Perryville defeats Scott City, takes momentum into district play

SCOTT CITY -- At long last, the Perryville football team finally has momentum.

The Pirates have been a team on the move the past two weeks.

Entering Week 8, Perryville was at the bottom of the Class 4 District 1 team standings at No. 8.

Even before the Pirates took the field against Windsor in a Saturday game, they had moved up to No. 7, and after an ensuing win against the Owls resided No.6.

On Friday, the march upward continued with a 56-20 victory over Scott City.

Perryville's Aaron Mueller carries the ball against Scott City defense in the second quarter Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 at Scott City High School. (Glenn Landberg)

The victory ensured the Pirates, who dominated the Rams in the second half, of their first non-losing season since 1995 and moved them into a virtual dead heat with Farmington for the No. 4 spot and the right to host a district game.

Both teams finished with 32.76 points in the district standings, but the Missouri State High School Activities Association website had the Knights listed as the No. 4 seed and Perryville at No. 5 as of late Friday night. Since the top four teams host first-round games, Perryville would visit Farmington (4-5) on Friday.

Regardless, the Pirates' ascent has been surprising after a 62-17 whooping at the hands of Ste. Genevieve in Week 7.

"After that big defeat at Ste. Gen a few weeks back, I wouldn't have bet the farm on it, that's for sure," Perryville fifth-year coach Mike Wojtczuk said about the odds of hosting a district game. "But our kids have been real resilient and working hard, and we've been seeing a lot of good things happen. We're still struggling with putting together four quarters of football. Last week we came out like gangbusters the first half, and this week we kind of struggled a little bit in the first half and came out and really got after it the second half."

The Pirates improved to 5-4, further distancing themselves from back-to-back 2-8 seasons.

Perryville's Matt Terbrak celebrates with Connor Stark after a touchdown against Scott City in the first quarter Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 at Scott City High School. (Glenn Landberg)

Perryville's last winning season was a 9-2 campaign in 1998, and Wojtczuk was using the district tournament format adopted in 2012 to enhance the Pirates' achievement.

"I told our kids a while ago -- people can say what they want -- but with this new playoff system, the playoffs start next week," Wojtczuk said. "Technically, the regular season was over tonight, and that makes us 5-4, and that gives us a winning season, and hopefully that catapults us into next week."

Senior Blake Mattingly helped lead the charge against the Rams, accounting for 150 yards from scrimmage and scoring two TDs, including a 57-yard reception in the second quarter that put the Pirates ahead for good less than a minute after Scott City had taken its only lead of the game. Mattingly, who had 80 yards receiving and 70 yards rushing, was buying his coach's definition of a winning record.

"It's been our first year since 1998 getting a winning season, so we're hoping we're going to keep rolling on," Mattingly said.

Junior quarterback Brandon Renaud threw all three of his TD passes in the first half and rushed for a fourth as the Pirates went into the locker room with a 28-20 lead.

Scott City's Braden Cox carries against Perryville defense in the first quarter Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 at Scott City High School. (Glenn Landberg)

The Pirates then outscored the Rams 28-0 in the second half, holding a 260-71 advantage in total yards after the break. Scott City, which dropped its fourth straight game in falling to 3-6, committed all four of its turnovers in the second half.

The Rams held their own in the first half, keeping up with 221 yards of offense by the Pirates with 188 yards of production.

"Our kids played really hard," Scott City coach Jim May said. "They're a lot bigger than us up front, and we knew that was going to be a challenge. They had a lot of success running the football the second half, and they made some adjustments in the second half and took some of our passing game away because we were moving the ball."

Perryville scored on the game's first possession, with senior Connor Stark, the team's leading receiver on the season, pulling in a 13-yard TD pass from Renaud on a third-and-11 play. Kameron Fears added the extra-point kick as he did on all eight of the Pirates' touchdowns.

Scott City countered with a 10-play drive on its first possession, converting on a fourth-and-1 play near midfield before later scoring on a 10-yard pass from junior Braden Cox to junior Dylan Keller. The pass conversion failed, and Perryville led 7-6 with 4 minutes, 22 seconds left in the first quarter,

The Pirates' next two possessions ended in a punt and an interception, with the defensive play by senior Jordan Kaiser giving the Rams the ball at the Perryville 48. The Rams again converted on a fourth-down gamble in a nine-play scoring drive and took the lead when Cox scored on 10-yard run over the left side. The two-point conversion failed, but the Rams held a 12-7 lead with 8:26 left in the half.

Perryville needed only two plays to move back in front, with Mattingly covering all 63 yards. After a 5-yard run, he got behind the Rams secondary and pulled in a play-action pass down the middle and was not caught by his pursuers until he tumbled over the goal line on the 57-yard play for a 14-12 lead at the 7:40 mark.

The Pirates upped the lead to 21-12 on their next possession, with Renaud scoring on a 1-yard run.

Scott City answered with its final points of the game, putting together a 70-yard scoring drive that again included a fourth-down conversion. Cox later scored on a 1-yard run, one play after Trent Pobst's one-handed grab of 17-yard pass. Cox also ran in the conversion to cut the deficit to 21-10 with 2:08 left.

Aaron Mueller returned the ensuing kickoff 36 yards to start the Pirates at the Scott City 44. The Pirates picked up a first down but soon were staring at a fourth-and-10 at the Rams 33.

The Pirates made their own dramatic conversion as Renaud hit junior Garrett Dix, well-covered by Rams cornerback Isiah Berry, in stride down the left sideline at the goal line. Both players extended for the ball, but Dix managed to snare the pin-point pass.

"Isiah had him covered up, and I think he even tipped the ball. It was just one of those things," May said.

Renaud said the scoring play, which came with 37 seconds left in the half and increased the lead to 28-20, was not as designed.

"It was kind of a busted play, but me and him have sync, so we just turned it into a good play," Renaud said.

Dix took the blame for the touchdown.

"I ran the wrong route actually, but it works out for the best," said Dix, noting he was supposed to run a slant.

However, he was still on the same page with his fellow junior.

"We hang out all the time -- best friends," Dix said. "It was a big momentum change for us. It got us going for the second half."

Wojtczuk was able to smile about the play after the game.

"I tell our kids, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good," Wojtczuk said. "That's obviously something we'll talk about next week, but I guess the way it worked out, he was in the right place at the right time."

Scott City punted on its first two possessions of the second half, with the second ultimately turning into a 57-yard scoring drive capped by Renaud's second TD run, a 3-yard jaunt with 2:34 left in the third quarter that upped the lead to 35-20.

The wheels officially came off for the Rams when they fumbled the ensuing kickoff, setting up the Pirates at the Scott City 42.

"That hurt a little bit," May said about the turnover. "We were still in it at that point and we were struggling, and we needed something positive to happen, and then that happened and probably broke our back a little bit, but that's football. That's part of it."

The turnover resulted in a 3-yard TD run by Mattingly in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, and Scott City's next three possessions ended in interceptions.

Perryville sophomore Logan Thaxton made the first two picks, setting up TDs by Pirate backups as sophomore quarterback Ross Hadler hooked up with Dix for a 37-yard scoring pass before junior Kyle Creason broke loose for an 11-yard TD run.

"The second half they just came out a little harder than we did and just put it to us," said Cox, who finished with 87 yards rushing on 22 carries.

A raucous Perryville sideline celebrated its increasing good fortune in the second half, much different than late-season games of the past few years.

"We're definitely going to go into next week confident, but we still have to get work done," senior offensive tackle Austin Mueller said. "We can't go in like, 'Oh, winning season finally.' No, we have to get work done next week and do our jobs."

As for Scott City, May maintained optimism as his team failed to match last year's four-win total for the fourth straight week. His team will try to do that on the road this week as the No. 6 seed in Class 2 District 1. The Rams will visit Portageville, which they lost to 38-30 in Week 6, for their first-round game.

"That's not how we wanted to finish, but all it takes is one week," May said. "All you have to do is come out and play hard and give it your best effort, and if we do that, we'll have a chance."

Perryville 7 21 7 21 -- 56

Scott City 6 14 0 0 -- 20

First quarter

P -- Connor Stark 13 pass from Brandon Renaud (Kameron Fears kick), 8:08

SC -- Dylan Keller 10 pass from Braden Cox (pass failed), 4:42

Second quarter

SC -- Cox 10 run (pass failed), 8:26

P -- Blake Mattingly 58 pass from Renaud (Fears kick), 7:40

P -- Renaud 1 run (Fears kick), 4:36

SC -- Cox 1 run (Cox Run), 2:08

P -- Garrett Dix 33 pass from Renaud (Fears kick), :37

Third quarter

P -- Renaud 3 run (Fears kick), 2:34

Fourth quarter

P -- Mattingly 3 run (Fears kick), 10:37

P -- Dix 37 pass from Ross Hadler (Fears kick), 7:24

P -- Kyle Creason 11 run (Fears kick), 4:19

TEAM STATISTICS

P SC

First downs 27 14

Rushes-yards 47-269 29-83

Passing yards 211 176

Passes 11-22-1 14-32-3

Punts-average 2-41.0 5-35.4

Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 3-20 5-33

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Perryville, Derek Kirn 10-35, Mattingly 12-70, Renaud 12-75, Logan Thaxton 1-2, Creason 5-72, Ross Hadler 3-17, Orion Televast 2-12, team 2-(-13); Scott City, Cox 22-87, Jaden Kaiser 3-5, Nick Bickings 2-(-8), Caden Hillemann 4-(-1).

PASSING -- Perryville, Renaud 10-21-1-64, Hadler 1-1-0-37; Cox, 14-31-2-176, Kaiser 0-1-1-0.

RECEIVING -- Perryville, Stark 2-24, Mattingly 4-80, Aaron Mueller 1-5, Dix 3-79, Thaxton 1-23; Scott City, Trent Pobst 4-75, Dylan Keller 6-50, Jordan Kluesner 1-11, Kaiser 2-37, Isiah Berry 1-3,