De Soto — Perry-Lecompton raced to an 18-0 first-quarter lead and never looked back.
Perry-Lecompton bust all the right moves Friday night.
The Kaws, coming off their first loss of the season, compiled 398 yards total offense and cruised to a 46-16 Kaw Valley League football victory over DeSoto.
"We had to overcome last week's defeat (a 34-23 setback to Kansas City Piper) and make a statement," said P-L senior Joe Corcoran.
Corcoran spoke the loudest. The 6-foot, 170-pound running back/defensive back finished with 232 total yards offense and four touchdowns.
"I'm a little tired, but you have to play hard every down," said Corcoran, who rushed 22 times for 138 yards and had two receptions for 94 yards.
Corcoran scored on runs of 2, 3 and 41 yards in the first quarter to provide the Kaws (3-1 overall, 3-1 KVL) an 18-0 lead after 12 minutes.
With DeSoto (1-3, 1-3) biting on the run, Perry senior quarterback Gary Freeman was able to air it out in the second quarter. Freeman, having ample time to throw, completed all five of his pass attempts for 101 yards in the period.
"The run opens up the pass and with the line blocking like they are, I'm just throwing the ball," said Freeman, who threw TD passes to Jared Swafford and Dusty Ingenthron in the second quarter.
Freeman's TD pass to Swafford -- a 24-yarder -- came on fourth and seven with 3:28 left in the first half.
Freeman, who completed seven of 10 passes for 177 yards, connected with Ingenthron on a nine-yard TD pass with nine seconds left in the half. The six-play, 73-yard scoring drive was set up after P-L defensive back Adam Hayes intercepted a pass off a deflection at the Kaws' four-yard line with 1:46 remaining in the half. The Kaws went into halftime with a commanding 32-8 lead.
"We came to play," P-L coach Charlie Golder said. "We run what the defense gives us. Before the half, they were standing there with an eight-man front and we needed to take advantage of the pass."
In the first half, the Kaws amassed 243 yards total offense -- 117 passing and 126 rushing -- while the Wildcats produced just 46 total yards. Perry scored on five of its seven possessions. Meanwhile, DeSoto's drives ended punt, fumble, punt, punt, punt, touchdown, interception.
Senior running back Josh Goodin was a workhorse for DeSoto. He rushed 27 times and accounted for 119 of the Wildcats' 199 ground yards. Goodin scored on a four-yard run in the third quarter.
DeSoto's other TD was Justin Cobb's one-yard run in the second period.
With 7:33 left in the third quarter, Freeman scored on a one-yard quarterback keeper.
The Kaws' final TD came with 9:40 left in the fourth quarter when Freeman dumped a screen pass to Corcoran, who danced around three DeSoto defenders downfield before scoring on the 60-yard play. Corcoran came out with 9:33 left when DeSoto fumbled. Daniel Landis recovered the loose ball.
"There's so much heart in these guys," Golder said.
-- Steve Rottinghaus' phone message number is 832-7152. His e-mail address is srottinghaus@ljworld.com
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.