Winter Park Lake Howell quarterback Chris Perry could run, and run, and run, but on a frigid Friday night on Fleming Island, there was nowhere he could hide from the cold, hard truth that he couldn't really throw.
The senior Silver Hawk signal-caller put on a rushing clinic in the 5A regional quarterfinal playoff game, amassing 374 yards on 44 carries against the Golden Eagles defense, but in the end it was the more versatile quarterback, and the more complete team, that won the day for Fleming Island, 55-24.
Senior QB Ryan Aplin connected on only nine passes Friday night, but four of those throws found their way into the hands of previously unsung senior wide receiver Hayes Towery, who not only used his 6-3 frame to pull down the passes, but who also showed some speed and moves in taking three of those catches into the end zone.
And whereas there was only one Chris Perry for Lake Howell, Fleming Island brought out a virtual smorgasbord of offensive talent that the Silver Hawks had little chance of stopping. On the night, the Golden Eagles gave up the ball only one time without scoring a touchdown.
In addition to Aplin's nine-of-16, 3-TD passing performance, Fleming Island's Montory Bellamy (11 for 92) and Dee Frieson (six for 71, one TD) kept the Silver Hawk defense guessing "inside or out" all night, while the 65-yard kickoff-return touchdown and seven-for-42 rushing effort of Salmon Williams (two TDs) didn't really give Lake Howell's Perry a fair chance of keeping pace. And that's not to mention his counterpart's 55 yards and one TD rushing.
Fleming Island coach Neal Chipoletti seemed close to running out of words to describe the strong performances of his team.
"I think that's a first," he said of his team's record 55-point outburst. "This is a team of firsts. I'm just extremely proud of this football team, like I have been all year. They just keep doing things for the first time around here. This is our first playoff win. It's our seventh win of the season, which is the most we've had. You know, they just keep doing it, and I'm real proud of them."
That pride, however, didn't make him lose sight of the tremendous performance of the opposition's star player.
"I don't know that I've ever seen one player be as good as what we faced tonight with No. 1 [Chris Perry]," the coach said. "We knew we needed to score a bunch of points."
The Golden Eagles wasted no time in procuring points, taking a 7-0 lead only five plays and 1:41 into the game on an 11-yard Williams TD. The drive was sparked by a 33-yard Aplin run.
Eagle safety Tommy Polk kept the Silver Hawks from answering as his crushing blow separated a Lake Howell receiver from a first-down catch, and Aplin took advantage of a short punt with a 27-yard scoring pass to Towery. Aplin had a 30-yard run and an 11-yard TD rush to make it 21-0 after kick Nathan Branz's third-straight PAT.
But Perry kept crusing the line of scrimmage and diving in when the going looked good, and after scores of nine- and 58-yards, the Hawks were back in it at 21-12 in the second quarter.
Williams burst through the center of the Hawk's kickoff team on the next play to reacquire some breathing room for the Eagles with a 65-yard kickoff return for a TD. He added a 4-yard scoring scamper right before the half and Branz's fourth point-after make it 35-12 at intermission.
Next Friday, the Golden Eagles will play the winner of Friday night's Gainesville Buchholz-Daytona Maitland quarterfinal.