Fort Hill falls in overtime

Nov 27, 2011
by Mike Mathews

CUMBERLAND — Unbeaten Perryville overcame five turnovers, stopped the vaunted Fort Hill ground attack and scored 20 unanswered points to knock off the Sentinels, 20-14 in overtime, in a Class 1A state semifinal battle of unbeatens Saturday afternoon.

The win sends fourth-seeded Perryville (13-0) to Saturday’s noon championship game against Dunbar at M&T Bank Stadium. Top-seeded Fort Hill, which led 14-0 with nine minutes left in the third quarter, finished 12-1.

Quarterback Gabe Sherrod orchestrated the comeback for the Panthers, who scored with nine seconds left in the third quarter, forced overtime with a touchdown with 1:31 to go in the fourth, and won it on their second play of the Kansas tiebreaker.

Sherrod completed 15 of 28 passes for 153 yards and ran 14 times for 51 yards and a touchdown. He completed passes to seven different receivers. Joe Peaker ran 15 times for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Dylan Clay led Fort Hill with 18 carries and 116 yards but the Sentinels mustered little else on offense. They had 16 yards rushing in the second half and only 33 yards passing for the game.

“We couldn’t move the ball. They were very quick and aggressive and we didn’t account for everybody,’’ said Fort Hill coach Todd Appel. “They prepared very well for us. They played a great football game.”

Seldom does a team win a game with five turnovers. It’s next to impossible in a late-round playoff game.

But it happened in the season finale at Greenway, where the Panthers overcame two lost fumbles and three interceptions.

“We had some uncharacteristic turnovers but a lot of that can be attributed to Fort Hill’s defense,’’ Perryville coach Chris Johnson said. “They are so disciplined and have tremendous team speed.”

There could have been at least three other interceptions.

Twice balls went in and out of hands of Fort Hill defenders and into the hands of Perryville receivers. Garrett Clay appeared to have intercepted a pass late in the fourth quarter, but Perryville’s Brian Matthews was awarded possession on a simultaneous catch ruling that gave the Panthers a 31-yard gain to the Fort Hill 13 during the game-tying drive.

There were several other tipped balls, and almost every one fell Perryville’s way. The game-tying two-point pass deflected off Perryville’s Matthews but was grabbed by teammate Eddie Escobar in the end zone amid several Sentinels.

In the final seconds of the fourth quarter, Mike Austin’s 45-yard pass was tipped by a Perryville defender and nearly snagged by Dylan Clay at the five.

“I don’t know ... maybe they were living better than we were,” Appel said of the Panthers’ good fortune. “It was tough to see those tipped balls go their way. When the ball bounced, it bounced for them and not for us.”

Fort Hill scored on its first possession, moving 60 yards in nine plays, with Dylan Clay scoring on a one-yard sneak.

The Sentinels had a golden opportunity to add to their lead just before the half. But after an interception by Kaleb Miller and 67-yard run by Dylan Clay gave Fort Hill first-and-goal at the nine, Perryville stopped Ryan Briner on fourth-and-goal 21 seconds before halftime.

“That was biggest play in the game, and there were a couple of big ones,” Johnson said. “That was a turning point because if they go in up 14-0, it’s a different ball game. It would have been a lot more difficult for us.”

The Panthers’ first-half possessions read like a nightmare: lost fumble; interception; interception, half. It continued after halftime, when Lance Fullwood forced a fumble on the second play of the third quarter that was recovered by Garrett Clay at the Perryville 25.

After a 24-yard pass from Mike Austin to Dylan Clay, Garrett Clay scored off left tackle on a three-yard run to make it 14-0 with 9:08 left in the third quarter.

But Perryville took over from there.

After Jacob Morgan recovered a Dylan Clay fumble near midfield, the Panthers went 49 yards in seven plays, the big gainer a 19-yard pass which fell out of the grasp of Marcus Lee and into the hands Nehemiah Wallace at the Fort Hill 10. Peaker scored on a five-yard run but a run failed for the conversion, leaving the score 14-6.

The Panthers went 70 yards in 11 plays to tie the game in the fourth, with Sherrod scoring on a one-yard sneak with 1:31 left before his tipped passed was coraled by Escobar for the two-point conversion. The drive included the Matthews-Garrett Clay possession battle that went for a 31-yard reception for Perryville.

The Panthers, when the half was done, had possession of the ball for 16 of the 24 minutes. Fort Hill ran just seven plays in the third quarter.

Fort Hill had possession first in the overtime, and had passes fall incomplete on first, second and fourth downs. Dylan Clay had a six-yard run on third-and-10.

“I don’t think the confidence level was there going into overtime,’’ Appel said. “We didn’t think we could run the ball, and that’s what led us to pass it in overtime.

“We weren’t able to run the ball the whole second half, and except for the one pass that led to a touchdown, we didn’t move the ball much at all. They had some great athletes. Sherrod was a tremendous athlete.”

Perryville let Sherrod handle things during its overtime possession. He rolled right for eight yards then followed 6-3, 325-pound center Daryll Johnson on a two-yard sneak into the end zone to end it.

“Football is such a game of momentum. You ride the highs and lows. Once we scored and started to move the ball again in the second half, I think there was a little bit of doubt creeping in because they hadn’t really been challenged all year, and there’s a reason why: they are a great football team.

“We just made enough plays in critical situations to turn the tide. Our kids never quit ... to battle back against one of the best high school football teams I’ve seen in a long time is really something.”

Miller, Cody Dolly and Dylan Clay had interceptions and Austin Lee and Garrett Clay recovered fumbles for Fort Hill. Dolly, unofficially, had 10 tackles.

“Our guys really prepared themselves with a lot of hard work in the offseason, and I’m certainly proud of them. They’ve come a long way, not just as football players but as individuals,’’ Appel said. “It’s tough to see the disappointment in their faces today.”