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Panthers set new standard with 2011 season

Perryville's Joe Peaker reaches out to stop Dunbar's Charles Brown Jr. on a run in Saturday's state championship game.
Perryville's Joe Peaker reaches out to stop Dunbar's Charles Brown Jr. on a run in Saturday's state championship game. (Matt Button | Record staff, Patuxent Publishing)

The Perryville Panthers storybook football season came to an end Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The final chapter saw the Panthers lose 32-11 in a hard-fought Maryland Class 1A State Championship game against the Dunbar Poets.

The loss ended a somewhat magical season for the Panthers, who set a new standard for football at Perryville High School.

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The Panthers 10-0 finish in the regular season was the first ever by a Panthers team and their region championship and advancement to the state title game were also firsts.

"I want them to remember this as a championship season, 'cause in the end it was," Panthers first year head coach Chris Johnson said. "We didn't accomplish our final goal, which was a state title, but they are champions."

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The Panthers might have known in week two what kind of season was in store. A lopsided win over Havre de Grace in the annual Susquehanna Bowl game brought the coveted cup back to Cecil County for the first time in seven seasons.

"From day one you could tell this team was special," senior Eddie Escobar said. "By far this is the best team that I have ever played on."

That team rolled over its opponents fairly routinely, outscoring the foe by better than 30 points per game. The 34-14 win over Havre de Grace and 20-0 win over Patterson Mill were the Panthers closest games.

"This was just one heck of a year," senior Jacob Morgan said. "State championship were the first words out of Coach Johnson's mouth. I know some people didn't believe it, but I believed it. It was all about work ethic."

Sophomore Ethan Griffin echoed the words of Morgan.

"We had a great season," Griffin said. "I guess the outcome doesn't really matter, it's just how close we came over the season. We're not going to have another 2011 Perryville Panthers."

The Panthers reeled off 11 straight wins before really getting tested in the 1A East region final by Cambridge-South Dorchester. The Panthers trailed in that game, the first time during the season, but came back to win.

"We played hard all season, we've been working hard all season," junior Trenton Neary said. "Coach Johnson always inspires us, he inspired us all season."

All players agreed, the regular season was pretty easy, but noted the effort needed to compete with the likes of Fort Hill and Dunbar.

"It was a great season," senior quarterback Gabe Sherrod said. "It's just an honor and truly a blessing to be here today."

Escobar summed up the season on two positive notes.

"I really don't want to end the season, I wish there were two or three more games," Escobar said. "The real trophy to me was building all these bonds. There's a lot of strong bonds among us."

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