It's often said that big players make big plays in big games. That was certainly true in Perryville's 34-28 victory over host Havre de Grace Friday night. It's also why Perryville coach Chris Johnson did not need to agonize over his play call when his team, trailing 28-26, faced a 4th and 14 from their own 34 yard line with less than three minutes remaining in the game. Johnson called for a slant pass from quarterback Elijah Johnson to receiver TyRell Hollingsworth. Spread out to the left, Hollingsworth cut across the middle of the field and Elijah Johnson hit him in stride. Hollingsworth did the rest, outracing the Warrior defenders to the end zone to put the Panthers in front, 32-28, with 2:27 left. Tony Smith's two-point conversion made it 34-28. Chris Johnson did not consider running any play other than the slant. "Not really because they were in cover two (zone). I knew the middle was open," he said. "We tried to run that play earlier and TyRell wasn't looking for it in time. Then I called that last play. I was kind of holding on to it. It was kind of my last play if I needed it I was going to run it. And I needed it. I ran it. Pretty much everyone runs off and opens up the middle. TyRell hits the middle. He hit it perfectly. Elijah threw a great ball, hit him in stride." Said Hollingsworth: "I was a little nervous but I just wanted to come out here and get this first down completion," Hollingsworth said. "I caught the ball and I saw I only needed to beat one person. I just ran as fast as I could and got past him. It was open field from there." On the next play from scrimmage, Perryville defensive lineman Jeff Pollard broke through and sacked Havre de Grace quarterback Jack Eberhardt. Pollard's plan was simple. "Just get through and make a play," said Pollard, who called it the biggest play of his career. "When I saw him out in the open I couldn't miss." On 4th and 4 from the Warrior 48, Toby DiMauro batted down a pass to give Perryville the ball. A 42-yard gallop by Elijah Johnson put the Panthers on the Havre de Grace three and Perryville kneeled down twice to run out the clock. The comeback win had meaning on several fronts. It avenged a Warrior win on Perryville's Homecoming last season and returned the Susquehanna Bowl back to the east side of the river. It also had playoff implications with the teams both battling for a postseason berth. Chris Johnson used last season's loss as a source of motivation but was more focused on this year's playoff chase. "It did come up," he said of last season's game. "The fact that they beat us on our Homecoming last year did come up. The biggest thing that came up was that they're in our region. We're both 4-2 (entering the game). This was a big game for the season as far as where we'll going to be positioned in the future as the year goes on. Don't get me wrong. The kids were motivated by that. But they were motivated for the chance to play them on their Homecoming…I was proud of our kids. They played really, really hard. That was a playoff-caliber game. It really was. That was two good 1A schools going at it." While Chris Johnson was thinking about the playoffs his players seemed more concerned with extracting a measure of revenge and getting their hands on the Susquehanna Bowl trophy. "Last year they came down and beat us on our Homecoming," said Hollingsworth. "We just tried to come back and do the same thing." Hollingsworth put Perryville on the board with a 20-yard TD reception from Elijah Johnson four minutes into the game but the Panthers missed the extra point. Havre de Grace had a touchdown run negated by a penalty and then were stopped inches from the goal line. But the Warriors broke through on the first play of the second quarter. Jordan Hawthorne picked off a pass intended for Hollingsworth deep down the right sideline and returned it 45 yards for the tying touchdown. Perryville's Mitchell Johansen and Pollard combined to block the extra point. The teams traded interceptions with Hawthorne getting his second of the game before Elijah Johnson intercepted a pass in the end zone. The game was tied at 6 at halftime. After Havre de Grace's Homecoming festivities, the Warriors did not take long to grab the lead. Ombré Glover, playing the wildcat quarterback position on the series, raced 59 yards for the go-ahead score 50 seconds into the third quarter. On the two-point conversion attempt, the Panthers' Bryce Reese deflected the pass and it was intercepted by Cody Hicks. Perryville countered with a four-yard scoring scamper by Smith. A holding penalty wiped out Johnson's conversion run and then a pass to Smith came up way short leaving the scored deadlocked at 12. The Panthers got a big break when a snap sailed over the head of the Havre de Grace punter. Perryville took over on the Warrior four and Elijah Johnson scored on the next play. Johnson was stopped short on the two-point conversion try and the visitors led 18-12 with 3:46 left in the third quarter. Havre de Grace responded rapidly with Hawthorne scoring from seven yards out and running in for the conversion to give the Warriors a 20-18 edge with 37 seconds left in the third quarter. A good kickoff return by Hollingsworth to the Warrior 47 put Perryville back in business. Five plays later Toby DiMauro, scored from 14 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter. A two-point conversion by Smith gave the Panthers a 28-20 lead. Perryville appeared to be in good shape when DiMauro recovered a fumble on his own 13 with a little more than 10 minutes to go. But a holding penalty pushed the Panthers back. On 4th down from their own one, Chris Johnson elected to have Elijah Johnson take a safety rather than risk a blocked punt for a TD or a big punt return. Havre de Grace got that go-ahead touchdown eventually anyway on a 12-yard run by Hawthorne. The PAT was missed. The Warriors led 28-26 with 5:06 remaining. The game-winning drive started in strange fashion when the Panthers fumbled the snap and Smith fell on it for a nine-yard loss. Perryville got another huge break when Havre de Grace was called for roughing the passer after an incompletion on the next play. On first and 10 from their own 38, DiMauro gained two yards but the next two plays combined to lose five. It was 4th and 14 but Pollard still had faith. "That's when you need to come together the most as a team," he said. "You've got to make a play. I was concerned but I knew we had playmakers. So I knew something big was going to happen and it was going to be alright. Just block for Elijah and then something big will happen." It all came down to one play. And something big did happen. A big play by big players in a big game. "That was it. That was it," said Chris Johnson. "It was all over. What we try to preach to our kids is as long as you have time, as long as you have breath in your body, you have an opportunity. The guys never gave up. They kept fighting and so did (Havre de Grace). It was two teams going to war wanting to win this game in the worst way. It's a big rivalry game. Kids know each other. A lot of respect. There's a really, really good chance we'll be playing them again in about four or five weeks (in the playoffs)." Comments are closed.
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