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Perdue can do: Liberty topples Niles
By JIM FLICK
NILES
Charlie Perdue accounted for 135 yards in total offense and scored three touchdowns to lead Liberty High to a 33-6 victory over Niles McKinley on Friday night.
Perdue wasn’t the only weapon in the arsenal for the Leopards (1-1) . Junior tailback Khamray Bonner gained 83 yards on 12 carries and scored a touchdown. Senior running back John Rivers rushed for 69 yards eight carries, including the game’s longest run, a 47-yard scamper. Rivers also tallied a touchdown.
Sharron Wells, a sophomore, gained 22 yards on six carries for Liberty.
“We have some explosive backs and we’re excited about their progress,” said Liberty coach Jeff Whittaker.
“We’re real inexperienced,” the coach added. “We had a lot of growing to do and we did a lot of growing in the last week.”
Liberty lost its first game of the season 14-0 to Youngstown East.
“Our line blocked with a lot of confidence tonight, and I felt our kids did a good job of overcoming adversity.”
The first adversity Whittaker’s team had to overcome Friday was following behind Niles 6-0 in the first quarter.
After Niles’ Dillon Palmer snagged an interception at Liberty’s 33-yard line, the Red Dragons scored the game’s first points. Reggie Wells finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run that gave Niles a 6-0 lead.
But that early lead didn’t survive the first quarter. With 16 second remaining, Perdue smashed into the end zone from 1 yard to tie the score.
Rivers gave Liberty a 12-6 lead in the second quarter when he scored from 1 yard. Perdue later scored on a 2-yard run, and John Lucic boosted the lead to 20-6 when he passed to Jaylen Mann for a two-point conversion.
Niles had a chance to get back in the game early in the second half, after recovering a Liberty fumble on the Leopards’ 33. The Red Dragons drove toward the goal line and had a first-and-goal at the 6.
But with their backs against the wall, Liberty’s defenders turned Niles away. Aided by a penalty, the Leopards drove the Red Dragons back to the 20-yard line and stopped the drive.
Liberty’s defense “did a great job, holding Niles after we’d made some mistakes,” said Whittaker.
The Leopards’ backs and offensive line continued to assault the Red Dragons in the second half. Perdue scored his third touchdown on a 13-yard run in the third quarter, while Bonner dashed into the end zone from 22 yards out in the fourth.
Niles quarterback Zack Bailey was his team’s offensive leader, rushing 12 times for 41 yards. Sophomore tailback Ed Collins entered the game in the final minutes and gained 32 yards on four carries.
“We’re self-destructing right now,” said Niles coach Brad Yeager. “We coaches have to get this turned around, and we will.”