Perry offense comes alive late to close out Ware County

PERRY — After Friday’s 31-21 victory over Ware County, Perry stands as the lone undefeated team in Region 1-4A.

The Panthers (6-2, 3-0 Region) currently sit at the number one spot in their region and are in the driver’s seat as they take aim at Benedictine and Warner Robins in the coming weeks.

Taking down the Gators was a big step in securing a region championship, and ensuring Perry has home field advantage in the opening rounds of the playoffs.

“We knew coming in tonight, whoever won this game tonight is going to be in the driver’s seat and is probably going to get a home playoff game,” Panthers football coach Kevin Smith said. “Just so proud of our guys. We made some mistakes, but [Ware County] made a few more than we did, and that was the difference in the game.”

Here are three observations:

PHOTOS: See more shots from Friday’s game.

1. Offensive awakening

Perry’s offense was at their best in the first and fourth quarters. In the first quarter they scored 14 of their 31 points highlighted by a 67-yard touchdown grab from Kory Pettigrew, who finished the night with 169 yards and two touchdowns on 13 catches.

They fell silent in the second and third, however, as Ware County honed in on the Panthers’ run game and played good coverage in Perry’s short passing game.

They awoke with a raging flame just when they needed it with four minutes to play. The struggling offense finally marched down the field into the red zone, but they came up short on third down from the 19-yard line.

On fourth down Reid Ginn, who played a lot as Perry leaned towards its air attack, threw it up to Kory Pettigrew in the right corner of the end zone. As he went up for the ball, so did two defenders, but he came down with it secured as he landed on his back to make it 24-14 Panthers.

“Kory Pettigrew is a Division 1 player, he made a Division 1 play,” Smith said of the University of South Florida commit. “I thought our guys played hard, I thought they played with resilience. Hats off to coach [Jason] Strickland and his bunch, they never quit. They got a good football team, that was a quality win for us tonight.”

2. Defense fuels offense

Smith gave the defense a lot of credit for the offense’s resurgence in the fourth quarter.

It’s true that the defensive line did a great job controlling the line of scrimmage, pressuring quarterback Luke Hooks and keeping the Gators behind the sticks. The secondary also continued to prove their worth as the season comes to a close.

“We made some plays on defense and we had a little bit better field position in the second half,” Smith said.

The secondary, particularly the cornerbacks, were a question mark coming into the season but have proved time and time again that they can make winning plays.

Andrew Battle is undersized for a cornerback standing at 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, but he’s constantly found himself in the mix as opposing teams attack downfield.

He had several pass breakups deep down the field as Ware County attempted to come back, as did other Perry defenders.

“They believe in our culture: Get better each play,” Smith said of the secondary. “Andrew Battle is a winner. They look out there and see how short he is, and they challenge him, and they should, and he steps up to the challenge.”

3. The boot

One of the things that kept the Panthers’ offense at bay was the Gators’ special teams, particularly punter Lennox Holder.

Perry was consistently pinned deep in their own territory as Holder kept his punts at low angles with a lot of velocity, and they often got phenomenal rolls. In the fourth quarter Holder managed to pin the Panthers on their own one-yard line, and a false start backed them up further to the half-yard line.

Granted, this is where Perry marched down the field and made it 24-14, but Holder gave Ware County’s defense a great chance.

UP NEXT

Perry will finish up their final two regular season games on the road after a four-game home stand. Their next game is at Benedictine on Friday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Their final contest is cross-county at Warner Robins on Friday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m.