By John George
The outcome of the Perham High School Homecoming game wasn't decided until the final minutes of the game, but the Yellow Jackets held on for a 14-7 win over Pequot Lakes.
Perham scored the go-ahead touchdown on a seven-yard pass from Ben Bucholz to Cody Scheidecker with 7:06 left in the game.
Pequot Lakes got the ball back and went 61 yards on 13 plays, but stalled in the red-zone. The Jackets stopped the drive at their own 12-yard line, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth and four.
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It looked like Perham would be able to run down the clock, but that hope was shortlived after a fumble on their first play.
Pequot Lakes fought down to the Perham five yard line and had a first and goal. A four-yard run put them at the goal line, but a false start pushed the Patriots back. A sack by D.J. Altstadt and Gavin Biegler pushed Pequot Lakes back farther, setting up a fourth and goal from the nine with less than 20 seconds to play.
On their final chance, Pequot Lakes appeared to catch a game-winning TD in the corner of the end zone. It was a tough call for the referees, but they ruled the pass receiver out of bounds.
Perham ran one play, kneeling down, and came away with the 14-7 win.
An angry mob Pequot football players literally chased the referees out of the park, shouting and taunting them about the call, before coaches and teammates calmed the situation.
After a scoreless first half, Pequot Lakes got on the board first with a 41-yard touchdown pass with 4:08 to play in the third quarter. Perham answered with a seven-play, 78-yard drive capped by a seven-yard TD?pass from Bucholz to Cody Soderstrom with just 38 seconds left in the third.
Bucholz finished the game throwing for 180 yards on 13-for-16 passing, with two TD's and one interception. Charlie Schmitz was his favorite target, catching eight passes for 82 yards.
Up North again
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Perham will head north this week to take on the Roseau Rams on Oct. 3.
The Rams (2-3, 1-1 HOL?North) are coming off a 28-12 loss at Grand Rapids last week. Perham beat Roseau 34-18 last year in the regular season, and 40-28 in the 8AAA?playoffs.
The Jackets have won their last six games against Roseau. The Rams last win in the series came in the 2002 8AAA?Championship game, where they beat Perham, 46-37.
Roseau is led by two-time All-Conference quarterback Mike Lee, who rushed and threw for more than 1,000 yards last season.
(Perham EB?Editor Lou Hoglund contributed to this story.
Friday, September 26
Perham 14, Pequot Lakes 8
Pequot Lakes 0-0-7-0--7
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Perham 0-0-6-8--14
Third Quarter
PL--Johnsen 41 pass from Redmond (Ferone kick) 4:08
Per--Cody Soderstrom 7 pass from Ben Bucholz (pass failed) :36
Fourth Quarter
Per--Chris Scheidecker 31 pass from Bucholz (Scheidecker pass from Bucholz) 7:06
Perham PL
1st Downs 11 12
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Rush--yds 28-43 45-142
Pass yds 180 123
Return yds 13 46
Comp--Att-In 13-16-1 8-21-0
Sacks-yds 1-2 3-17
Punts-ave 4-26.8 2-42
Fbles-lost 7-2 3-1
Pen-yds 2-10 6-49
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3rd Down 3-9 4-14
4th Down 0-1 2-8
Possession 22:06 25:54
Individual Statistics
Rushing--Nathan Schmitz 14-39; Scheidecker 1-5; Gavin Biegler 2-2; Bucholz 8-1
Passing--Bucholz 13-16-1, 180 yds, 2 TD
Receiving--Charlie Schmitz 8-82; Soderstrom 3-61-1; Scheidecker 1-31-1; Justin Mitchell 1-6
Defense--C. Schmitz 11 Tkl; N. Schmitz 11 Tkl, FR; Tim Herrmann 6 Tkl, FF; Biegler 6 Tkl, Sack; DJ?Altstadt 4 Tkl, Sack.
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HOL?North Conf. All
Perham 3-0 3-2
Park Rapids 2-0 3-2
Pequot Lakes 2-1 2-3
Roseau 1-1 2-3
East Grand Forks 1-3 1-4
Crookston 0-4 0-5
HOL?Classic Conf. All
Pelican Rapids 3-0 5-0
Warroad 3-1 4-1
Breckenridge 3-1 3-2
Staples-Motley 2-1 3-2
D-G-F 1-2 3-2
West Central Area 0-3 1-4
Wadena-Deer Creek 0-4 0-5
D-G-F 40, Park Rapids 7
Grand Rapids 28, Roseau 12
East Grand Forks 29, Crookston 22
Pelican Rapids 54, Warroad 0
Breckenridge 21, West Central Area 7
Staples-Motley 32, W-DC 0
Section 8AAA W-L Pts.
Thief River Falls 3-2 52
Perham 3-2 48
Warroad 4-1 47
Park Rapids 3-2 45
Roseau 2-3 41
Pequot Lakes 2-3 40
East Grand Forks 1-4 36
Crookston 0-5 30
TRF 22, Grand Forks Red River 13
