Pirates ground Owls, win first district playoff game since 2009

Perryville running back Barrett Wheeler runs through Windsor defenders in the Class 4 District 1 playoffs on Friday, Nov. 1, in Perryville.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

It’s been a long time coming for the Perryville football team.

With a pair of touchdowns on the ground from Barrett Wheeler and another two scores from the air from Kayd Luckey, the Pirates grounded the Windsor Owls 26-8 to advance further in the Class 4 District 1 playoffs on Friday, Nov. 1

Perryville won its first playoff game since 2009 when head coach Brent Roth was a player for the Pirates. It’s also the Pirates’ first playoff win under the current MSHSAA system.

“It's huge for our program to finally get over this hump,” Roth said. “I'm on I'm on top of the moon right now.”

Perryville (9-1) head coach Brent Roth has now won as many games in his fourth season as his first three years combined.

The Pirates' defense has held opposing offenses to two touchdowns or less for the sixth time this season. Led by Evan Hayden and Drew Leuckel, Perryville made a drastic improvement on defense, going from allowing an average of 28.3 points per game to 16.9.

“Last spring, we started talking about physicality. We have to be more physical and we kind of re-emphasized that tonight,” Roth said. “It's playoff time. You have to bring the physicality. You have to smack them in the mouth play after play after play after play, and our guys answered the call on that tonight. Our defense was flying around, all 11 guys of the ball and finishing, finishing plays off.”

The Pirates took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on two scoring runs by Wheeler, which put him at 20 touchdowns on the season.

“That was a goal for him,” Roth said. “What I've been telling him all year is, ‘We're not done.‘“

Wheeler and Luckey are part of a junior class that saw success as a group at the freshmen level. Now they’re leading the offense to an average of 36.8 points per game and a second home playoff game.

“I've been waiting for this moment to where I could step up,” Luckey said. “It’s my time and I feel good that we've done pretty good as a team.”

Luckey went from competing for the quarterback spot in the summer to throwing 15 touchdown passes in a little over 100 passing attempts, which puts him among the best in the Southeast Missouri area.

“Our coach in the beginning, during summer, repped keeping taking care of the ball, and if it's not there, run it,” Luckey said. “He really drilled that in my head. That's what I felt like I've shown throughout the season. If it's not there, you're gonna see me go and run, trying to get as many yards as I can.”

Windsor found the end zone for the first and only time of the night, on a rushing touchdown by Logan Wilson in the third quarter.

The Pirates instantly responded with a quick pass to senior receiver Chase Richardet, who ran 57 yards for a touchdown, his eighth of the season.

Senior receiver Dominic Seiler was later rewarded for his block that led to Richardet’s touchdown with his sixth score of the season in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice.

“I think we're a pretty balanced offense,” Roth said. “We can do pretty much whatever we want on offense. So we just kind of got to take what the defense gives us and get in the right formation, get the right play out there, and let these guys go out and play football like they've been playing.”

It was a solid turnaround for Luckey, who went from completing two passes last week to completing two touchdowns this week.

“It felt pretty good,” Luckey said. “I didn't start off very good with passing. So my thing going to the second half was being a little more confident. I think that the touchdown to Dom really kind of got me a little more excited about the game. I was not very confident, but I think that kind of changed it. So overall, it was a pretty good game. I was happy with it.”

Perryville will host Hillsboro in the C4D1 semifinals on Friday, Nov. 8. The winner will advance to the district championship game on Nov. 15.