Perryville falls to Ste. Genevieve

PERRYVILLE -- Pirates first-year coach Jim May made some changes with his team down 17 points at halftime to rival Ste. Genevieve on Friday night.

May moved quarterback Josh Perreault to wide receiver and running back. He also entered sophomore Garrett Flentge into the contest at quarterback.

The changes sparked the Pirates' offense in the third quarter. Perreault ran a 97-yard reverse for a touchdown while Flentge completed a 36-yard touchdown pass to Brent Roth to bring Perryville within three points at 20-17.

But Ste. Genevieve and its star 6-foot-4, 206-pound quarterback Kory Faulkner dominated the fourth quarter.

The Dragons scored three touchdowns within the first six minutes of the fourth, with Faulkner both running and passing for a touchdown during the rally as Ste. Genevieve cruised to a 41-17 victory over Perryville.

"We've been working on it for two weeks," May said about switching Perreault to running back/receiver and making Flentge the quarterback. "It would have probably been better before the half, but we didn't want to give them the half to adjust to it.

"We made a decision a couple of weeks ago that Josh is probably the best athlete on the field, and for him to be turning around and handing it off is stupid. We've just got to get a little bit better. We've got to be able to finish."

Perryville's Josh Perreault ran past Ste. Genevieve's Josh Meyer for a touchdown during the third quarter.

May said he likely will have Perreault back at quarterback next week, but will make the same change whenever he needs to again.

Perryville dropped to 1-2, while Ste. Genevieve improved to 2-1.

Both teams were coming off losses last week after victories in Week 1. Ste. Genevieve was ranked third in Class 3 before being upset by Class 1 Valle Catholic in Week 2. Faulkner left that game during the fourth quarter with a rib injury.

Faulkner said it originally was thought he broke three ribs, but they ended up just being bruised, so he wore a pad over the ribs. He did not practice until Thursday and spent time in physical therapy.

He showed no sign of the injury, completing 17-of-28 attempts for 273 yards to go with 97 yards rushing. He threw for three touchdowns, ran in for one and even kicked an extra point.

"My line just did a good job," said Faulkner, who has received interest from Southern Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa. "I didn't get touched."

Faulkner, who also said he has received one recruiting letter from Southeast Missouri State and hopes to hear more from the Redhawks, tossed an interception during the third quarter while he was backed up deep in his own territory. That gave Perryville great field position, and the Pirates capitalized with a score.

"We kind of got back on our heals," Faulkner said, discussing the second half. "I had a bad decision on a pick ... then they started playing and taking a couple of cheap shots at our players. So coach told us to take it personal. So we just took that and I don't think they got the ball past the 50 in the fourth quarter."

The Pirates cut the deficit to 20-17 with 4:09 remaining in the third quarter when Flentge completed his 55-yard pass to Roth.

The Dragons answered by putting together an 80-yard drive, which ended when Dustin Noll ran in from a yard out.

Faulkner then ran for an 8-yard touchdown and passed for a 25-yarder to put his team ahead 41-17.

"He throws it hard and he's able to buy time," Roth said about Faulkner. "[We must reduce] penalties, mental mistakes."

Ste. Genevieve 7 13 0 21 -- 41

Perryville 3 0 14 0 -- 17

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:First quarter

P -- Ben Prevallet 35 FG, 6:59.

Ste. G -- Dustin Noll 3 run. (Noll, kick), 1:30

Second quarter

Ste. G -- Josh Meyer 55 pass from Kory Faulkner (Noll kick), 10:41

Ste. G -- Cody Schmelzle 7 pass from Faulkner (kick failed)

Third quarter

P -- Josh Perreault 93 run (Prevallet kick), 8:02

P -- Brent Roth 36 pass from Garrett Flentge (Prevallet kick) 4:09

Fourth quarter

Ste. G -- Noll 1 run (Faulkner kick) 11:07

Ste. G -- Faulkner 8 run (Noll kick) 7:27

Ste. G -- Noll 25 pass from Faulkner (Noll kick) 6:08