Panthers’ ground game thrives in upset of Green Street in 2nd-round slugfest

versity,” said Sean Sandora, the Panthers’ head coach, “come back from adversity and overcome adversity, but we did all of that, which I’m proud of the kids for.”

The adversity Sandora’s referring to? A first half in which both teams –namely Perryville – came out “flat,” as he put it.

In the opening 24 minutes, the Panthers mustered just a single field goal on offense – despite picking off the Chargers twice – as Green Street’s physical style of play kept them from seeing the end zone.

“They were really aggressive up front and I think they gave us a different front than we were preparing for,” Sandora said.

“They were firing off the ball and shooting the Double-A gap and we had some trouble with that, so we kind of changed up our blocking scheme a little bit.”

Meanwhile, the Chargers managed to drive down the field and score just before the halftime break, converting a couple of key third downs along the way to put them ahead, 8-3.

It wouldn’t take long, however, for the momentum to shift in the Panthers’ favor.

After a long drive to start the third quarter, Perryville was stopped on fourth down deep in Greet Street territory. But, Sandora had faith in his defense, which proceeded to force the Chargers into a 4th-andlong situation. Instead of punting it away – something they did only once all afternoon – the Chargers faked it, but the Panthers sniffed it out and forced the turnover on downs.

A couple of plays later – after a big gain on a jet sweep by senior jack-ofall-trades Zack Ayers – Panthers junior running back Ethen Gunter punched in the two-yard score, giving Perryville a 10-8 lead it’d never relinquish.

Later in the fourth quarter, it’d happen all over again, with the Panthers stopping their opponents on a crucial fourth down, which led to a 38-yard touchdown run by Ayers on yet another jet sweep for the 17-8 advantage.

“We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to establish the run,” Sandora said of his team’s second-half strategy. “I think we ran for 166 yards on 37 attempts, so 4

½ yards per carry. … They were loading the box a little bit more so we were able to get to the perimeter. We used Zack in multiple areas on A-7

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2615 Augustine Herman Hwy, Chesapeake City, MD 21919 410-398-9000 office 443-553-4860 cell kellistansfield.com continued from A-6 (10-1) for their third-round matchup with a trip to the state semifinals on the line. because he’s a dynamic playmaker for us and we just try to get him the ball as much as possible.”

Green Street tacked on a touchdown just before the final buzzer to make it 17-16, but an attempted onside kick fell short and resulted in Perryville gaining control and running out the clock to seal the victory.

This week, the Panthers visit Cumberland to take on the defending state champion Fort Hill Sentinels

Sandora said he knows it won’t be an easy task, but there’s no reason to think Perryville can’t pull off yet another upset win.

“They’re the defending state champs and it’ll be a challenge for our kids,” Sandora said. “It’ll be a good opportunity to go out to Cumberland, see that atmosphere and get a chance to compete against the best. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”