PERRY — Perry scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the game to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish here Friday night on the way to a 31-21 Region 1-AAAA victory against visiting sixth-ranked Ware County.
The defending AAAA champions turned drives of 89 and 83 yards into a 14-0 lead late in the opening quarter, and the Gators could never draw even in falling to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the region.
The now eighth-ranked Panthers (6-2 overall, 3-0 region) face two tough tests against Benedictine and Houston County rival Warner Robins to close the regular season.
Friday’s scenario was a familiar one for Ware County. The now ninthranked Gators have fallen behind each of their last four opponents early, but were only able to rebound and win at Benedictine in their previous game.
“We’re just starting off too slow,” Gators’ head coach Jason Strickland said. “We can’t get down 14 points to good teams.”
The Panthers used two quarterbacks who sought out wide receivers Kory Pettigrew and Kiel Sparks to fuel an offense that collected 333 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Junior Reid Ginn accounted for 208 of the passing total on a 15-of-20 effort with a touchdown to Pettigrew and Sparks. Senior Cullen McDaniel finished 10-for-15 for 125 yards and a touchdown pass to Pettigrew.
Pettigrew, who’s committed to South Florida, caught 14 passes for 180 yards while Sparks snared six for 136. Senior Ahmad Gordon handled the Perry running game with 23 carries for 91 yards and a score.
The Panthers’ defense rendered the Ware County offense totally one-dimensional with a potent front and gap-finding linebackers against the run. The Gators finished with minus-27 yards on 14 attempts with receiver Ja’Londi O’Hara being the only runner in positive yards with 10 on two jet sweeps.
“We (coaches) were worried about running the ball before the game,” Strickland said. “Their four up front as a unit got really good pressure and push in the middle.”
Quarterback Luke Hooks was left to throw 40 passes, completing 23 for 311 yards and three touchdowns. Two of the scoring passes went to MiKhi Patterson and the other to Gunter Fore.
Senior William Bates helped the defense with a 48.5 punting average that included kicks of 60, 52 and 53 yards, respectively, among his eight boots.
“Bates was incredible,” Strickland said.
Perry had a lead just 2:08 into the game when McDaniel hit Pettigrew with a 67-yard touchdown on a fly pattern on the seventh play after the kickoff. Carson Camp added the first of his four conversion kicks for a 7-0 lead the Panthers would never lose.
The Gators managed one first down before being forced to punt with Perry taking over on its 17. On came Ginn, who completed seven straight passes to help Perry cover the distance in 11 plays for the score, an eight-yard toss to Sparks off play-action with 3:09 left in the quarter for a 14-0 advantage.
Ware County cut the deficit in half (14-7) after forcing a punt early in the second period. The Gators gained possession at the Perry 40, and four plays later Hooks found Fore, who was lined up as and H-back, running alone in the middle of the field for a 33-yard touchdown with 8:36 left in the quarter.
The defense and Bates’ punting kept the Gators in threatening field position into the third quarter where the Gators had a chance to draw closer. However, after stalling at the Perry 27 following a punt, Ware County had a field goal attempt go array on a bobbled snap.
Perry countered on the ensuing possession with a field goal of its own, a 33yarder by Camp to make the score 17-7.
Ware County was right back in it with 10:48 left in the game when Hooks hit Patterson with a 43-yard touchdown pass. The score converted a thirdand- 22 situation to complete a six-play, 57-yard possession pulling the Gators to within 17-14.
After an exchange of punts, the Panthers delivered a back-breaking 99yard, nine-play drive to increase their lead.
Left at the one-yard line by a 47-yard punt by Bates, Perry was just inches away from the goal after a false start. After Ginn misfired on the replay of first down, he connected with Sparks on a 77-yard pass to flip the field for a first down at the Ware County 36.
“(Sparks) fell down at the start (of the play) and was sort of lost,” Strickland said. “Our safety went for a pick and (Sparks) catches it and turns it into a big play.”
Ginn culminated the drive on a fourth-and-six play from the 15 off a fade pattern to Pettigrew, who made the catch against double coverage with 4:02 to play for a 24-14 advantage.
The Gators gained nothing on four pass plays after the kickoff to hand the ball back to Perry on its own 27. The Panthers needed only three plays to score on Gordon’s 15-yard run for the clincher to open up a 31-14 lead.
Ware County scored the game’s final touchdown off its best drive of the night, a seven-play, 80yard march in which Hooks was 5-of-7 passing for all the yards. His seven-yard toss to Patterson ended the possession with 1:22 remaining for the 10-point margin.
Jamar Birden (9) and teammates gang tackle Perry quarterback Reid Ginn (15) during second half action of Friday night’s Region 1-AAAA tilt. Photo By BO CARTER
