 denials. Due to the sudden deluge, tackle stats were not kept over the final seven minutes, so the above totals are unofficial. Statistics for Humboldt were also not available at post time.
Perry senior football players, cheerleaders and band members were honored before the game. Bluejay seniors were: VanKirk, Rathje, Lucas, Thompson, Saemisch, Olvera, Pierce, Ivan Garcia, Gisaveri Niyibizi, Gage Welch, Tanner Darr, Hector Espinoza, J.R. McCord, Alonzo Zarate, Heny Melendrez, Gil Carcia, Troy Jahnke and Marcus Meri.
Senior cheerleaders were Brooke Garnes, Desiree Hartz, Maddy Jans, Emma King and Kitana Summerson, with band seniors including: Neyda Alfaro, Jordan Bane, Elizabeth Blakeman, Ana Funez, Morgan Holstrom, Alonzo Lunbreras, Kyle Neuhalfen, Daniella Soto, Kitana Summerson and Alison Tobar.
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Class 3A District 2
HUMBOLDT 35, PERRY 13
at Dewey Field, Oct. 23
Team 1 2 3 4 — Final
HMB 14 7 0 14 — 35
PRY 0 6 7 0 — 13
Scoring by Quarters
First Quarter
HMB — Thomas 1 run (Castillo kick), 7:40.
HMB — McBeth 3 run (Castillo kick), 1:08.
Second Quarter
HMB — Thomas 17 run (Castillo kick), 6:03.
PRY — Pierce 8 pass from Rathje (kick blocked), :47.3.
Third Quarter
PRY — Pierce 9 pass from Rathje (Soto kick), 6:00.
Fourth Quarter
HMB — Harris 1 run (Castillo kick), 9:55.
HMB — Harris 4 run (Castillo kick), 4:35.
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