Strong second half propels Perry past Burke County

PERRY, Ga. — Saturday night, two prizefighters met on the football field in the opening round of the GHSA Class 4A playoffs as the Perry Panthers took on the Burke County Bears.

Head coach Kevin Smith told his Panthers that each team was going to land some blows during the game but they needed to land more of their own to win. The Panthers did just that, winning the game 35-14.

The Panthers received the opening kickoff and moved down the field steadily, and with a facemask penalty on the Bears they faced first-and-10 from the Bears’ 30-yard line.

From there they moved down to the four and handed it off to Dakarai Anderson to land the first blow of the game and lead 7-0.

The Panthers’ defense held the Bears’ offense in check, and on third-and-15 an overthrown pass forced them to punt.

A favorable bounce for the Panthers gave them a first-and-10 from their own 45-yard line.

The offense relied on carries from Ahmad Gordon and Anderson to move them down to the 25-yard line before Cullen McDaniel found a wide open Kiel Sparks in the end zone to take a 14-0 lead.

To start the second quarter, the Bears faced third-and-five from the Panthers’ 17-yard line, and on fourth-and-three the Panthers were called for pass interference to give the Bears a fresh set of downs on the seven-yard line.

The Panthers’ defense was able to deny a score with a goal line stand to stop the Bears on the half-yard line.

Unfortunately for the Panthers they weren’t able to get away from the end zone, and two plays later the Bears tackled Gordon in the end zone for a safety, and used the next drive to score a field goal to trail 14-5 with two minutes left in the first half.

The Bears landed another blow as the Panthers fumbled the kickoff return and gave the ball away on their 41-yard line.

The Bears struck quickly before the half with a long pass into the end zone to trail 14-11 at the break.

The Panthers kicked off to start the second half and the Bears started their drive from their own 40-yard line.

The drive was almost cut short as Maurice Hayes almost intercepted a pass in the end zone, but he couldn’t hold on as he landed.

The Bears faced fourth-and-10 near midfield, but went for the first down and managed to move the ball to the Panthers’ 11-yard line.

Refusing to give up the lead, the Panthers’ defense stonewalled the end zone and forced the Bears to kick a field goal to tie the game at 14.

Moving with urgency the Panthers moved down the field to the four-yard line where Anderson scored another touchdown, the beginning of the knockout blow, to move ahead on the scoreboard 21-14.

The end of the third quarter came and neither team had scored again, but the Bears were backed up in their own territory facing third-and-15 from their own 28-yard line.

They were held for no gain on the next play, but they landed a body blow on the Panthers’ next drive with an interception on the eight-yard line.

Despite the defensive highlight, the offense still couldn’t move the ball against the Panthers, and Ashlon Ashley sacked the quarterback to force fourth-and-22 from their own six-yard line.

Ashley made another big play on special teams and blocked the punt to give the Panthers’ offense the ball on the two-yard line.

Gordon made quick work of it and the Panthers took a 28-14 lead with 4:40 left in the fourth quarter.

To seal the game the Panthers recovered an onside kick on the Bears’ 33-yard line and Gordon ran in his third touchdown of the evening to mark the final score 35-14.

UP NEXT

Perry will travel to Bainbridge on Friday, Nov. 17 to play the Bainbridge Bearcats on Centennial Field at 7:30 p.m.

HHJ News