Indians outscore Panthers 44-37

Akeem Belnavis scores one of his two touchdowns. Patriot staff photos.

Givins-Perry has career night

By Steev Riccardo

WEBSTER – If the definition of a playmaker is “a player who controls the flow of the team's offensive play,” then there was no question on Friday night who the “playmaker” was –Bartlett’s Alex Givins-Perry.

“AGP,” who now has 1009 yards rushing on the season, led the Indians past the David Prouty Panthers 44-37 in a key Southern Worcester County League match-up, scoring four times while also making key plays on the defensive side of the ball.

Givins-Perry scored on two running plays from the line of scrimmage (5 yards and 41 yards), returned a punt 70 yards, and in one of the most electrifying plays of the year, took the opening kickoff of the second half 75 yards to the bank.  Overall he had almost 400 all-purpose yards and by the way, he had just returned from missing the last two games because of injury.

Things didn’t look good for the Indians early on as the Panthers put together a solid 12-play 8-minute drive and took an 8-0 lead with 4:49 left in the opening stanza.
 

Alex Givins-Perry (#7) scores one of his 4 touchdowns as Akeem Belnavis (#22) celebrates.
 

Sophomore back James Patterson carried the ball 4 times on the Indians first possession and gained 39 yards including a nifty 22-yard run, which set up Givins-Perry, who motored in from 5 yards.  Patterson added the two-point conversion and we had an 8-8 game.

The Panthers wasted no time getting the lead back using a power running attack and only 6 plays to go 74 yards and take a 14-8 lead.

The next Indian drive was all about senior co-captain Akeem Belnavis. “The Dream” returned the kickoff 30 yards, had a 22-yard run, and barreled in from 7 yards to help the Indians go back on top following Ricky Spooner’s two point conversion, making it 16-14.

The Indians stopped the Panthers on their next possession and two plays later Belnavis had a nice 28-yard run putting them deep in the Panthers’ territory but a fumble on the 12-yard line derailed them from opening up their lead.

AJ Caddell and Andrew “Darkness” Delille came up with some big plays on defense and the Panthers were forced to punt, setting up Givins-Perry’s 70-yard return for a score and a 22-14 Indians lead.

On the Panthers’ next possession and last of the opening half, Kelly Chisholm picked off a pass and the Indians were able to take their 8- point lead to the locker room.

Givins-Perry ignited the crowd on the opening kickoff of the second half with his 75- yard run and the Indians were feeling pretty good with a 30-14 lead, but the pesky Panthers were not about to give up yet.

The Panthers put together another good drive and made it 30-22 with 6:53 left in the third quarter, but this was the Givins-Perry show and the junior running back responded with an enormous 41- yard run to give the Indians a 14 point 36-22 lead late in the third quarter.

Anthony Dunn (#80) made some nice plays for the Indians

A couple of huge plays by the Panthers and costly Indians turnover resulted in two fourth quarter scores, giving the visitors a 37-36 lead with six minutes left.

Givins-Perry continued his ‘man on a mission’ assault and broke free for a 29-yard gain and the Indians were looking pretty with a first down on the Panthers 27- yard line. A couple of penalties held up the drive temporarily but not for long as Belnavis scored his second touchdown on a sweet run from 11 yards. Givins-Perry’s two point conversion made it 44-37.

The Panthers threatened, but who else but Givins-Perry made a huge tackle forcing the Panthers to give up the ball on downs and the Indians ran out the clock for the enormous victory.

‘We did some nice things offensively, defensively you are never happy to let up 37 but you got to give some credit to Prouty, they have a great offense and those kids work hard,” said Bartlett head coach Dane Laboissonniere with a smile on his face. “We answered the bell when it counted. We were down 37-36 and we go get the big score to get the ‘W’.”

“I am really proud of the guys, it could have gone the other way, they went on a nice drive to finish the job. We didn’t seem to get many stops but we got the stops at the end of the game.”

Laboissonniere had much praise for his junior back as well. “He (Givins-Perry) does it all, you know he’s the real deal, I am very happy he is on our side. The line blocks it up well for him, he picks the holes and they make it work.  He had a great game after missing two games with those injuries.”

The newest 1000-yard rusher did what he had to do for his team. “I had to do this for my fellow teammates that couldn’t be out there with me today and for the seniors, I wanted to put on a good show for them tonight.”

As far those huge runs, Givins-Perry said, “I was just looking for daylight, I was looking for the openings and I found them.”

Jacob Decker (#24) makes a big tackle for the Indians

The 4-5 Indians travel to Worcester South next Friday for another must- win game. “South is very good, they have some speed, we just have to keep doing all the good things, wrap, tackle, and make some plays,” said Laboissonniere.

Givins-Perry, who finished with 185 yards and 4 touchdowns said, “I think we can have a good week of practice and come out and beat South and then beat Southbridge on Thanksgiving.”

If the Indians keep their offense going like this and make the plays on defense, they certainly can win their final two games and maybe get lucky and sneak into the playoff picture.

Bartlett 2012 football star Rocco DiStefano was on hand to see his team win.
 

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