Since there's no football matchup history between Warren G. Harding and Perry High School, the backgrounds for both teams are limited to just their respective school colors. As we're about to discuss, this is a nice, convenient matchup for both programs to see exactly where they're at. Harding gets to see how they fare against another solid tier adversary while Perry gets to test their might against a traditional power for the third consecutive week.
While I certainly can't speak for every fan of Harding football, there are plenty of reasons to get excited about the direction that the program is headed in. Win or lose, the job that head coach Matt Richardson and his staff is doing can be seen through the tenacity that the Raiders display. Even when they make mistakes, they never lose their focus. Instead, they continue to play hard and display levels of resilience that supersedes any potential disadvantages that they may have.
After Warren G. Harding's 20-18 victory over Akron Buchtel, Harding Athletic Director Rick Shepas presents the game ball to head coach Matt Richardson. It commemorates the first win of his head coaching career.
Since the middle of last season, fans have been entertained by the athleticism of Chaz Coleman. Through the first two weeks of this season, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound senior quarterback is 9-of-14 for 116 yards and one touchdown while he has also accounted for 119 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. However, the overall growth of the team was on display this past week against Akron Buchtel as sophomore MiKing Adair totaled 104 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries.
Warren G. Harding senior Chaz Coleman currently holds pair of SEC scholarship offers from Ole Miss and Kentucky.
Adair is a branch of a prestigious family tree as he's the son of Harding legend Omar Provitt, whose last name should bring back a plethora of memories for diehard fans. That said, while his breakthrough performance showcased his promising potential, it was also a tribute to the maturity of an offensive line that's forced to deal with the long term loss of key senior Anthony Simpson. Another beneficiary of the unit up front was senior Brandon Coleman Jr., who also set career highs with 12 carries for 51 yards and one touchdown against Buchtel. The Raiders will need all of their offensive weapons to be on point this week as they'll face a defense that has yet to be scored on this season.
While we’ve often discussed the great hires that Harding has made, Perry has made some very big ones as well as their defense is led by their very own coaching legend Keith Wakefield. From 1982 to 2020, he had three different stints as the Panthers’ head coach. In the process, he led them to 222 victories, 15 Federal League titles, and Division II state runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2016.
After originally retiring in 2020, long time Perry head coach Keith Wakefield returned to the sideline this season to serve as their defensive coordinator.
After originally retiring in 2020, the 1967 Orville High School alum returned to a Perry program that surrendered 290 points in 2023 en route to their 4-7 finish. Through the first two weeks of this season, they have outscored their opposition 52-0, which represents their program’s first time posting back-to-back shutouts since they outscored Glenoak and Canal Winchester 84-0 in consecutive weeks back in October of 2020. As a whole, this year’s Panther defense has only surrendered 341 yards and has forced four turnovers. Defensive end Michael Millin, a 2023 Division II All-Northeast Inland District 2nd Team selection, continues to lead the charge up front for Perry.
While he now serves as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator, Wakefield’s fingerprints remain in their offense as well as they continue to run the infamous “Wing-T” that he installed decades ago. In Perry’s season-opening 35-0 thrashing of Canton Central Catholic, Kyson Walker rushed for two touchdowns while Caelob Hundley ran for 123 yards on 10 carries. This past Friday against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary quarterback Austin Mattox was 4-of-6 for 65 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for a game-high 72 yards on 10 carries. Whenever the Perry offense crosses midfield, they’re always a threat to score with a weapon the caliber of kicker Brock Huggins, who currently holds a scholarship offer from the University of Charleston.
Kyson Walker is among the dynamic playmakers for Perry.
For as much as Harding has made on the gridiron, Perry turning last year’s light 56 to 41 advantage over Central Catholic and St. Vincent-St. Mary into a 52 to 0 domination over them this season speaks high volumes as well. Both programs are trending in the right direction as they eye the first of two match-ups in the “home & home” series that runs through the 2025 football season. Whether or not that contract eventually gets extended is a subject for another day, but now seems like a great time for these two programs to become familiar with each other.
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