POTOSI, Mo. -- The Perryville football team still is trying to find some traction under second-year coach Keith Winkler.

But the Pirates are maintaining a positive attitude despite Friday night's 56-7 rout at the hands of host Potosi that dropped them to 0-4.

Perryville, which went 1-9 in Winkler's debut season of 2009, has been outscored 167-35 so far this year.

"We're not going to give up on the season," said senior Ryan Kassinger, who scored Perryville's only touchdown Friday. "We're off to a rough start, but we're going to turn it around."

Said senior quarterback Joey Bauwens, who threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Kassinger: "We're just going to stay positive, keep working hard, don't let down."

Winkler admitted that it's hard not to be down after such a complete beat down.

Potosi (2-2), while not quite as powerful as last year's squad that posted an undefeated regular season, still is plenty formidable.

The Trojans proved way too powerful for Perryville as they held a whopping 444-49 advantage in total yards.

"They're a good team. We knew they'd be physical," Kassinger said.

Perryville's 49-yard output is even a bit misleading since 45 of those yards came on a run by senior Lee Thaxton on the game's final play against Potosi's deep reserves.

Of the Pirates' 19 running plays, nine lost yards.

"We just have to keep plugging away at it. Hopefully eventually it clicks," Winkler said. "We're having mental breakdowns. ... I don't know what it is. We're still trying to figure that out."

Matt Marler, Potosi's strong-armed senior quarterback, threw four touchdown passes. He completed 7 of 8 attempts for 185 yards.

"He throws a good ball," Winkler said. "They're a good ballclub. They did a lot of things right."

Marler attempted just one second-half pass, a touchdown strike early in the third quarter that made it 41-7 and completed his night's work.

"I was excited," Marler said. "Last year I went 7 for 8 with four touchdowns [during a 35-7 win at Perryville] and that's exactly what I did tonight.

"My receivers were running the right routes and I was hitting them."

Potosi scored on its first offensive play after forcing a Perryville punt as Marler hit junior Trevor Cain with a perfect bomb that resulted in a 62-yard touchdown less than three minutes in.

Perryville forged a 7-7 tie late in the opening quarter after taking over at the Potosi 36-yard line following a fake punt that lost 19 yards.

Bauwens and Kassinger hooked up on second down, the quarterback hitting the wide-open receiver in stride over the middle. Kassinger cruised into the end zone untouched.

"We did a good job. The line blocked pretty decent," Kassinger said of the TD.

But that was about the extent of the highlights for the Pirates, who saw Potosi score the game's final 49 points.

The Trojans put up 27 second-quarter points, including three touchdowns over the final 5 minutes, 25 seconds of the period, to lead 34-7 at the intermission.

Perryville had 13 yards of first-half offense, including losing 27 yards rushing. Potosi piled up 317 first-half yards.

Things got no better for the Pirates in the second half.

Marler's fourth and final touchdown pass less than three minutes into the third quarter made it 41-7.

The Trojans recovered a blocked punt in the end zone to go up 48-7 barely two minutes later, after which they began to clear their bench.

The 48-7 lead meant a running clock -- used when a team is ahead by 35 or more points in the second half -- the rest of the way.

"It was a good game for us," Marler said.

Things won't get any easier for the Pirates this week as they visit undefeated Fredericktown.

Perryville 7 0 0 0 -- 7

Potosi 7 27 14 8 -- 56

First Quarter

Po -- Trevor Cain 62 pass from Matt Marler (Marler kick), 10:39

Pe -- Ryan Kassinger 35 pass from Joey Bauwens (Chris Zahner kick), 3:28

Second Quarter

Po -- Garth Rogers 8 run (Marler kick), 10:36

Po -- Dylan Eye 12 pass from Marler (kick blocked), 5:25

Po -- Rogers 87 run (Marler kick), 4:08

Po -- Kevin Bach 27 pass from Marler (Marler kick), 1:32

Third Quarter

Po -- Eye 29 pass from Marler (Marler kick), 9:07

Po -- Matt Long recovered blocked punt in end zone (Marler kick), 6:56

Fourth Quarter

Po -- Dusty Wideman 1 run (Jeremy Malugen pass from Rogers), 8:23

Pe Po

First downs 2 20

Rushes-yards 19-9 39-259

Passing yards 40 185

Passes 3-14-0 7-8-0

Punts 6-29 2-31

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 3-0

Penalties-Yards 1-5 7-42

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Perryville, Lee Thaxton 3-37, Jared Hotop 1-3, Zahner 1-0, Levi Zook 9-minus 2, Kassinger 1-minus 6, Bauwens 4-minus 23. Potosi, Rogers 11-128, Wideman 4-52, Tyler Nunez 7-48, Andrew Brewer 6-32, Rick Rousch 2-6, Marler 3-minus 1, Beau Missey 5-minus 4, team 1-minus 2.

PASSING -- Perryville, Bauwens 3-11-0-40, Zahner 0-3-0-0. Potosi, Marler 7-8-0-185.

RECEIVING -- Perryville, Kassinger 3-40. Potosi, Cain 3-106, Eye 3-52, Bach 1-27.