NORTH COUNTY RAIDS PIRATES' 4A STATE HOPES

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville High's first trip to the state football playoffs since 1990 did not go exactly as the Pirates had hoped.

Powerful North County, slicing through the Pirates both through the air and on the ground, rolled to a 35-14 Class 4A sectional victory in front of an overflow crowd at PHS Stadium.

North County, which advanced to the Class 4A championship game last year and is ranked fifth in the state this season, will take a 10-1 record into Monday's quarterfinal matchup at Salem.

Perryville, the state's ninth-ranked 4A squad, ended its sensational season with a 9-2 record.

"We sure would have liked to have had a different outcome," said Perryville coach Jerry Tucker. "But we came up against a fine football team.

"Our kids played hard and I love them all. We just came up on the short end."

The Raiders never really gave the Pirates a chance to let their upset dreams materialize. North County scored on its first three possessions and built a 28-0 halftime lead.

North County scored on its first possession of the second half to go ahead 35-0.

"Perryville is a very good football team," said North County coach Matt Haug. "I thought we played pretty well to get the kind of lead we did."

To Perryville's credit, the Pirates continued to battle in the second half and, even though they never had a chance to get back in the game, they did score the final 14 points of the contest.

"That's typical of the kind of team we have," said Tucker of his squad's gritty second-half performance. "These guys just never quit."

Jeremy McDowell, North County's splendid junior quarterback, was a second-team all-state selection last year. He's having another big season and he completed 11 of 18 passes for 170 yards, consistently avoiding Perryville's rush with nifty moves and then firing bullet throws on the run.

But it was North County's running game that actually did the most damage. The Raiders scored four rushing touchdowns as Brian Lotz and Theo Miller combined for 177 yards on 22 carries. Lotz gained 113 yards on nine attempts.

"We were worried about the pass, but they really hurt us with the run," Tucker said. "That's the kind of team they are. They're really balanced and it's hard to key on just one thing."

Perryville's wishbone attack gained 229 yards, but more than 100 of those came late in the game when the Raiders had a host of backups in the game.

Joel Heuring led the way with 113 yards on 20 attempts. Quarterback Derek Cattoor had 62 yards on eight attempts and he also passed for 70 yards.

North County finished with 354 yards total offense to 299 for Perryville.

After a nice Perryville drive to start the game ended in a blocked 40-yard field-goal attempt by Heuring, the Raiders quickly took the lead.

On North County's third play from scrimmage, Lotz broke several tackles on his way to a 74-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 advantage.

The Raiders scored 21 second-quarter points. Miller had a 4-yard run, Lotz went over from 15 yards and Miller tacked on a 1-yarder to make it 28-0 at the break.

McDowell hit Reed for a 26-yard touchdown early in the third quarter for a 35-0 lead.

Perryville got a third-period TD when Cattoor hit Wade Weibrecht with a 60-yard strike.

The Pirates tacked on their final TD late in the game on Andy Haertling's 1-yard run.

"We had a great year," said Tucker. "It's disappointing when you don't have it turn out like you want, but I think tomorrow they'll realize what they accomplished.

"The senior class we had was something special. I think they set the tone for Perryville High School football for the future."