Offensive linemen often wallow in a sea of sorrow and anonymity, noticed only after they commit a holding penalty or false start. That was not the case Friday night as Perryville's o-line paved the way for a 56-26 triumph over host Rising Sun and then were lauded afterwards. "As a team we just played very well," running back Timmy Clark said. "We kept our heads up. We just trusted in ourselves. We knew that coming into this game we had to play strong. It was going to be a county fight. We just trusted each other and the line did their thing…Shoutout to TyeSean (Stephenson), John Perkins, Austin Gerhart, and Steven Thomas and also to our center Cam Rice, who calls everything."
Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John McKay was once asked what he thought of his team's execution and his reported response has become legendary. "I'm in favor of it," he supposedly said. Perryville coach Chris Johnson provided a much different response Friday night as he discussed his offensive line. "They're close," Johnson said. "And what's really cool about this year's group is that they all like each other and they take a lot of pride in what they do. Being the head coach and their coach, offensive line coach, I'm never satisfied. I'm going to be picking apart their steps, their helmet placement, their pad level. But the good thing is they're very coachable. They listen to what I tell them and they work hard to try to improve every week. And that's all you can ask, to have kids that are coachable who want to get better. And they want to continue to win. They want to go far." It all starts at the top. "Johnson comes with a gameplan," said Clark. "We've just got to execute. He knows what he's talking about so we just follow his rules and execute it." Said Stephenson: "The pass was working really well. The run was working really well. Everything was working really well except for certain things. We had false starts and stuff like that, stupid, dumb penalties." Stephenson divulged the secret of their success. "We play so well together because we've played with each other for a long time," Stephenson said. "When we're at practice we make sure every step is right. Every little thing matters. That's what Coach Johnson teaches us." Johnson also instructs his team to respect each opponent. "He says that every week," Clark said. "Even though we prepare to be a better team we can't ever overlook a team because we have to play with our hearts." Perryville (4-1) certainly didn't discount the winless Tigers, taking command on the opening drive, capped by a 15-yard TD pass from Dayvon Montz to Matt Woods. Rising Sun managed to move the ball on its first possession but fumbled on the Panthers' 40. The Tigers stopped Perryville on downs but threw an interception of the next play. A nine-yard TD jaunt by Caleb Robinson raised the Panthers' lead to 14-0 with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. Perryville padded its advantage to 21 on a 20-yard scoring strike from Montz to Woods. Rising Sun got on the board with 6:03 left in the first half on a five-yard run by Maurice McCargo. Bailey Armour blocked the extra point attempt. Clark scooted 36 yards for a TD to make it 28-6. On the final play of the first half, Montz tossed a 34-yard TD pass to Clark. Perryville led 35-6 at intermission. Rising Sun scored on both the first play of the second half and the final play of the game. Noah Boyd returned the second half kickoff 80 yards for a TD. Lineman John Moskes scooped up a fumble and rumbled into the end zone for a two-point conversion. On the first play from scrimmage following Boyd's touchdown, Robinson raced 60 yards for a score. The first three times Rising Sun recorded a TD Perryville had a response. The Tigers' Maurice McCargo hit paydirt from the one on fourth down but Clark countered with a 22-yard scoring scamper. The Panthers' Kenyetta Bailey added a 37-yard TD run with eight minutes left. Rising Sun's Austin Andrews scored from 15 yards out on the last play of the game. "It's all about getting better, improving every week," Chris Johnson said. "We did some things very well obviously offensively. We executed at a high level again. Defensively, there are some things we need to continue to improve upon. I told them if we can be this good offensively, there's no reason why we can't be that good defensively." Comments are closed.
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