Perry football runs amok in Yellow Jackets’ visit to the Panther Pit

PERRY — Perry scored before the offense touched the field for the first time, if that tells you what kind of night it was.

Monday’s 56-7 region win over Wayne County (0-7, 0-2 Region 1-4A) was anything but close as the Panthers’ (5-2, 2-0 Region) run game sliced through the Yellow Jackets’ defense.

Though this was far from a regular game, as Wayne County is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Helene and had to move this game to Perry. Panthers football coach Kevin Smith sent out his best wishes to the Yellow Jackets post-game.

“[Wayne County] is depleted, I don’t know that they had all their guys tonight, and it’s just real rough down there in Wayne County and our hearts and prayers go out to them and their community down there,” Smith said.

The Perry community came together from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. before the game to accept donations for the Yellow Jackets community, as well as greet the buses as they arrived.

Here are three observations:

PHOTOS: See more photos from Monday’s game.

1. Doing what the Panthers do best

In case you weren’t aware, Perry is pretty good at running the football.

Though the Panthers’ ground game has been stifled a couple of times this season against Houston County and East Coweta, they’ve had more games dominating their opponents like Monday night.

Of their 42 first-half points, 28 of them came on the ground. 

The other two scores came from a 15-yard passing touchdown from Reid Ginn to Kory Pettigrew, and a defensive touchdown from Jaiden Coleman, who blocked Wayne County’s punt on the first possession of the game and recovered it in the end zone.

Ahmad Gordon had two of the first-half rushing touchdowns, Decorrion Daniels had one, and Cullen McDaniel kept on an option play for an 11-yard touchdown run. 

Their stellar play through the first two quarters called for a running clock in the second half.

2. Future of the quarterback position

Some would say that it’s never too early to look at the future.

Well, if Monday was any indicator, the future of the quarterback position in Perry is in good hands.

Junior Reid Ginn and sophomore Jhamard Cobb both got run in the blowout and each had impressive plays.

Ginn had a beautiful 36-yard pass to Kiel Sparks to set up a score late in the second quarter. Sparks streaked towards the end zone, and as two defenders converged, Ginn dropped it right into the bucket for a completion.

Cobb opened the second half scoring with a keeper on an option play that he took 40 yards to make it 49-7 Panthers.

“We got a good football team and everybody knows their role,” Smith said of the three quarterbacks. “We get in situations where we got to throw the ball down the field, and Reid gives us an opportunity to do that. Cullen can do it too, but Cullen is more of a run short, RPO type quarterback. We gotta be ready for anything, and we make decisions based on what’s best for Perry High School, and our guys have bought into that. They over there cheering for each other, whatever it takes to win for Perry High School.”

How much either Ginn or Cobb plays over McDaniel is to be seen, but the future of the quarterback position looks promising for Perry.

3. High-scoring…defense?

When you see the term “high-scoring” used in sports it’s usually used to describe offenses. Or to disparage defenses in a shootout.

It’s not often used to describe a defense in a positive way.

However, the Perry defense has done a lot of scoring over the last couple of games and are averaging 17.5 points per game over their last two games.

They had three defensive scores against New Hampstead (two fumble returns and a pick-six) and two against Wayne County, both fumble returns.

“We work turnover circuit every week. For the first three or four weeks we didn’t get a lot of turnovers, and finally we’re starting to get some,” Smith said. “A lot of the times in good ball games it’s going to come down to who turns the ball over and who don’t…I’m very very proud of [defensive coordinator Steven] Spurley and the staff getting our defensive guys really getting in there and trying to snatch that ball up.”

UP NEXT

Perry (kind of) has a bye this week, with their next game coming on Friday, Oct. 18 at home against Ware County, which is sure to be their toughest region test yet.