The Pittsburgh City League- champion Commodores of District 8 crushed previously undefeated District 10 titlist Greenville, 41-0, Saturday afternoon at South Stadium in opening-round inter district action.

Greenville (11-1) became Perry's ninth shutout victim thus far this season, and the Commodores (12-0) have outscored a dozen opponents by a composite 559-32 margin, or 46.5-2.7 per game.

Such was Perry's dominance that it throttled the Trojans' traditionally tough rushing attack, specifically tailback Joe Kocinsky. The Herald coverage-area's all-time leading rusher, Korcinsky was limited to 33 yards on 15 carries, his lowest output since a 9-carry, 76-yard effort in a 40-0 Northwest Conference blowout of Warren in the '96 season's fourth week.

Pittsburgh Perry receiver Ramon Edison wrestles the ball from Greenville defensive back Tim Strausser (7) for a 46-yard reception from Commodores quarterback Rod Rutherford.(Gene Paulson/Herald)

Averaging 346.6 total yards (including 262 rushing) and 33.7 points per game entering the contest, Greenville never seriously threatened to score except on the first half's final play when Korcinsky was ruled out of bounds after hauling in a 29-yard Cliff Mason pass at the goal line.

Greenville was blanked for the first time in five seasons, its last loss via shutout having occurred to Franklin, 13-0, in October of 1992.

Offensively, Perry was led by junior quarterback Rod Rutherford, who turned in an 8-for-15, 221-yard passing performance that included 17- and 49-yard TD tosses to Corey Oaks. Rutherford also utilized his 6-foot-3 frame to twice vault Greenville's line for 1-yard scoring plunges. His 50 yards rushing enabled him to account for 271 of Perry's 364 total yards, while tailback Chuck Griffy complemented him with a 21-carry, 78- yard effort that included scoring sprints of 37 and 19 yards.

``Look, this team has just so much speed and quickness, and like I told these people: When you play against that type of speed, you cannot make mistakes. Every mistake, you pay for dearly, and we did to the tune of 41 points,'' explained Greenville head coach Bob Stone. Four first-half turnovers prevented Perry from owning a more sizable lead than its 14-0 margin at intermission.

A 54-yard Rutherford-to-Oaks collaboration on a third-and-20 play from the Commodores' 26-yard line on the game's third play from scrimmage seemed to set the tone for both clubs' best and worst. Perry ultimately fumbled away that opportunity, but it seemed in spite of the best efforts of the Trojans' defense, it only delayed the inevitable.

A 42-yard Rob Butler punt return set up the first of Rutherford's pair of plunges midway through the first frame. Then with 3:09 remaining in the second stanza, Griffy _ a 1,517- yard rusher entering the contest who was limited to 23 yards on his first 10 carries by Greenville _ found a lane over the left side and sprinted 37 yards for Perry's second score as it assumed a 14-0 halftime lead.

When Greenville went 3-and-out on its initial second-half offensive series, it served as somewhat of a precursor, as Perry capitalized immediately. A 69-yard Ken Grimmet punt return set up the Commodores with a first-and- goal at Greenville's 8-yard line, and Rutherford leaped the line for his second score less than three full minutes into the third period.

A rare Korcinsky fumble after he was stripped at the sideline set up Griffy's second score on a second- and-9 play with 8:08 remaining in the quarter, and Rutherford dove for the pylon for the 2-point conversion as Perry extended its lead to 28-0.

Rutherford and Oaks played pitch- and-catch twice during the final frame to conclude the scoring.

``We're blessed, and when you have kids like that, you just try to get them the ball in as many ways as you can,'' Perry head coach Gus Catanese acknowledged. ``I thought Greenville did a nice job of taking away some of our best plays; they did a good job of containing Griffy, for the most part, and that's no easy task. I thought their defensive scheme was very sound. They just had a few breakdowns and ... I thought we, probably, threw the ball better today than we have all year.''

Catanese (135-45-4) led Perry to the '89 PIAA AAA crown, beating Berwick, and he was asked how this squad compares to that contingent.

``The comparison is becoming more and more favorable with the '89 team,'' Catanese admitted. ``Both teams, I think, have a lot of similarities, especially defensively _ both were very tough defensively _ but I think I'd have to admit, right now, this team has more explosive power than our '89 team. We're able to get points on the board a lot quicker with these kids than we were in '89. In '89, we worked hard to get our points.''

``I'm not unhappy with the season,'' Stone said in summation. ``It's too bad we had to end getting crushed like this but, all in all, 11-1? That's not bad.''

Stone also praised his seniors.

``The seniors have had a great run. What? two losses, two years (a 24-2 record). It's been a great group of kids.''

Notes: Korcinsky concluded his scholastic tenure with 5,197 yards rushing, 89 touchdowns and 551 points, all bests in Herald annals. ... Stone (164-41-6) ended his 20th season at Greenville's helm as The Herald coverage-area's second-winningest coach, one win behind Sharon's Jim Wildman. ... The loss was Greenville's worst since a 53-7 setback to Sharon in the '85 D-10 Division I title game.

PIAA Class AAA First Round

GREENVILLE  0   0   0   0   0
PERRY       7   7  14  13  41
Scoring plays 
P _ Rutherford 1 run (Pauli kick)    
P _ Griffy 37 run (Pauli kick)    
P _ Rutherford 1 run (kick failed)    
P _ Griffy 19 run (Rutherford run)    
P _ Oaks 17 pass from Rutherford (Pauli   kick)    
P _ Oaks 49 pass from Rutherford (kick   failed)

Team stats 
        GREENVILLE              PERRY
 5........First downs........15
 85........Rushing yards........155
 65........Passing yards........221
 18-5-1.....Att-comp-int........15-8-2
 1-4......Sacks-yards lost........1-12
 146..........Total yards........364
 5-4........Fumbles-lost........6-3
 5-35........Penalties-yards lost........2-25

Individual stats
Rushing: 
PERRY _ Griffy 21-78, Rutherford 12-50, Mars 1-13, 
Graham 4-10, Egleston   1-7, Oaks 2-0, Miller 1-0, 
Pineda 1-0, Butler 2-  (-3); 
GREENVILLE _ Korcinsky 15-33, Shimshock 6-27, 
Martsolf 5-16, Aversa 2-8, Anderle   3-4, 
Bailey 1-(-1), Strosser 1-(-2). 

Passing: 
PERRY _ Rutherford 15-8-2-  221; 
GREENVILLE _ Mason 18-5-1-85.    
Receiving: 
PERRY _ Edison 4-86, Oaks   3-120, Butler 1-15; 
GREENVILLE _  Strausser 3-24, Korcinsky 2-41.