Lake County Sentinel
Perry dominates South Range 32-0
BY JOEY SCHNEIDER
STAFF
(TWINSBURGH, OH) - There was a lot of celebrating going on after the Perry Pirates proved why they are undefeated and beat last year's Division V state champions The South Range Raiders 32-0 on Friday night, winning the regional championship and moving on to play in the OSHAA final four of high school football.
Perry played a complete game of football. Controlling the game on offense and absolutely shutting down anything that South Range tried to do defensively. It was a full team effort from start to finish.
The Pirates received the ball first and set the tone early. Junior quarterback Wal-ter Moses found senior wide receiver Brayden Richards for a 47-yard opening drive score. The extra point was no good on a bad snap. Later in the quarter after Perry stopped South Range, they again drove down and capped it off with a 1-yard Walter Moses touchdown run. The Pirates went for two but were not able to convert and went into the second quarter leading 12-0.
The second quarter was again all Perry as senior running back Jayden Studio would dive into the endzone from 1-yard out, the first of his two scores of the game. The Pirates would again not be successful on the two-point conversion, but still lead 18-0.
Perry's stout defense just smothered South Range all night long. Sophomore defensive end Trent Taylor, senior linebacker Dom LaMacchia, junior linebacker Owen McKoon, and junior defensive back Armani Chiappone, were all over South Range's offense.
Perry would pull out a trick play as Walter Moses would hand off the ball behind him on a sweep to Brayden Richards, who then threw a perfect strike down the field to junior wide receiver/defensive back Luke Sivon for a 79-yard touchdown sending the crowd into a frenzy. This time Perry would kick the extra point and led 25-0.
South Range showed some signs of life trying to score before halftime but were blown up on a fourth down attempt with :32 seconds left in the second quarter. Perry would only need :14 seconds to capitalize, as Jayden Studio rushed the ball up the middle and raced to the endzone with all of South Range chasing him to score right before halftime, and giving Perry all the scoring, they would need as they led 32-0 going into the half.
As the third quarter started, Perry, with a lead of over 30 points, would start the running clock and with the way their defense was playing they wouldn't even need to score in the second half.
South Range did put together a great drive in the third quarter only for Luke Sivon to intercept the ball in the endzone, shutting down the best opportunity for the Raiders to score the whole game. Jayden Studio would again break free for a 64-yard run, getting tripped up at the 25-yard line to end the quarter. Studio would finish the game with 11 carries for 194 yards and two touchdowns. While the Pirates didn't score on the drive, they did take a ton of time off the clock.
The defense and offense would see reserves get playing time in the fourth quarter and finish off the game by getting stops and keeping the clock running all the way until the zeros showed and the Perry Pirates becoming the regional champs.
The community for both schools showed up in droves including a great student section by Perry who were all dressed for the holidays wearing Christmas themed attire and didn't stop screaming and cheering all game long.
After the game both teams were at the 50-yard line to accept their trophies. South Range for having a terrific season, finishing 12-2 and runners up for the regional title. Perry is now 14-0, unblemished and the champs of OHSAA region 17 in Division V and are only one more win from reaching the state championship and two wins from becoming the state champions. Their next game is Friday, November 24th against an opponent who is TBD..
POSTED 11/18/2023 00:15
Related Stories
Photo by Joey Schneider
