Perryville looks to rebound against Bayless

For the Perryville Pirates, one week is the worst of times while the next is the best of times. They have gone from losing on the road by more than 40 points to winning at home without giving up a score.

This Jekyll and Hyde pattern should wind up in Perryville's favor this week as the Pirates host an 0-2 Bayless team that they beat 40-0 last season.

"They're definitely different," Perryville coach Brent Roth said. "They got some great players. They got some speed, they got some dudes on defense that played really hard. Last year in the first half, it took us a while to wake up. They're playing with us in the first quarter and it took us a while to actually play our brand of football and take it to them. So that's something we've been preaching to them this week, make sure we don't underestimate them. We've only beaten one team. We have no reason to go around acting like we're better than anybody until we go out and prove it."

So far this season, all three of Perryville's scores have come from passing touchdowns from quarterback Rilaynd Graham, two to Gavin Hemann against Windsor, and another to Chase Richardet against St. Vincent.

Through the ups and downs of this season, Graham's development as the Pirates' field general continues to be a work in progress.

"I think Rilaynd has done a good job of improving his arm strength," Roth said. "Especially as a sophomore, he kind of struggled with throwing it down the field. It was all sorts of stuff, just check downs and then short throws, and now he's able to throw it down in the field. He's making better decisions, and he's doing a better job of using his feet, and getting outside the pocket as well. So it's been pleasant to see him develop. So far, he's been playing really well for us and we want to see that kind of escalate and really take off these next few weeks."

While Bayless has scored more points last week (22) than the Pirates did all season (19) the Bronchos' defense also gave up a total of 97 points over two games. It's the type of opportunity that favors the Pirates' chances of starting their three-game homestand with a win.