Plainsmen pick up win No. 2
By Diane Stamm
Grant Tribune-Sentinel
The start wasn’t great, but the result was for the Perkins County football team at Bayard Thursday.
“We came out very slow. We had an off week of practice and it showed,” PCS Head Coach Tanner Collins said.
The Plainsmen offense didn’t score on its first two possessions, but the defense put PCS on the board with a fumble recovery in the end zone.
Touchdowns on back-to-back Bayard possessions left Perkins County trailing, but the Plainsmen found an answer.
PCS scored in four plays, then forced a three and out by the Tigers then scored on a five-play drive of their own.
Not content with the 20-12 lead, the Plainsmen took advantage of a Bayard fumble to add a touchdown on its second to last possession of the first half.
“I am proud of the way the guys responded to a good butt chewing though. After that they picked it up and we ran the ball down their throat the rest of the game,” Collins said.
The Plainsmen came out of the halftime locker room and held Bayard to another three and out.
Perkins County wasted no time putting another six points on the board three plays later, increasing its lead to 34-12.
The Plainsmen’s final touchdown of the game came on a long, sustained drive that started on their own 26-yard line. PCS relied solely on its ground game to move down the field.
Both teams had their fair share of turnovers in the fourth quarter.
Bayard scored the game’s final points on a three-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
PCS ran time off the clock with a 17-play drive that included 15 runs to wrap up the 42-20 win.
Collins said the Plainsmen have a lot of work to do with sustaining blocks and not taking plays off.
After a weird week when PCS didn’t have school on Monday and Tuesday then a Thursday game, Collins said he was glad to put the week behind him.
The Plainsmen will be back to Friday night games for the next four weeks.
Collins said he’s excited to get the guys rested up and have a normal schedule for the next month.
PCS will make another trip to the panhandle this week, this time to Kimball.
The Longhorns’ 0-3 record may be deceiving. Kimball has lost to 3-0 Hyannis, 3-0 Leyton and 4-0 North Platte St. Pat’s to start the season.
This will be the Plainsmen’s final non-district game of the season.
Next week PCS will host 1-2 Sutherland. Ahead on the schedule, however, are 3-0 Sandhills Valley, 2-1 Maxwell and 4-0 NPSP.
Stats at a glance
Team Totals PCS Bayard
Total Plays 81 75
Total Yards 330 205
Passing Yards 20 52
Rushing Yards 310 153
First Downs 16 13
Third Down Efficiency 4-13 5-17
Fourth Down Efficiency 2-6 2-5 Turnovers 4 6
Fumbles Lost 4 4
Interceptions Thrown - 2
Penalties 10/67 7/69
Scoring
First Quarter
PCS: Fumble Return (failed two-point conversion)
Second Quarter
Bayard: 20-yd pass (failed two-point conversion)
Bayard: 21-yd run (failed two-point conversion)
PCS: 30-yd run (kick no good)
PCS: 1-yd run (two-point conversion)
PCS: 16-yd pass (failed two-point conversion)
Third Quarter
PCS: 4-yd pass (two-point conversion)
PCS: 1-yd run (two-point conversion) 42 12
Fourth Quarter
Bayard: 3-yd fumble return (two-point conversion)
Score by quarters:
Perkins County 6 20 16 0—42
at Bayard 0 12 0 8—20