Four Hillsboro players had been COVID-quarantined but were on the field for Saturday’s championship match, pitting the hosts against the Pirates once again. The Hawks reached the final after blanking Fredericktown 8-0, tying Fox 0-0 and shutting out Washington 2-0.
Even at full strength, Hillsboro head coach Sam Nansel knew the Hawks would have their hands full in the final. Perryville improved to 10-1 with a 5-0 win and their second straight Hillsboro Tournament title.
“We knew this was a classic David vs. Goliath going into the game,” Nansel said. “My boys battled hard. We had a game plan and we stuck to it. It kind of worked for a majority of the game and ultimately we ran out of gas.”
Perryville senior forwards Bryce Brewer and Dayton Strattman are both on pace to break the school record for goals (26) in a season. They each scored twice in the tournament final and Strattman leads Brewer 24 goals to 22. Hillsboro’s defenders couldn’t contain the Pirate duo, one-on-one or even three-on-one.
“They’re both going to break the scoring record,” Perryville head coach Jerry Fulton said. “Strattman has already broken the career goal-scoring mark. Bryce decided they were both going to break the single-season record and I don’t see how they’re not going to do that.”
The Hawks kept it close for the first half. Junior midfielder Carson Adams scored the only goal of the period, on a penalty kick. Hillsboro goalkeeper Tate Volmert made 13 saves on the afternoon, the best of which came in the first half when he slapped away a rising shot headed just below the crossbar.
Like the Briggs and Stratton engine on a lawnmower, Brewer and Strattman cut down the Hawks in the second half with dazzling displays of ball control and footwork. After Strattman scored at 43:58 to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead, Brewer dribbled through a maze of Hawks right in front of Volmert before kicking the ball low at an angle inside the goal post to make it 3-0 at 55:09.
“I thought (Brewer) was going to lose the ball four or five times,” Fulton said. “He’s got weird, very long legs and he can reach around people. As a coach you probably would want to tell him to give the ball up and get it back, and I thought he was going to, but he scored anyway.”
After Hawk junior Christian Groner drew a yellow card at 56:57, Brewer scored about a minute later with an assist from Strattman and the Pirates led 4-0. Strattman tallied the final goal at 74:58.
Perryville blew through its four tournament games by a combined score of 23-1. The Pirates began the season with a tournament win in Carbondale, Ill., where they smashed three teams by a cumulative 22-1. Their only loss so far was a 5-1 defeat inflicted by another southeastern Missouri powerhouse program, Cape Girardeau Notre Dame, which is 11-1 and was second in Class 3 in 2020.
St. Pius X, like the Pirates also 2-0 in the JCAA, hosts Perryville today (Sept. 30) in a game that could decide the conference crown.
“We have a really good program of dedicated players,” Fulton said. “Perryville has a good youth program and it seems it’s gone to the next level the last few years with more players going to club ball.”
Nansel, in his second year coaching the Hawks – he’s also the school’s girls soccer coach – said he noticed a change in his team’s play once the tournament started. Nicholas Marchetti and Elliott Puhse scored Hillsboro’s goals against Washington. Marchetti and teammate Ethan Canania were named to the all-tournament team.
“(Canania) sets the tone even though he’s a freshman on a team with 15 seniors,” Nansel said. “He’s also one of the more vocal players on the field and shows up for practice every day and gives 110 percent.
“If you would have asked me a week ago if we’d be playing in the championship game, I would have laughed it off. It was an accomplishment just to get to this game and to play so well over the week. They shouldn’t hang their heads over this loss to a tough team.”
It was a busy 24 hours for Marchetti, who had a hand in Hillsboro’s 34-29 win over Festus in football the night before the tournament final. Marchetti does the placekicking for the Hawks and after an extra-point attempt went awry, he scooped up the ball like a soccer goalie and ran into the end zone for two points.
“It’s two different sports and practicing for both has been crazy, but the big win over Festus was fun to play in,” Marchetti said. “We were in a slump in soccer early in the season and now we’re doing good.”