Maplewood-Richmond Heights spoils Perryville football team's homecoming

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- In a week of homecoming highlights, Saturday afternoon's game was not one of them for members of the Perryville football team.

The Pirates were squashed 55-0 by Maplewood-Richmond Heights, which racked up 38 points in the first half to put a damper on the cloudless day before the queen even was announced.

Perryville, which ended a 15-game losing streak with a one-point win against Potosi in Week 4, fell to 1-5.

The Blue Devils, who came in ranked eighth in Class 2 in the state media poll, improved to 4-2. Both losses were by a single point to larger schools -- Class 4 state-ranked MICDS and Class 3 Ste. Genevieve.

The Blue Devils racked up 422 yards on offense, averaging 11.7 yards per play, proving they may not have been the best choice for a homecoming opponent.

Perryville's Cody Crawford stiff-arms Maplewood's John Dudley during the second quarter Saturday in Perryville, Mo.

"I didn't think that was the wisest decision," senior fullback/linebacker Robert Brewer said. "It is what it is. We can't change it."

Brewer said the Pirates were prepared for what Maplewood would run, which turned out to be a balanced attack with 21 running plays and 15 passes. But he said the Blue Devils' speed and a lack of focus were the Pirates' undoing.

"We didn't come out fired up as normal," Brewer said. "We had a few problems, and hopefully we're going to fix them before next week.

"Homecoming is always a distraction. There's parties every night and things going on during school. It makes it real hard to focus, but the game is the biggest thing going on, and we have to focus on winning the game."

Perryville had some success on its first drive, including a 26-yard pass from Chris Zahner to Cody Crawford on the third play from scrimmage. That play, the longest Perryville had all day, put the Pirates in Maplewood territory. But Zahner was intercepted by freshman Rakid Hill three plays later.

Perryville's Levi Zook runs away from Maplewood's Brandon Byas after a reception during the first quarter.

Perryville's only other first down in the first half came by penalty late in the second quarter with the score 38-0. The Pirates didn't see Maplewood territory again until the second half.

By then, Maplewood had showcased a host of youngsters -- the roster has just four seniors -- who give the program a bright future.

Quarterback Kahlid Hagens, a 6-foot-3 junior, had a 37-yard run, which included him snaring his own bobble off the back of an offensive lineman, on the Devils' opening drive to set up a 4-yard touchdown run by freshman Elijah Keely.

Hagens scored on a 2-yard run on the next drive.

Then junior P.J. Grady-Liska scored on a 14-yard run early in the second period for a 21-0 lead after freshman Reggie Gwynn intercepted a pass by Zahner late in the first period.

That set off a flurry of scoring for Maplewood. Hagens passed to Keely for a 9-yard TD, Keely ran through one defender on a 60-yard TD run less than 3 minutes later and senior John Barron connected on a career-long 42-yard field goal.

"We saw it coming," senior running back Wyatt McAfee said, noting that the coaching staff had prepared the Pirates for Maplewood's attack. "When they had that one big play on the first drive, we got our heads down, and the rest of the first half, they just ran all over us 100 mph."

Keely rushed for 79 yards on seven carries, while Maplewood had 266 yards on 21 carries in the game.

Hagens completed 9 of 11 passes for 125 yards in the first half. He threw just once in the second half for a 2-yard gain. He also caught a pass from Wes Williams, who was 2 of 3 for 29 yards.

"We haven't had a lot of success passing," Hagens said, "but now it seems like the passing is starting to kick better. This is the best game we've had passing."

The Blue Devils added two touchdowns in the second half with two long runs, but the Pirates were happier with their effort after halftime.

"We shot ourselves in the foot all in the first half," Brewer said. "In the second half, we came out, we ran the ball a lot better, played a lot harder. People went around and hit people."

Perryville had its longest runs in the second half -- a 13-yarder by McAfee and a 24-yarder by Crawford. That allowed the Pirates to accumulate 73 yards rushing in the game.

McAfee finished with 47 yards on 17 carries to lead the Pirates' offense.

"The second half, we came out and played like we knew we could, but we just couldn't punch it in and finish," McAfee said. "I'm proud of how our guys played."

The Pirates lost running back Levi Zook to an injury when he was tackled along the Perryville sideline and hit the fencing under the bleachers. An ambulance came onto the field, but Zook stayed around for the end of the game.

Zahner also was battered, getting hit on the shin with a helmet, but he stayed in the game.

"They were very physical," Hagens said about the Pirates. "They played hard and never gave up, so I respect them for that."

McAfee said that homecoming week was a memorable part of his senior year despite the loss.

"This morning, we had a breakfast the cheerleaders made for us, and then we had the parade," he said. "That was exciting to see all those people out there rooting for us and coming out here to watch us. It really means a lot to us. I'll remember it for the rest of my life.

"We've got to be proud of what we did and don't fall over the scoreboard, and come out next week and practice that much harder to get ready for Ste. Gen."

The Pirates will be involved in another homecoming Friday, this time as the visitor.

Maplewood 14 24 7 7 -- 52

Perryville 0 0 0 0 -- 0

First Quarter

MRH -- Elijah Keely 4 run (kick failed), 5:44

MRH -- Kahlid Hagens 2 run (Karon Thomas pass from Hagens), 2:06

Second Quarter

MRH -- P.J. Grady-Liska 14 run (John Barron kick), 10:40

MRH -- Keely 9 pass from Hagens (Barron kick), 9:01

MRH -- Keely 60 run (Barron kick), 6:28

MRH -- Barron 42 FG, 3:26

Third Quarter

MRH -- Thomas 62 run (Barron kick), 0:17.9

Fourth Quarter

MRH -- Grady-Liska 40 run (Barron kick), 6:02

MRH P

First downs 13 7

Rushes-yards 21-266 34-73

Passing yards 156 38

Passes 12-15-0 3-12-3

Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-1

Punts 1-32 5-124

Penalties-yards 6-45 1-10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Elijah Keely 7-79, Kahlid Hagens 4-44, Kashon Hagens 1-1, P.J. Grady-Liska 4-59, Karon Thomas 1-62, Corey Morris 2-13, Jordan Phipps 1-12, TEAM 1-(-4); Perryville, Wyatt McAfee 17-47, Levi Zook 2-10, Cody Crawford 8-24, Chris Zahner 5-(-12), Robert Brewer 2-4.

PASSING -- Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Kahlid Hagens 10-12-127-0, Wes Williams 2-3-29-0; Perryville, Chris Zahner, 3-12-38-3.

RECEIVING -- Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Karon Thomas 3-34, Reggie Gwynn 1-2, John Dudley 3-45, Kashon Hagens 2-23, Elijah Keely 1-9, Aaron Collins 1-3, Kahlid Hagens 1-0. Perryville, Cody Crawford 1-26, Cody Call 1-7, Wyatt McAfee 1-5.