Perry’s four-goal barrage before halftime was far too much for the Bobcats to overcome, falling 7-2 to the Bluejays at Leonard Cole Field.

MHS had almost all of the scoring opportunities in the first 20 minutes, but the Bobcats came away with no goals to show for it.

“I think a little doubt crept in when we were playing solid like that and couldn’t get anything to go in,” MHS head coach Scott Johannes said. “Like we started thinking that maybe it wasn’t going to go our way, shaking and hanging our heads too much.”

Starting at the 28-minute mark and for the next nine minutes, Perry’s offense finally clicked into place and overwhelmed the Bobcats with four goals, including two for Sergio Sanchez, as the Bluejays (5-3) hammered away at the MHS defense.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Marshalltown’s David Monge (20) heads the ball into the goal to bring the score to its final in the second half of Monday’s soccer match at Leonard Cole Field.

The Bobcats (2-6) were saved by the halftime whistle allowing them a chance to regroup down four goals.

“Perry, unfortunately they were what we thought they would be,” Johannes said. “And once they got some shots going in it turned into something where they all wanted to shoot and everybody was taking that opportunity to make it happen.”

Three minutes into the second half, Logan Hoffman made a pass across the field to Aaron Ordaz Zambrano, who dribbled, then turned and fired a hard grounder past the Perry keeper to get Marshalltown on the board.

Perry was quick to respond with a Jose Ortega goal five minutes later, and added a sixth goal minutes later after a Perry foul signaled by the side official was waved off by the head official and, in the immediate aftermath, allowed Jonatan Banuelos to work around a frozen Bobcat defense to score on a header moments later.

Marshalltown still had offensive chances in the second half, but had missed their window to truly put pressure on the Bluejays.

“We attacked very well, there were just some times where we needed to play with a little more urgency and say, let’s get this done,” Johannes said. “But we passed the ball well, middle wasn’t too bad, but our guys just didn’t come out with it.”

MHS did give the home crowd a good-looking goal in the final minutes as David Monge put a header in the top-left corner of the Perry goal on a corner kick from Jett Jansen.

“When you’re down like that, it’s good to have something where we can end on a positive note,” Johannes said. “And maybe a couple more of our passes click earlier in the game and it’s a different game.

The Bobcats get a big challenge at Des Moines Hoover on Tuesday.

“We know they’re fast, play the ball quick,” Johannes said. “We just have to leave this one here, walk off the pitch knowing this game is over and still be able to say that we can play with anybody.”