The coveted cow bell will stay in Jefferson for another year, as Perry fell to Greene County by a score of 54-0 Friday evening.

The Bluejays hit the road for the first game of the new season, taking on their oldest rival, but it was clear early on that Perry was outmatched by the Rams. After the Bluejays forced an early fumble, they gave it right back to the Rams on the next play with a fumble of their own. Greene County would score a few plays later on the first of two touchdown runs of the night for Colby Kafer. On their next drive, the Rams would take a short field and turn it into the first of two touchdown passes from Brent Riley to Carter Morton. After the first quarter, Greene County led 14-0.

Perry nearly scored on the Rams’ first drive of the second quarter, as Wilber Ramirez returned an interception to the opponent’s 11 yard line. However, they were unable to capitalize on the field position and the ensuing field goal attempt was blocked. Greene County would score on the subsequent drive on a touchdown run by Riley. A few plays later, a bobbled handoff was picked up by Rams defender Joe Patterson and returned for a touchdown. At halftime, the score was 27-0 in favor of the hosts.

It was more of the same in the third quarter, as Morton and Kafer scored again, and Nick Breon returned an interception for a touchdown. Going into the fourth Greene County held a 47-0 lead and a running clock. They would get on the board one last time on a Morton punt return touchdown, bringing the final score to 54-0. A bright spot for the Bluejays: punter Cori Alamina picked up three first downs on fourth down and longer than 10 yards, improvising after fielding errant snaps.

The loss gives Perry an 0-1 record as they prepare to host Adel-DeSoto-Minburn next week. Listen to the live play-by-play coverage of the game on AM 1310, FM 99.7 KDLS, with pregame starting at 7 p.m. and kickoff at 7:30.