Big plays lift No. 5 Mary Persons to road win

PERRY -- The head coaches walked onto the field figuring their teams were amped and ready.

After all, Mary Persons and Veterans were undefeated in GHSA Region 2-AAAA play and had momentum.

Mary Persons is still undefeated and has momentum.

The Bulldogs showed up with a big-play offense and took control early in beating the Warhawks 24-10 on Friday night at Herb St. John Stadium to stay undefeated overall and in region play. The No. 5 Bulldogs improved to 8-0 and 4-0 while the Warhawks fell to 4-4 and 3-1.

"Our kids were ready to play," Mary Persons head coach Brian Nelson said. "They were excited and ready to play."

Veterans head coach David Bruce was on the opposite end of that spectrum.

"They outplayed us; they outcoached us," he said. "Their intensity level was better. They were ready to play, and we weren't ready to play. That's completely my fault."

Mary Persons' tendency to struggle a little in the first half and pull away in the second half was shoved to the sideline pretty quickly. Quarterback Jake Johnston connected with Will Bazemore for 32 yards on the first play from scrimmage, and Zach Harvey powered his way for an 18-yard touchdown five plays later, Dawson Daniel adding the kick for a 7-0 lead with 9:55 left in the first.

The Warhawks crossed midfield but stalled and punted. This time, Johnston hooked up with Roger Akins, open on a slant, for 39 yards on the first play. Mary Persons had second-and-goal from the 1, lost 5 yards on a penalty and followed an incomplete pass with a 22-yard field goal by Alexander Rivera for a 10-0 lead at the 4:13 mark.

Again, the Warhawks kept the ball for a while, into the second quarter, only to come up empty and punt. The Bulldogs started on their 11, lost 8 yards on two penalties, and then lost 15 on the punt return for a horsecollar tackle.

Veterans took advantage of starting on the 36 but needed seven plays to do it, with quarterback Logan Byrd finding an open Jeremy Horton for the 12-yard touchdown, and Dylan Blevins' extra point pulled the Warhawks within 10-7 at the 7:11 mark.

The momentum lasted only seconds. Harvey took the handoff to the right and blasted through the Warhawks' defense for an 85-yard score.

"We stop them a couple times, and they go down and score," Nelson said. "Boom. Zach Harvey goes."

Mary Persons forced a punt after one first down and took over on its 17. Two Bulldogs penalties and two plays later, Quen Wilson took off up the middle for a 67-yard touchdown for a 24-7 lead with 3:33 left in the half.

"This year, I don't think we've had any," Nelson said of the sudden big-play offense. "We've had some 20- and 30-yard runs, but that's about it. A 50-yard pass there at Lamar County."

That was unsettling for the Warhawks.

"They were running zone, and they were cutting it back, and we weren't playing proper technique backside," Bruce said. "We didn't do a good job of taking angles."

By halftime, the Bulldogs had run 23 plays for 367 yards, while the Warhawks had 31 plays for 121 yards.

"Incredible," Bruce said. "I didn't think that would happen."

Mary Persons finished with 327 yards rushing -- Harvey had 205 yards -- and 110 yards passing.

The Warhawks managed a fourth-quarter field goal, but the Bulldogs' defense racked up four negative plays, including consecutive sacks for minus-27 yards, in the second half.

"Just the overall," Nelson said of what he liked most. "The kids just played hard and really kind of executed what we've been working on all week."

This story was originally published October 24, 2015 at 12:09 AM with the headline "Big plays lift No. 5 Mary Persons to road win ."