Pirates defeat Beavers

When heavily-favored Perry trudged to its locker room at halftime Aug. 24, trailing host Riverside, it would have been easy for frustration to set in and for fingers of blame to be pointed.

But the Pirates, who still have some players on the roster that have played in a state semifinal and two regional finals the last two seasons, didn’t allow any negativity to take hold.

Perry’s defense kept it in the game until its offense was able to find traction, and the Pirates were able to seize momentum and take advantage of a pair of late Riverside turnovers to rally for a 2814 victory.

The win was the sixth straight season-opening win over the Beavers and extended Perry’s regularseason win streak to 22 games.

“I’m really proud of the fact that at halftime we were really calm,” Perry coach Matt Rosati said. “We knew what we were going to need to do, and the guys were great in the locker room. That’s just the mentality we have. We understand certain situations, and we were ready to come out and play a better second half, and the guys did.”

Standout sophomore running back Jaylen Anderson took the first carry of the third quarter 77 yards for a touchdown to tie things at 1414. Rosati noted Anderson was playing with a torn meniscus, which may require surgery.

Junior Drew Schiano completed 14 of 21 passes for 205 yards with three touchdowns. Anthony Rosati, the coach’s son, caught three passes for 57 yards and two TDs.