MRH Football to Face Perryville in Saturday Day Game

The Blue Devils take their 3-2 record down to Perryville on Saturday. It's MRH's third road game of the season.

The Pirates (1-4) have lost to Herculaneum 8-27, De Soto 7-52, Park Hills Central 7-42 and Fredericktown 0-19. In their only win, the Pirates barely snuck past Potosi 35-34.

“I think we are better than our record indicates,” Perryville defensive coordinator Joel Sumner said. “We’re a young team. Our program has been down for the last few years, and so we’re trying to instill the fact that we need to be competitive for four quarters.”

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Sumner said they have a couple decent running backs and their basic offense is to run the ball.

“Defensively we show multiple fronts, and again, we’re pretty young defensively, so for us to try to stop all the things that Maplewood does will be a real challenge,” he said.

Unfortunately, Perryville lost its best overall player to a knee injury last Friday night, Sumner said. Senior Kirk Hadler had was a defensive leader and averaged about 10 yards per carry, Sumner said.

MRH coach Brandon Gregory watched film on the Pirates and said they play physical football. “Like every week, week in and week out, we’re going to have to come in, and do our job. It’s not going to be a cake walk,” Gregory said.

He said Perryville is a 4A team, and plays a high level of football. “If we can go in and compete and get a win, it will definitely help set us up for the long run, for our state run.”

The Blue Devils have kept up the conditioning intensity this week. “For the most part, the kids bought into it, because they saw all the extra running we had to do last weekend,” Gregory said. “When they got into the game, they weren’t as tired.”

Freshman running back Elijah Keely leads the Devils in touchdowns with seven. Junior quarterback Kahlid Hagens is 57-98 in passing with 810 yards. He also has 284 rushing yards yards. Keely leads in rushing with 401 yards on 54 carries.

Gregory said the Saturday day game is different for his team, but it will help them in the playoffs, where some games are on Saturdays. He also said they have some injuries, and the extra day to prepare and get healthy is appreciated.

Saturday also marks Perryville’s homecoming game.

“It’s going to be a beautiful day and a great day for football,” Sumner said. “I think anybody that comes to watch the game will see some good football and have a nice afternoon.”