Doran Grant began his head coaching career by guiding the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School football team to victory last week, but the former Ohio State national champion and Pittsburgh Steelers draft pick fell short in his attempt to lead the Fighting Irish to a satisfying encore.
STVM lost 17-0 to Perry on Friday night at Green Street Stadium's John Cistone Field. STVM is 1-1, and Perry is 2-0.
"It's a tough loss — plain and simple," Grant said. "It's a tough loss. Early on, the game was moving a little slow, not much moving on either side. A ton of flags. They got flagged. We got flagged. It slowed the game down. But we've just got to finish better. We've got to finish better, and we've got to execute. We've got to execute on offense."
Kickoff occurred at 7:06 p.m. Friday. Check out how the game unfolded through our updates.
With legendary Perry coach Keith Wakefield back as the team's defensive coordinator this season, the Panthers recorded their second consecutive shutout. In Week 1, Perry beat Canton Central Catholic 35-0.
It's the first time Perry has shut out back-to-back opponents since the Panthers defeated GlenOak 42-0 on Oct. 2, 2020, and Canal Winchester 42-0 on Oct. 16, 2020.
"We got a lot of returning [players on defense], so they've played tough," Perry coach Zach Slates said. "With Coach Wake coming back, they've played physical."
This is Wakefield's first season leading the Perry defense since his final season as Panthers head coach in 2020.
Wakefield's lengthy coaching resume includes a stop at STVM as the head coach of the Fighting Irish for two seasons (2004-05). Slates was a Wakefield assistant at STVM.
"Coming back here after being here for a couple of years, you want to perform well and do good things against them," Slates said.
The Perry defense allowed just 166 total yards and forced one turnover versus STVM.
In the second half, Grant turned to two backup quarterbacks, junior Rylan Hurley and freshman William Adamson.
Adamson threw deep and had his pass intercepted by Perry junior defensive back Jayden Wilson with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter.
Grant said he made QB change because junior starter Anthony Felding suffered an ankle injury during the second half and Hurley is pushing through a knee issue. Grant said he's confident Felding will be able to play in Week 3 at Walsh Jesuit (2-0).
Felding went 6-of-13 passing for 97 yards against Perry. Senior running back Donald Johnson Jr. led the Irish on the ground with 10 carries for 57 yards.
What is Grant's message to his team about preparing for Walsh?
"Let's keep driving, keep going, keep fighting," Grant said. Let's get back to work.
"It's a 24-hour rule for anything, win or loss. This is football. It's a 24-hour rule. Get back to it. Week 3's coming up."
With 6:18 left to play, senior Brock Huggins made a 28-yard field goal to give Perry a 17-0 lead.
Perry led 14-0 at the end of the third quarter. If the Panthers keep STVM scoreless in the fourth quarter, they'll begin this season with consecutive shutouts (as mentioned earlier, the shutout came to fruition).
It took a while, but St. Vincent-St. Mary registered a defensive stop to begin the second half. The Irish gained possession with 6:27 remaining in the third quarter after a Perry punt.
However, the STVM offense stalled in its own territory and punted.
With 2:12 left in the third quarter, Perry had the ball again and still led 14-0.
Perry scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes of the second quarter to seize a 14-0 halftime lead over STVM. Perry had a 171-123 advantage in total yardage.
Perry senior quarterback Austin Mattox connected with senior running back Kyson Walker for a 17-yard touchdown on third-and-2. Walker was left wide open. Huggins then made the extra-point kick to give the Panthers a 14-0 advantage over STVM with 11.4 seconds left in the second quarter.
On the previous possession, STVM elected to attempt three consecutive passes from its 20-yard line while trailing 7-0. The possession began with 1:36 left in the second quarter, and STVM lined up to punt with 1:21 remaining.
After the aggressive strategy backfired on STVM, Perry started its second touchdown drive of the game at the Irish 45.
"We were just trying to get our athletes the ball on the perimeter," Grant said.
Mattox went 4-of-6 passing for 65 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 10 times for a game-high 72 yards.
With 1:36 left in the second quarter, Perry captured a 7-0 lead over STVM. Junior Connor Shephard rushed for a 7-yard touchdown on second-and-2, and Huggins made the extra-point kick.
The 16-play drive unfolded after STVM turned the ball over on downs in the red zone. During the march, Perry overcame a holding penalty that negated junior running back Kaleb Lawhun's 44-yard run to the STVM 7.
STVM squandered a golden opportunity after a 56-yard pass from Felding to junior wide receiver DeCarlo Prince gave the Irish possession at the Perry 11.
Two plays later, STVM advanced to the 3, but a personal foul penalty on the Irish after a second-down play pushed them back and created confusion. STVM thought it faced third-and-17 at the Perry 18 after the penalty, but the officials ruled the personal foul created a loss of down. So when Felding and Prince connected again for 11 yards, the result of the play was a turnover on downs with 8:58 left in the second quarter instead of fourth-and-6.
"The confusion wasn't on our part," Grant said. "We watched everything. It's a dead ball penalty. It was third down. So the next down was fourth, and, hey, [the officials] probably just missed it.
"But, hey, just keep playing the game. No excuses."
The score remained tied 0-0.
There was no score at the end of the first quarter. The two teams combined to go three-and-out three times during the opening quarter.
The St. Vincent-St. Mary offense stalled after five plays during the game's opening drive, but the Fighting Irish defense responded by registering a three-and-out against Perry.
The Panthers then registered a three-and-out of their own and took over after an Irish three-and-out.
Perry's second possession was sabotaged by three false start penalties, and the Panthers punted the ball back to STVM.
Perry had a big run by senior running back Marcellys Harris deep into STVM territory wiped out by a holding penalty in the waning moments of the first quarter.
Here is some pregame information :
Perry won the pregame coin toss and elected to defer. STVM will receive the opening kickoff.
Here are the players who represented each team as captains during the coin toss:
Perry — senior OL-DL Michael Millin, junior DT Jonathan Klintworth, senior TE Dominic Scott and senior QB Austin Mattox.
STVM — senior OL Zander Giffin, senior DL-LB-TE Logan Henderson, senior RB-DB Donald Johnson Jr. and senior DE Mekhi Madison.
Perry vs. St. Vincent-St. Mary football coaching matchup
The chess match between coaching staffs is intriguing because Grant is a defensive-minded coach who played cornerback for the Buckeyes and Steelers and Perry coach Zach Slates is a former All-Ohio offensive lineman whose defensive coordinator, Keith Wakefield , is a legendary Panthers figure. Oh, there are connections between the two programs, too. Slates played for Wakefield and later served as one of his assistants at St. Vincent-St. Mary and Perry.
What happened the last time STVM and Perry met for a high school football game?
In Week 2 of last season, STVM defeated host Perry 16-14 .
Former NFL players coaching HS, Part 1: Years after Cleveland Browns and Ohio State, Jason Trusnik and Doran Grant are head coaches in high school football
Former NFL players coaching HS, Part 2: Doran Grant carries lessons from great coaches into debut at helm of St. Vincent-St. Mary
What Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary football did in Week 1 of the 2024 season
STVM defeated Mansfield Senior 21-14 on the road last week. The Irish seized a lead in the first quarter when junior Rylan Hurley rushed for a 19-yard touchdown. Senior Donald Johnson Jr. rushed for 75 yards on 18 carries. Johnson also returned an interception 40 yards for a TD.
What Perry football did in its 2024 season opener
Perry routed Canton Central Catholic 35-0 at home last week, giving the Panthers their first shutout since 2020 . Perry held CCC to 175 total yards and forced three turnovers. Perry senior Kyson Walker rushed for two TDs.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: OHSAA football scores | St. Vincent-St. Mary vs Perry high school football recap
Most Popular
Comments / 0