By John George
Perham will have a familiar foe in the Section 8AAA semifinals Saturday, but they will play in unfamiliar territory.
With Perham's convincing 42-19 quarterfinal win Tuesday night against East Grand Forks, they will move on to face Pequot Lakes. The No. 2 seeded Patriots advanced with a 26-8 win over Roseau in Tuesday's quarterfinals.
Perham and Pequot Lakes have met three times in the playoffs, all Perham wins, at home, in the quarterfinal rounds from 2002-2004. Pequot Lakes will host this time, on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
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The Jackets quarterfinal win over East Grand Forks was a total team effort.
"We played a sound, solid game," head coach Howie Kangas said. "We excelled in every phase of the game."
Things didn't start so hot for Perham, as East Grand Forks forced a fumble of the Jackets first drive, and turned it into seven points midway through the first quarter.
Perham got the offense rolling on their second drive. Marcus Hendrickson hit Mac Stoll on a 41-yard pass play to the EGF 11. From there, Stoll went around end for an 11-yard TD run. A failed 2-point run left Perham down, 7-6.
EGF responded on the ensuing kick with a 78-yard return, setting the Green Wave up at the Perham 11. They punched it in four plays later to take a 13-6 lead.
EGF was driving again when Jonnie Schmitz picked off a pass at the 37. After a six-play Jacket drive, Mike Guehna scored on a 10-yard run. Another failed 2-point run left EGF ahead, 13-12.
After a three-and-out for EGF, Perham went on another drive, this one ending in Stoll's second score, from seven yards out. A Brian Schroeer 2-point run gave the Jackets a 20-13 halftime lead.
The Perham defense forced another three-and-out to start the second half. Before the Green Wave could get a punt off, Sam Rutten broke through for the block. He then recovered in the endzone for his second special teams TD of the year. Another Schroeer 2-point run and the Jackets had a 15-point lead.
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Guehna added his second score on a punishing 17-yard run later in the third quarter, and Jordan Woessner capped the scoring with a 13-yard score in the fourth.
The Jackets pounded the ball on EGF for 289 rushing yards on 46 carries. Guehna led the team with 103 yards on the ground.
After EGF started hot in the air, completing their first seven passes for 89 yards, the Jacket defense slowed them down, allowing just six more completions the rest of the way for 37 yards and one interception.
Perham's last win over the Green Wave came in 2000, a 34-7 Homecoming win.
Wild finale
Stunning.
That's the only word to describe both Perham football players and fans last Wednesday at the FargoDome as West Central Area struck swiftly, and struck often, beating the Jackets 62-40.
It started innocently enough with the Knights taking the opening drive and marching 77 yards in about three minutes for the opening score.
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The first hint of doubt came when Perham fumbled on their first snap. They recovered, but punted after three plays.
Then, WCA acted quickly, scoring on two plays with a 61-yard pass play for a score. 12-0.
The ensuing kick for WCA was a low, line-drive, that bounced off a Jacket defender and into the arms of a Knight. Four plays later, WCA's Kolton Lee had his third touchdown pass and the Knights had a 18-0 lead barely seven minutes into the game.
By the end of the first quarter, WCA had 196 total yards to Perham's 35. And they were just getting started.
The Knights had a 26-0 lead before Marcus Hendrickson hit Mac Stoll on a 69-yard touchdown pass.
But WCA just kept on rolling. They scored touchdowns on each of their first six possessions to take a 40-6 lead.
Perham scored twice in the final two minutes of the first half, the first on a Hendrickson 5-yard run, the other on Stoll's second score, cutting the Knight lead to 40-20, and giving Perham a ray of hope heading into halftime.
The Knights quickly doused that ray as the second half began. Perham muffed the opening kick, and WCA recovered for a touchdown, five seconds into the half.
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The Jackets racked up some big offensive numbers in the second half as the two teams traded scores. Perham never getting closer than 18 points.
Marcus Hendrickson finished with 256 yards through the air on 10-for-14 passing. Stoll finished with 97 yards on two catches. Jonnie Schmitz had four catches for 89 yards.
Lee was 16-for-23 for 301 yards and five TD's for the Knights. Tyler Krump caught four of those passes for 138 yards and three TD's.
With the win, WCA (7-1, 6-1 HOL) earned a share of the Heart O' Lakes Conference title with Pelican Rapids. The Knights are the No. 1 seed in Section 6AA, the Vikings are No. 1 in Section 8AA.
