PERRY, Ga. — It’s not every day that a school wins a state championship, and it’s also not every day that a team makes history.
However, the Perry Panthers did both Tuesday night!
The team was on the prowl winning the GHSA 4 a state title with a 38-27 win over the Stockbridge Tigers.
It seems everyone in town has heard the news.
“Cheer on our Panthers,” Perry resident Joy said. “Super proud!”
Their victory Tuesday marks the state's football championship for the first time in 70 years.
“For the first time in the school’s history. Whether you went to Perry [High School] or not, it feels like it’s a community win,” Karlye Caldwell said.
She and her mother, Joy Caldwell, own Initial Reaction in downtown Perry. They said they had to show their Panther pride by replacing the Christmas flag in the store window with Perry High School merchandise.
“Perry won the state in football. Yay! All the boys that were able to play, that’s just something you’ll carry forever. All the fans that were able to go from Perry to support them– that is awesome and it just talks about how great our community in Perry is,” Joy Caldwell said.
However, no one knows more about support than Jeremy Smith.
He runs the Perry Panthers social media and his son also went to school there.
“He graduated just this past year and played football the whole time,” he said.
Smith says he's watched the team grow up as well as the support for them.
“I would be surprised if more than half of Perry showed up last night because it was that full,” Smith laughed. “It was electrifying. You could feel the love from the community for the whole football team.
Smith says other schools in the district have congratulated the Panthers as well as Zaxbys who gave a shout-out to the team on their virtual sign.
He says folks are even ordering custom-made shirts that Smith designed.
“Probably close to 300 shirts, just, in less than roughly 12 hours of us posting it,” he explained.
Smith says the sport has become a family affair, and there are big things to come.
“Perry ain’t the little town that it was anymore,” Smith said. “I think we're going to become a little bit of a football powerhouse. This is just the start of it and it's awesome to be a part of it."
The shirts folks ordered should be ready by tomorrow so expect to see even more Perry pride around town in the next few days.
The Panthers finished the season with a 13-2 record, including five straight playoff wins, four of them away from home.
You can watch 13WMAZ's recap below or read our story here.