Two plays in the fourth quarter captured the wild swings of the state quarterfinal tilt between Havre de Grace and Perryville.

No. 2 seed Havre de Grace, down seven, got the stop it needed when Dorrell Norton Jr. returned a fumble deep into Perryville territory. It brought the home crowd to its feet and energized a previously quiet sideline.

But on the next play, a pass from Julian Ringgold found the hands of a Perryville defender, who bolted uncontested into the end zone. A one-score game was quickly out of reach, even before Perryville piled on for a 38-10 win.

“Most of this game was self-inflicted,” Havre de Grace coach Brian Eberhardt said. “If you really look at it, I would say that we played them pretty evenly, except they made less mistakes.”

Perryville will play in its third consecutive state semifinals next week. Havre de Grace’s chase for its first state championship since 1986 is on pause for at least another year.

The Warriors couldn’t slow No. 3 seed Perryville’s ground game in the first half, allowing two rushing scores to quarterback Joe Thomason and running back Daniel Afriye to go down 14-0 quickly.

A monumental kickoff return to the 1-yard line with less than a minute to go before halftime nearly gave Havre de Grace its first score. But self-inflicted mistakes proved costly: a penalty on the return brought the ball back to the 15-yard line, and a fumble by Ringgold squandered any chance at a touchdown to go into the break trailing by two scores.

Havre de Grace looked sharper coming out of the locker room. Its defense forced a Perryville turnover on downs, then Ringgold connected with Josiah Lawrence streaking down the home sideline for a 40-yard touchdown pass that cut the home team’s deficit in half. Lawrence, a basketball star giving football a try for the first time this fall, has developed into one of Ringgold’s top targets over the course of his only season.

“It’s been a lot of fun watching that. It begs the question, like, ‘Why did you wait until you were a senior?’” quipped Eberhardt, also the school’s boys basketball coach.

Yum Zakari booted a 40-yard field goal to make it a 14-10 deficit (after making a 44-yarder in his team’s second-round victory over Patterson Mill). A similarly long field goal by Perryville on the next possession stretched its lead back to seven, and another punt by Havre de Grace appeared to seal the result.

But a fumble by Thomason started the hectic final moments of the fourth quarter. Norton scooped the loose ball and returned it to Perryville territory. But even with momentum back on their side, the Warriors again dropped a key opportunity.

A four-point game quickly ballooned to a 14-point deficit, then a 21-point hole after another fumble returned for a score and eventually a 28-point Perryville win.

Ringgold finished with two interceptions and two fumbles in the loss and exited late in the fourth quarter with an apparent injury. The dynamic receiver tandem of Miles and Kevin Miller were kept quiet. And Havre de Grace’s defense, stout all year, couldn’t overcome the turnovers and short fields.

“Happy for Juju,” Eberhardt said. “Obviously, it didn’t end the way that we wanted it to for him. But he was crucial. He worked really hard in the offseason and he led us to some big wins this year.”

Havre de Grace and Perryville matched up in the regular season, a 37-7 Panthers win to open the year. But that was before former Perryville coach Sean Sandora was placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into the team involving the use of ineligible players.

Sandora was not on the sideline Friday. He was, however, watching from behind the fence and vocal throughout the game.

Eberhardt’s team now shifts focus to next year. Havre de Grace relied on a young offensive line that developed this season faster than the coach anticipated. They’re part of a returning nucleus that gives Eberhardt hope next season can unfold similarly to 2025.

“We had a heck of a year,” he said. “Exceeded my expectations.”

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