Perry Head Coach Kevin Smith said he was anxious to see “if we get down, or if something goes wrong, how we handle that.”
It took all of one play Friday against Houston County for Smith to get his answer: The opening kickoff. It went into the endzone. It came out of the endzone – via Jonathan Williams. In fact it was taken about 102 yards by him into the other endzone. Only … a flag brought it back.
Continued Smith: “I think we need to make sure we can play through adversity and keep trusting each other.”
They can. They did as the Panthers beat the Bears 23-17.
Both scored twice in the first quarter. Houston County drew first blood – after Perry had punted twice and it had fumbled on its first play from scrimmage. It came via a two-yard run by Max Rigby.
Davion Ross and the Panthers quickly answered that with a 95-yard kickoff return. The point after was no good, but Perry went ahead on a 27-yard run by Ross and a two-point conversion via Ross and quarterback Lane Rucker.
Houston County answered that with a 52-yard run by Rigby.
The Panthers went up on a six-yard run following. The Bears attempted to answer that but fumbled the ball over on the three. They also missed a field goal with about five minutes left so it was 21-14 at the half.
Both punted twice in the third before Perry recorded a safety to make it 23-14. Houston County faked a punt late in the third but was unable to pick up a first down. It was also picked off in the fourth to kill a drive. Finally, it added a field goal with just over two minutes left to play.
Perry ran the clock down to about 41 seconds before giving it back. The Bears picked up a first down but time ran out before they could do more.
