Perry Handles the Load for Seneca Valley

Running Back Scores Twice, Including the Game-Winner

Seneca Valley's Shawn Perry looks for daylight against Wheaton. He carried the ball 28 times for 184 yards. "I know I can move this offense," he said. (By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)

Shawn Perry weighs 160 pounds, but he's decided to think of himself this season as a hulking, bruising running back. During two-a-day practices, Perry approached Seneca Valley Coach Fred Kim with a simple request: "I want the ball all the time," Perry said. "I can handle it."

He proved his case last night in No. 17 Seneca Valley's 17-14 win over visiting Wheaton. Perry carried the ball 28 times for 184 yards, and his second touchdown run -- a 25-yard weave through Wheaton's defense -- gave the Screaming Eagles the lead for good in the third quarter.

Perry, a 5-foot-8 senior, said he felt tired in the second half, but Seneca Valley could hardly afford to give him a rest. For a team that hasn't experienced a winning season in three years, Wheaton played like a playoff contender and led for most of the first half. All-Met Pat Lazear scored two touchdowns and ran for 97 yards on 15 carries in his first game since he was reassigned from Whitman.

"I knew I was going to need to get in there and be the workhorse," Perry said. "I felt like I could hardly move after halftime, I was so beat. But I just said, 'Keep giving me the ball.' I wanted it. I know I can move this offense."

Seneca Valley sophomore quarterback George Lerch played well, but he only threw five passes. Even on long third downs, the Screaming Eagles relied almost exclusively on Perry -- and he rarely disappointed. Perry had six runs of at least 10 yards, and he never shied from contact. On most of his carries, Perry made one cut before he reached the line of scrimmage. Then he bulldozed straight ahead.

"We're expecting him to have these kinds of games for us," Kim said. "We've got a good sophomore at quarterback, but I'm not going to go out there and ask him to win it for us. That's Shawn's job."

After Perry gave Seneca Valley a three-point lead late in the third quarter, the Screaming Eagles did almost everything they could to give the Knights a chance to come back. On its last drive of the game, Wheaton moved 80 yards in unusual fashion: a successful fake punt, a 15-yard late-hit penalty and a 15-yard sideline infraction against Seneca Valley. The drive finally ended when the Screaming Eagles stopped the Knights on downs inside the 10-yard line.

"We were just making a ton of mistakes," Perry said. "I think we learned our lesson and that's good, because we got a win, too."

No. 17 Seneca Valley 17 Wheaton 14 So Close: Wheaton's final chance came down to a fourth and five from the Seneca Valley 9-yard line with less than five minutes left. All-Met Pat Lazear got the call but ran for only two yards, and the Knights never got the ball back. Yellow Tape City: TV reporters gathered in a Montgomery County-designated media area well off the field to cover Lazear's first game with Wheaton, and access to players and coaches was severely restricted.