By John George
With the game on the line and time running out, Perham head coach Howie Kangas knew his team could get the job done.
When Marcus Hendrickson scored a touchdown on an 11-yard run with 4:10 to play in the fourth quarter at Breckenridge, Perham was still trailing 13-12. Kangas sent out the offense rather than the field goal unit for an extra point.
"I had no hesitation about going for two," Kangas said.
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The result was a run in the endzone by Mike Guehna, giving the Jackets a 14-13 lead. The defense would force Breckenridge out in four plays and Perham would hang on for their second conference win.
Perham ran more plays than the Cowboys (65-47), they had more first downs (21-14) and more yards (326-215), but when Breckenridge scored on consecutive possessions in the third quarter, the Jackets found themselves trailing for the first time this season.
Perham took over after a Breckenridge punt with 6:09 left to play and marched 67 yards on just five plays, setting up the Hendrickson score.
The Jackets got off to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a 55-yard TD run by Brain Schroeer.
Perham's offense seemed to click better against the Cowboys as they put together three drives of 10 or more plays. On the flip side, they also had four drives with five or fewer plays, although one of those drives was a one-play drive where Brian Schroeer went 55 yards in the first quarter for a touchdown.
"We need to be more physical on both sides of the ball," Kangas said of his team's overall effort. As far as the offense is concerned, "If we ever get a decent night," he said. "We will be putting the ball in the air."
Hendrickson was an efficient 4-for-5 passing for 52 yards, three of those passes going to Guehna. Schroeer finished with 102 yards on five carries. Guehna and Nick Kiphuth rushed for 57 yards.
Jonnie Schmitz led the defense with an interception and six solo tackles. Jason Zacharias also has six tackles.
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This week, Perham will take on Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton in Glyndon. The Rebels (1-2, 1-1 HOL) are coming off a 25-8 win over Frazee last week. Perham won last year's game 19-16 at Meinhover Field.
