Jahmir Torres scores overtime touchdown as Edgewood football outlasts Perryville for 19-16 win
Oct. 7—Edgewood junior Jahmir Torres touched the football one time Thursday night and it gave his team an overtime win.
Torres raced 10 yards on first down, giving Edgewood a 19-16 nondivision win over host Perryville in the battle between Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference schools.
"When I got that call, I knew I had to make a play, I knew that I got to be big for my team," Torres said. "So, when I'm in the end zone I just know, I did what I had to do, I made my team proud, made everybody proud."
Torres' heroics came after Perryville had its turn on offense. Perryville gained six yards on second down, but third down was an incomplete pass. Kicker Zack Ayers kicked a 20-yard field goal, putting the Panthers ahead, 16-13.
Torres then changed the game with his run.
"I knew I could do it, especially with the guys around me," he said. "I knew they were going to help me, give me the blocks I needed. One cut, touchdown."
Edgewood (6-0) led 13-10 late in the fourth quarter, but Ayers, who accounted for all 16 Perryville points, kicked a 40-yard field goal with 2:02 left.
Ayers opened the scoring with another 40-yard field goal midway through the first quarter, capping the Panthers' first possession.
Edgewood struggled offensively into the second quarter before quarterback Caesar Travers found Isaiah Martin down the left sideline. The pass play covered 53 yards to the Panthers 4-yard line and with a personal foul tacked on, Edgewood had first and goal at the Perryville 2.
Isaiah Megginson scored from there and Carson Crouse added the extra point for a 7-3 lead midway through the second quarter.
The scored stayed 7-3 into the fourth quarter before Edgewood added more points through the air. Travers passed 25 yards to Michael Lee to get the drive started, then finished it five plays later with a 26-yard scoring strike to Lee.
Crouse's extra point was blocked, but Edgewood's lead was 13-3 with 8:56 remaining.
Ayers, however, brought interest back into the game in a big way. Ayers picked up the ensuing kickoff at his own 22, found an opening up the middle and raced 78 yards into the end zone. He added the extra point to bring his team within three, 13-10.
Edgewood looked as if it was going to put the game away a few minutes later. Travers (9-for-20, 111 yards) passed 39 yards to Jacob Martin from his own end zone. Travers then rumbled 40 yards to the Panthers 20 on a keeper, only to have an illegal block penalty wipe out half of it.
From the Panthers 40, the next snap saw Perryville (3-3) come away with a fumble, which set up the game-tying field goal.
"They deserved to win. I watched enough film and I told our guys, this is the best running back you'll play all season," Edgewood coach Keith Rawlings said referring to Ethen Gunter, a junior, who finished with 109 yards on 20 carries. "And [Ayers] is a special kid. He is tough, I don't know whether he separated his shoulder, he kept playing, he could kick, that kid is unbelievable. Those two kids are college football players. College football players stand out and those two kids stood out all night."
Panthers coach Sean Sandora was disappointed, but pleased with his team's effort.
"I'm very proud of these kids. We had a great week of practice, we faced a lot of adversity with the weather, we had some injuries, but we just came out and played as hard as we could," he said. "It's finally good to see, when we don't kind of beat ourselves with regards to special teams miscues, penalties or turning the ball over that we have a pretty good quality football team."
