The Perry Panthers and Veterans Warhawks squared off tonight at Freedom Field and the final result was a barn burner with the Panthers outscoring the Warhawks to win 49-41 in the highest scoring game in series history.
The Red, White, and Blue got things started with a 75 yd kickoff return that went all the way down to the Perry 1 yd line. Veterans’ Preston Bird scored on a 2 yd run and the score was 6-0 Warhawks after the missed PAT. The Maroon, Gold, and White responded rather quickly when Ahmad Gordon ran the rock in from 22 yds out and the PAT made it 7-6 Panthers in the first.
Jake Maxwell found Preston Bird for a touchdown reception and the PAT made it 13-7 Veterans with 6:33 left in the first. Perry responded quickly with a 3 play 45 yd drive capped off by an Ahmad Gordon 2 yd TD run and the PAT made it 14-13 Panthers.
The Maroon, Gold, and White’s defense forced a three-and-out and got the ball back and Perry scored on an 18 yd TD pass from Ginn to Kory Pettigrew to cap an 8 play 77 yd drive and the PAT made it 21-13 Perry to end the first quarter.
The Red, White, and Blue responded with a Preston Bird 2 yd TD run and the PAT made it 21-20 Panthers with 8:40 remaining in the first half. A big play late in the first half occurred when Perry picked off a pass in the endzone and took it coast-to-coast with a 100 yd pick six and the PAT made it 28-20 Panthers.
The Warhawks responded with another TD late in the first half via a Preston Bird 2 yd run and the PAT made it 28-27 in favor of the visitors heading into halftime. The Maroon, Gold, and White took the second half kickoff and would score when Colter Ginn found Khalid Miller for an 18 yd TD reception and the PAT made it 35-27 Panthers.
The host never surrendered and responded with a 41 yd drive capped off by a Preston Bird two yd TD run to cut the gap down to two and the 2-pt try failed when Perry deflected the ball away from everyone to maintain the 35-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Veterans would get a massive play when once again… Preston Bird caught the ball off his own deflection and took the rock in on a 60 yd TD reception after breaking three tackles and the successful 2-pt conversion made it 41-35 Warhawks.
Perry would respond quickly once again when Ahmad Gordon scored on a 16 yd run and the PAT made it 42-41 in favor of the Panthers. After a defensive stop, Ahmad Gordon scored on a 45 yd rush TD to cap the one play drive and the PAT made it 49-41 Perry with just over a minute remaining in the contest.
The Red, White, and Blue got one more shot and were able to move the ball down field but ran out of time and Perry came away with the victory 49-41. The Panthers improve to 2-1 on the season and will travel west to Fort Valley to take on the Peach Co Trojans next Friday.
Veterans falls to 2-1 on the season and will host the Lakeside (Evans) Panthers next Friday. Warhawks’ #4 Preston Bird carried the team on his back and had 5 TDs on the night while Panthers’ #1 Ahmad Gordon had 4 TDs on the night. The Maroon, Gold, and White even the series at 7 a piece.
