Inconsistent Perryville does just enough in W over Malden

Perryville senior quarterback Evan Daugherty runs through a tackle by Malden junior defender D'Angelo Austin Friday in Perryville.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

PERRYVILLE - If you broke down Perryville’s 35-30 football victory over Malden at Perryville Friday into segments, depending on which part of the contest you watched, you would have a varying opinion on each team.

There were times that the MSHSAA Class 3 Pirates (2-1) looked great. And there were others in which the Class 1 Green Wave (1-3) players and coaches had to have felt good about what they were doing. However, fourth-year Perryville coach Blane Boss is not into accepting mediocrity or inconsistency.

“The thing that I get irritated with is the little things that we don’t do right,” Boss said. “There are things that we practice all week and then we get out here in the game and we don’t execute them.

“That is when I get upset.”

The Pirates couldn’t find any offensive rhythm for 16 minutes into the game, while Malden looked sharp on its opening drive.

Green Wave freshman quarterback Quamareous Farmer orchestrated a methodical drive to start the game, as he hit senior wide receiver Drew Blankenship for an early gain.

Malden took a 6-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest when Farmer hit senior wide receiver Coy Wade in the flat and the athletic Wade did the rest, scoring from 16 yards out.

“(Farmer) could be a really, really special player,” Green Wave coach Justin Peden said. “He’s young (and) he’s raw. We try to coach him up and get him ready.”

Farmer alternated with sophomore Rylan Bell, who guided the Green Wave to 36 unanswered points in a victory last week over Charleston.

Both Malden quarterbacks had moments – both positive and negative.

Between the two of them, they led an offense that scored 24 second-half points. But they also threw a combined three interceptions to Perryville defensive back Hunter Oettle.

“I’m happy for him,” Boss said of Oettle. “He made some good plays on those balls. It is very, very rare to get three picks in one game.”

Despite the early Malden success, the Pirates were able to control the second quarter because they actually played to their ability, according to Boss.

“We finally started playing like we should have been,” Boss said.

Perryville defensive lineman Davin Wheeler sacked Farmer for a big loss midway through the second quarter and on the ensuing play, with Bell behind center, Oettle picked off his first pass.

Minutes later, Pirate quarterback Evan Daugherty found senior Jay Jannin for a 21-yard score and the Pirates would never trail again.

Oettle would get another interception before halftime, but as the Pirates showed all night, they had trouble maintaining positive momentum.

Perryville fumbled the ball away, but Oettle saved his team with yet another pick.

Ussery put his team ahead 14-6 with a 12-yard score after the Pirates ran a stellar two-minute offense just before the intermission, once again showing their potential.

Perryville kick returner Tyler Rhyne opened the second half with a nice return and Daugherty capped the initial offensive series with a short touchdown run.

When Daugherty hit wide receiver, Dawson Camden, for a 38-yard score at the 4:51 mark of the third quarter, the Pirates led 27-6 and no one wearing black with their green at Pirate Stadium had any doubt about how this game would end up.

“We come back and fight hard,” Peden said of his resilient bunch. “We just have to be able to not put ourselves in those positions where we have to keep fighting from such a deficit.”

Over the final 16 minutes and change, the Green Wave smoked Perryville 24-8, which explained Boss’s frustration following the win.

“Nobody is perfect,” Boss said, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t strive for perfection.”

Farmer hit Wade for a 50-yard pass that took Malden to the one-yard line and Blankenship cut his team’s deficit to 27-14 on the next play.

On the next Green Wave series, Blankenship broke through a pair of Perryville tackle attempts and could’ve run to I-55 if he had chosen to, as he scored from 83 yards out for a 27-22 score.

Both teams traded scores in the final minutes, as Ussery bolted in from 10 yards out, while Farmer and Wade connected for a 17-yard touchdown.

Daugherty sealed the game on the Pirates’ final drive by converting a pair of runs for first downs, which Boss did acknowledge was something to behold.

“He’s starting to realize how big he is,” Boss said of his quarterback, “and he can run people over.”

The Pirates won’t have this margin for error next week when they host in-town rival St. Vincent Friday at 7 p.m., while Malden hosts Scott City at the same time.

“We’ve got some work to do,” Boss said. “Our kids thought they were a little better than they are – and we’re not.”