The Perry Panthers faced a challenging enough task with a road game at defending Federal League champion Hoover Friday night.
The Panthers made it even tougher on themselves by giving the Vikings a helping hand several times in the opening half of Hoover’s eventual 35-7 victory.
Perry committed a pair of costly turnovers and dropped a potential touchdown pass in the opening two quarters. Not one to let a good chance pass by, the Vikings capitalized fully on the Perry mistakes, usually by handing the ball to star tailback Erick Howard. The reigning Mr. Football responded by rushing for 198 of his 236 yards in the opening half, needing just 17 carries to rack up that total. Howard scored three touchdowns during the first-half blitz, at one time having accounted for all but two of Hoover’s 200 yards of offense. He finished with 23 carries on the night.
