The HoCo Bears and Perry Panthers are set to face-off against each other tonight at Herb St. John Stadium on the campus of Perry High School. Last season, these two county rivals played at Freedom Field and the final result was a 57-56 Bears victory in the highest scoring football game between two Houston County teams ever.
The Panthers’ 56 points scored is the most they have ever scored in a game in a loss while the 56 points is the most the Black, Silver, and White have ever allowed in a win. The Maroon, Gold, and White led 28-3 at one point but a couple of lost fumbles late in the first half allowed HoCo to get back in the game and afterwards, it was a Big 12 track meet with the Bears converting a 2 pt play to win 57-56.
The last time these two played at Herb St. John stadium was Week 1 2021 in a game Perry controlled by winning 36-13. The Bears’ last victory @ Perry was Week 1 2019 where they dominated the Panthers by winning 34-3.
This will be the 12th all-time meeting between these two county foes with HoCo leading the series 6-5. Here is the previous 11 results going in order of their first match-up to their most recent:
09/11/92 HoCo 14 Perry 6
09/10/93 Perry 29 HoCo 27
10/21/94 Perry 19 HoCo 14
10/20/95 HoCo 19 Perry 8
08/27/10 HoCo 10 Perry 9
08/25/11 Perry 35 HoCo 17
08/17/18 Perry 23 HoCo 17
08/23/19 HoCo 34 Perry 3
09/04/20 HoCo 17 Perry 10
08/20/21 Perry 36 HoCo 13
08/26/22 HoCo 57 Perry 56
Perry opens their 2023 season tonight after having a BYE during Week 1 as they will have the electric senior Dakari Anderson on offense as they host a more improved HoCo team from last season whose offense is quite lethal with AJ Hill at QB and the bevy of receivers and RBs they have. The needle looks to favor the Bears but you never know what can happen in a rivalry game; especially after last season’s contest.
HoCo is ranked #4 in AAAAAA while Perry is ranked #5 in AAAA so two great teams on paper looking to have big seasons each and tonight they face off against each other in what looks to be a packed house at Herb St. John Stadium on a very hot evening.
