Gridiron: Perryville offense tailored to their short and speedy quarterback

Perryville quarterback Rilaynd Graham is entering his senior season with something he’s never had before in his previous three years.

An offense completely catered to his skill set.

“It’s great,” Graham said. “There’s a lot of pressure on me, of course, because with that being everybody and everything was made for me. I feel like I have a lot of pressure on me to deliver, but I know everybody trusts me to do my job just as I trust them.”

It’s a unique investment for third-year Pirates head coach Brent Roth, mainly because at 5’5” Graham is the shortest starting quarterback in Southeast Missouri. What he lacks in height, he more than makes up for it in speed and stature.

“So from my perspective, I’m not really as much of a pocket passer as most quarterbacks traditionally,” Graham said. “So a lot of it for me is being physically able to roll out and make throws on the run without setting my feet and being able to sit my feet on the run as well. So, most of my reads are pre-snap, and then post-snap is when I roll out and then read it.”

Perryville quarterback Rilaynd Graham (Photo by Megan Burke)

The decision was thrust upon Roth last year when Graham replaced injured quarterback Aiden McGarvey in a Week 3 matchup against St. Vincent and literally ran with the opportunity.

“We had to change our game plan a little bit from going from Aiden to me since we’re different play styles so we changed a little bit more of a rollout team now which is nice for me being able to get out of pocket the active so that’s that’s about it. I mean, everybody’s really, we got our backfield and they know what they’re doing.”

The Pirates finished the regular season 3-3 with Graham under center in an ev-er-adjusting offense. He completed 35 of 90 passes for 477 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions.

“I was ready for it,” Graham said. “I played a lot of varsity my sophomore year as well, but I wasn’t prepared like I was last year. So I was excited. I was trying to get in and get my shot, but unfortunately, we hadn’t changed the play styles around yet changing from A to B. I was struggling a little bit because I was a pocket passer and, to be frank, I couldn’t see.”

A two-game improvement will mean their first .500 season since 2019. Should they double their win total, it will be their first winning season since 2017. With everything he needs to succeed, this season is a season of urgency for Graham and the Pirates.