‘Every year we break a new record’: Lady Panthers win sixth consecutive region championship with 7-0 thumping of Warner Robins

WARNER ROBINS — As Perry gathered in the post-game huddle, head coach Nathan Dooley told his team, “Every year we break a new record.”

The record in question is how many region championships the Lady Panthers (9-3, 7-0 Region 1-4A) have won consecutively; the number is up to six after Thursday’s 7-0 win against Warner Robins (5-3, 2-2 Region).

“It’s just amazing to be able to get new pieces every year, you’re losing pieces every year, and to keep that consistency and keep that legacy that’s been set for them for the last six years alive, just means a lot to the coaches [and] to the players,” Dooley said. “That’s really what motivates us through the region season.”

Perry has not won a region game this season by less than a three-goal margin. Their 7-0 record and another region championship, while still very important accomplishments for the players, have now become the standard. Assuming the Lady Panthers win against Warner Robins again, this undefeated region season is just one of six since Dooley took the reigns.

He came into a program that needed direction, and six years later the culture has shifted and multiple teams have stamped their names into Perry High School history.

“Year one, coming in [as a] brand new coach, changing a lot of the scheme and tactics that they were used to, we really didn’t know what to expect until we got into the season and realized we’ve got a solid team that’s buying into what we’re doing,” Dooley said. “It’s now become the standard where even as the freshmen come in, they know this is a big expectation that we need to play well. We need to uphold the region title because not only have we won six in a row but we’ve won every year undefeated [in the region] as well.”

Perry spent a lot of their 80 minutes against the Demonettes in the attacking third.

Warner Robins had a hard time clearing the ball, or any actions, quickly. By the time they settled the ball from a pass the Lady Panthers were there ready to make a play on the ball.

If anyone besides Marley Laguines got their foot on the ball for a clear it failed to travel enough to clear the threat. Perry was constantly putting pressure on the back line, and came away with seven goals to show for it.

“We knew that they may struggle on the back line a little bit,” Dooley said. “We held our shape very well, attacked those balls. We worked a lot yesterday on winning balls in the air…that’s how Warner Robins tends to play, a little direct, and I thought we did well controlling the ball out of the air looking to possess the ball a little bit and then open up those lanes to play the through balls.”

It started off a bit slow, though. Laguines fouled a player in the box and awarded Mia Mathis a penalty kick nearly 20 minutes into the match. Mathis got the opening goal into the net with ease.

Just three minutes later Madilynn Foster zipped up the right side of the field and put a shot into the keeper, but the rebound was stuffed in by Rylee Beasley for a 2-0 lead.

Foster finished a goal of her own after Julie Marfell’s free kick knocked into the crossbar with just over three minutes left in the first half.

Ansley Bigler’s second-half long shot to put the Lady Panthers ahead 4-0 drew the most celebratory reaction from the team — Perry scored three more goals before the end for another shutout victory.

UP NEXT

Perry, along with the other Houston County teams, will head off to spring break next week before returning to action on April 8 against Veterans.

Warner Robins “travels” to Northside in their return to the pitch on April 8.