LCAA Football

These Perry Yellowjackets are for real

PERRY — Make no mistake — this Perry football team is the real deal…

The Yellowjackets scored on a fourth and goal play with just over a minute left when Cory Dillon scrambled to find Jake Kiehle in the end zone for a 16-yard score and a stunning 44-36 upset over the previously unbeaten Le Roy Oatkan Knights.

Eli McWhinney picked off a Mike McMullen pass with 42 seconds left to seal the deal for Perry.

Dillon was simply unstoppable all night as he completed 23 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another 83 yards as Perry moved to 4-1.

In the first half between Le Roy and Perry on Friday night, offense was the story.

In the second half the defenses took over.

Either way, in a classic case of back-and-forth Livingston Conference football,

The last minute touchdown was the third time Dillon and Kiehle connected for a score on the night.

A five-yard strike in the first quarter made it 8-0 and then — following a Peter Privitera 69-yard touchdown run for Le Roy — a 10-yard score put Perry up 14-6.

The two teams combined to score 42 points in the first quarter and 64 points in the first half — but only 16 in the final two quarters.

And the two teams traded scores all evening.

Privitera struck on another scoring run in the first half for the Oatkan Knights — this time a 13-yard scamper — to tie the game at 14.

Christian Hollister then added a 22-yard score for Perry to make it 22-14 with the two-point conversion before Le Roy quarterback Mike McMullen connected with Kylan Carter on a 39-yard pass to make it 22-20 after only one quarter.

Dillon hit Anthony Ricotta with a touchdown pass and Hollister returned a kickoff for a touchdown following a Dylan Johnson three-yard run in the second quarter to make it 36-28 heading into the half.

The third quarter was scoreless before Le Roy’s Tom Kelso returned an interception of a Dillon pass 48 yards for a score to tie the game at 36.

However, the Yellowjackets took the ball and went 60 yards to the game-winning score to beat the Oatkan Knights for the first time in recent memory.

“We had a pass called and Le Roy sent a couple of guys on the blitz,” said Perry head coach Jeremy Ohlson. “Dillon scrambled and he was very smart about it. He knew it was fourth down and threw it up for grabs and our wide receiver made a great catch.”

Kiehle finished the night with 11 catches for 92 yards and those three scores.

Anthony Ricotta caught seven passes for 123 yards and one TD.

Le Roy was led again by Privitera, who rushed for a game-high 149 yards on 18 carries, while Marcus Mistersaro added 74 yards rushing on just five totes.

On the defensive end, Hollister and Dave Sylvester added seven tackles and McWhinney had four tackles and two interceptions for Perry, while Kelso had 10 tackles and Ryan McQuillan added eight tackles for Le Roy.

Perry visits Cal-Mum next Friday in a game with huge LCAA and Section V implications.

— Read entire story in next week’s LCN.