Richardet's pick six sends Perryville to C4D1 final

Even as the higher-ranked team with home-field advantage, there were initial, internal doubts that the Perryville Pirates could knock out the Class 4 runner-up Hillsboro Hawks.

Once senior Chase Richardet intercepted a pass near the end zone and scored a touchdown the other way, there was no longer any doubt.

“Every practice we do drills on interceptions,” Richardet said. “So when we pick it off, everybody on the team goes off and blocks for the guys, and that’s exactly what we did. They all blocked well for me, and they made a good alley for me.”

The Pirates defeated the Hawks 21-7 on Friday, Nov. 8, in Perryville, to advance to the Class 4 District 1 championship game.

“It’s unbelievable,” Richardet said. “I had a little doubt, I’m not gonna lie, but it’s just amazing. All of our hard work went together and there’s nothing that can beat us.”

Hillsboro was looking at fourth-and-7 and looking to tie the game at 14-all with 4:15 left in the fourth quarter. Had the pass hit its intended target, it could’ve led to a much different outcome.

Richardet has only two interceptions all season, but both picks resulted in a touchdown.

“It’s probably the most emotional play in my career,” Richardet said. “There’s nothing like a game-saving pick six and one of the biggest games of my career.”

Richardet's moment symbolizes a defensive effort that has held an opponent to single digits for the second time during the playoffs. Junior defensive end Drew Leuckel had a career-high four sacks, adding his season total to 10.

Perryville took an early 7-0 lead on a 10-yard touchdown run by Barrett Wheeler. The Pirates extended their lead to 14-0 in the third quarter after another score by Wheeler, extending his season total to 22 rushing touchdowns.

When the Perryville offense was stuck in the mud, quarterback Kayd Luckey had Richardet as a reliable target to throw deep in a pinch. Entering the game, Richardet was the Pirates’ leading receiver with 715 yards and eight touchdowns.

“It’s amazing when coach (Brent) Roth calls his play calls and trusts me that I’m gonna go out and get the ball no matter what happens,” Richardet said. “(Luckey) knows he’s gonna throw it to me. He makes sure he gets it to me and trusts me that I’m gonna catch it.”

Perryville has improved its record to 10-1 on the season, which is more wins than Roth’s first three years as head coach combined.

“We knew before this that we had a good team,” Richardet said. “We knew that we could do better than we ever have before. I mean, this is our chance to do it. If we were doing this would be the season.”

The Pirates will travel to Festus to take on the Tigers for the C4D1 title. It was a goal of Roth’s to get to this point. Now the goal is to make a run at the state championship.

“We can’t doubt ourselves now,” Richardet said. “We beat Hillsboro. We should not have a single doubt in the world. We should be on top of the world.”