Perry beats Stockbridge to win first Georgia high school football state championship

ATLANTA – For the first time in program history, the Perry Panthers have their state championship.

Leading Stockbridge 17-14 at the half, the Panthers maintained control in the second half and cruised to a 38-27 win to claim the Class AAAA Georgia high school football state championship in their first-ever trip to the big dance.

Senior quarterback Colter Ginn threw for 261 yards and a touchdown in the win while running back Ahmad Gordon carried the ball 17 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns.

The Tigers couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game.

Starting with the ball, the Tigers marched 84 yards on 15 plays and chewed more than six minutes off of the clock before Cobey Thompkins dropped back and threw a strike to Jayden Howard for a 7-yard touchdown.

They converted four third downs on the drive, including a third-and-10 from the Perry 26 when Thompkins scrambled for a gain of 13. All but 11 of the Tigers’ yards came on the ground during the scoring drive.

Looking to answer right back with a score, the Panthers did just that.

On their second play from scrimmage, Ginn tossed a quick pass to Dakarai Anderson, who then broke a tackle and raced down the right sidelines for a gain of 69 yards.

Anderson was finally tackled just short of the goal line at the 1-yard line, and it took a fourth-and-1 for the Panthers to punch it into the end zone when Gordon dove across.

That knotted the game up at 7-7, and it only took 2:25 to do it following Stockbridge’s long, methodical scoring drive.

The game remained deadlocked at the end of the first quarter with both offenses moving the ball, but failing to score.

The first big momentum swing of the game came early in the second quarter, however when the Panthers blocked a Tigers punt deep inside their own territory.

Perry’s Tavares Simmons recovered the blocked punt and returned it 17 yards down to the Stockbridge 10-yard line, but the Panthers failed to take advantage.

Three straight incompletions, including a near interception by Stockbridge’s Malik Caswell, forced the Panthers to settle for a short 26-yard field goal to take their first lead of the game, 10-7 with 8:39 remaining in the second quarter.

The two high-powered offenses then traded punts before the Tigers mounted another long scoring drive in the closing minutes of the half.

Starting at their own 22, the Tigers converted a big third-and-3 to get into Panthers territory, but they soon faced a tough decision.

Staring down the barrel of a fourth-and-7 from the Perry 35 and in desperate need of a momentum boost, the Tigers elected to go for it.

The gusty decision paid dividends for the Tigers.

Thompkins was able to convert the first down for the Tigers with a scramble, followed by a last-second pass near the line of scrimmage that was caught off the turf by Jordan Mack for a gain of 15 yards.

That set up the Tigers with a fresh set of downs at the Perry 20-yard line, and two plays later, the senior quarterback threw his second touchdown pass of the half to Howard in the left corner of the end zone.

Howard’s second TD reception of the game put the Tigers back out in front 14-10 with 1:43 remaining in the half, but disaster soon struck.

On the ensuing kickoff, Perry’s Rondarius Lewis fumbled, but the loose ball was scooped up by Panthers linebacker Gesha’nn Heard, who returned it the rest of the way 54 yards for a touchdown.

The stunning turn of events gave the Panthers a 17-14 lead heading into halftime.

While the game was still well within reach heading into the second half, the scoop-and-score touchdown by the Panthers to close out the first half proved to be the game’s biggest play.

Instead of trailing going into the break, it gave the Panthers a three-point halftime lead, and they added to it early in the third quarter with a 10-play, 67-yard touchdown drive.

Gordon scored his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard scamper, and that increased the Panthers’ lead to 10 points, 24-14 with 7:23 remaining in the third quarter.

The Tigers were able to respond with a 4-play, 43-yard touchdown drive three minutes later after Caswell intercepted Ginn.

Senior running back Jayden Scott broke free for a 19-yard touchdown run, and that cut Perry’s lead back down to three points, 24-21.

That, however was the last time the Tigers found themselves within striking distance.

Perry answered right back with an 8-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that was capped with with a 5-yard touchodwn pass from Ginn to Anderson, and that gave the Panthers a 31-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Stockbridge was later stopped on fourth down, and the Panthers tacked on one last touchdown for good measure to put the game on ice.

PERRY 38, STOCKBRIDGE 27

Stockbridge 7 7 7 6 – 27

Perry 7 10 14 7 – 38