Perrone, Wilson lead Southridge to impressive win over rival Palmetto
Kamron Wilson logged four sacks and the Miami Southridge defense forced a trio of turnovers to spark a 21-7 win over rival Miami Palmetto on Friday at Southridge Park.
“We just came out here and worked hard and shut up all the doubters,” Wilson said.
Joshua McDowell and Tyler Brown had interceptions for the Spartans (2-1). Brown returned his interception for a 67-yard touchdown. Spartans quarterback James Perrone completed 14 of 22 passes for 221 yards and two scores.
“We are happy,” Perrone said. “Palmetto is a hometown rivalry. It was a big game and we got the W. Everybody is happy about that. We are stoked.”
The Spartans held a 14-0 lead at halftime and relied on their defense over the final 24 minutes of the victory, shutting down the Panthers (1-1) in the red zone on multiple occasions.
Neither team found a rhythm early, failing to score on the first five drives of the game. Perrone then connected with Samuel Coleman for a 90-yard score and the Spartans didn’t look back.
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McDowell snatched his interception on the next drive. Perrone hit James Gatewood on a 20-yard touchdown pass on the next play, giving major momentum to the Spartans.
“That changed a lot because they were thinking we were going to come back,” Perrone said. “That set the moment and we thought we had to finish it.”
Brown’s long interception return gave the Spartans a 21-0 lead less than three minutes into the second half. Varian Terry cut into the deficit with a 13-yard touchdown run about six minutes later, but the Panthers never scored again.
Coleman totaled two catches for 108 yards. Gatewood totaled 68 yards on five catches for the Spartans. Panthers quarterback Andre Bailey completed 17 of 33 passes for 192 yards in the loss.
The Spartans will host Hialeah at 7 p.m. Thursday at Southridge. The Panthers will next face Columbus at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Tropical Park.
