Wednesday, August 27, 2003

By David Assad, Tri-State Sports & News Service

When you graduate eight starters from a history-making defense, it is obvious there will be rebuilding to do at Perry Traditional Academy, the reigning three-time City League champion.

Perry shut out its first 13 opponents last season before losing, 20-3, in the PIAA Class AAA semifinals to Hopewell. The Commodores became the first team in the state not to give up a point in the regular season since East Pennsboro (District 3) had a spotless defensive record in 1959. The only other City League team to go unscored upon in the regular season was Allegheny in 1923.

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Every one of Perry's defensive starters who graduated has found a place to play at the college level. This includes three major-college recruits in defensive backs Vaughn Rivers and Eric Wicks, both West Virginia freshmen, and linebacker Kareem Ferguson, who is playing at Toledo.

Perry has often displayed a dominating defense since becoming a City League football power in the mid-1980s under former coach Gus Catanese. However, since Coach Bill Gallagher took over in 2001, the Commodores' defense has been downright scary.

In 22 City League contests since Gallagher took over, Perry has won every game and given up only 12 points in league play. The only points given up to a league opponent in its past 15 games occurred against Westinghouse in the 2001 City League championship game at Heinz Field.

"They may have graduated a lot of people, but they're still the team to beat in the City League," South Coach Kurt Keifer said.

"Their junior varsity team wasn't as dominant last year [as the Perry varsity], so they'll probably give up some points this year. But they are still the best team out there until proven otherwise."

Gallagher believes he has the defensive personnel to keep the Commodores at the top of the league standings. The top defensive returnees are senior linebackers Randy Williams and Dom Brentley and senior defensive back Paul Favers.

"Our kids have had a great [preseason] camp, working their tails off," Gallagher said. "They take a lot of team pride and personal pride. The kids who graduate, they leave a piece of themselves here and our [returning] kids believe that.

"Our concern is to win. That's the statistic we care about. When we find the right people, we're expecting big things from our defense. We've got kids ready to play. A lot of these kids saw a lot of playing time last year, whether it was special teams or spot duty. Very few kids will be stepping on the field for the first time [in a varsity game]. We really believe you've got to earn your place on this team."

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