Offense explodes as Pirates ground Grandview 48-14

Chase Richardet caught two touchdown passes and scored on a kickoff return to lead Perryville to a 48-14 win over Grandview on Thursday, Sept. 21, at Pirate Stadium, in Perryville, Mo.

Richardet amassed over 100 yards on his two touchdown catches alone.

"Chase is a dog," Senior quarterback Rilaynd Graham said. "Me and him got a great connection. I love that guy. All praise to him. He gets open, I just try to get him the ball because he's open all the time."

The Pirates took a 21-0 lead in the first quarter after Graham threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Sieler, and then a 66-yard TD pass to Richardet. Shortly after, Kayd Luckey intercepted a pass and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown of his own.

"When we get ahead, we get moving pretty good, we definitely have a lot of momentum when we come out passing the ball," Graham said.

"It really helped get us going," Richardet said. "It really felt like we won the game in the first quarter. Those touchdowns really helped.

After Grandview scored its first touchdown of the night, the Pirates immediately responded with an 85-yard kickoff return touchdown by Richardet.

"Honestly, I wouldn't have done it without Kayd Luckey," Richardet said. "He told me exactly where to go."

Drew Leuckel and Brett Bohnert each scored a rushing touchdown to round out the scoring for the Pirates.

"We got held back a couple of times then we finally pound it up right through the middle," said Leuckel of his touchdown.

Perryville quarterback Rilaynd Graham celebrates with a teammate after completing a scoring drive against Grandview on Thursday, Sept. 21, in Perryville, Mo. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

The Pirates are 3-2 for the first time since 2019. Like in 2019, the Pirates offense is averaging 20.3 points per game. The Pirates finished that regular season 5-4, but this year, they are aiming for a higher mark.

"3-2 is huge for us," Graham said. "It's huge for us as a program since it's the first time we've done it in the first five weeks since [2019]. But it's also huge going into next week for us."

"We said the last two weeks that these are the most important games right now," said sophomore running back Barrett Wheeler, referring to this game and their previous win over Baylees. "We get above .500, that's just the biggest thing we can do right now. Then we can keep building from this. 6-3 is our main goal and we're still on that track."

Perryville is now 3-0 at home with homecoming coming up next Saturday afternoon. When asked what could be behind Perryville's success at home, Graham credited "our fans" and "our home turf".

Perryville defensive back Kayd Luckey scores a touchdown on an interception against Grandview on Thursday, Sept. 21, in Perryville, Mo.Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

"Everybody likes home turf," Graham said. "It definitely gives us an advantage."

His teammates agree.

"We're more together with your community," Wheeler said. "Everybody's cheering for us."

The Perryville defense has scored on an interception in back-to-back games. As a unit, the defense has given up a total of 20 points during their three home games.

"It's just a different atmosphere," Leuckel said. "It's our home field, so we should play better."

The homestand concludes on Saturday, Sept. 30, with a showdown against the Jefferson Blue Jays at 1 p.m.