The cowbell is coming back to Perry, after the Bluejays triumphed over the Greene County Rams 17-14 in overtime Friday night.

The annual “Battle for the Cowbell” started well for Perry, as they turned their first possession into a 41-yard touchdown pass from Alexis Garrido to Kaleb Olejniczak. After the defense forced what would be the first of three turnovers on downs, Perry was once again threatening to score. However, Garrido fumbled inside the 10-yard line and the Rams recovered. Perry would turn the ball over twice more in the first half, but led at halftime 7-0. After the Rams punted on the first possession of the second half, Perry took over on their own 23-yard line. The Bluejays thought they had scored on a 75-yard touchdown catch by Brandon Kenyon, but there was holding called on the play and the touchdown was negated.

However, on the very next play Reece Dunlap took a handoff 84 yards for a touchdown, putting the Bluejays up 14-0. That score lasted until late in the fourth quarter, when the Rams got on the scoreboard on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Clint Dennhardt to Lance Hughes. Greene County would take over one last time with under three minutes to play. They drove the ball down to the 9-yard line, but an errant snap resulted in a sack by Cole Snyder. However, the Rams were able to line up and spike the ball with one second left.

With one last play, Dennhardt found Carter Morton in the end zone for a touchdown. After the Rams made a long extra point, the game went into overtime. In overtime, Perry stopped Greene County on three downs, and when the Rams went for it on fourth down, Dennhardt was intercepted by Mana Martinez. Three plays later, Perry kicker German Alvarenga put the winning field goal through the uprights, ending the game at 17-14. The win brings Perry’s record to 3-5. Next week they will travel to Iowa Falls-Alden for their final game of the season against the Cadets. Listen to FM 99.7, AM 1310 KDLS next Friday for live play-by-play action starting with pregame at 7 p.m.