CADIZ – The Harrison Central football team had to dig deep against Perry.

The game definitely wasn’t “as easy as Sunday morning,” as the Commodores battled to the very end, however, the Huskies came up with one key first down and were able to run out the clock to hold on and earn a hard-fought 35-34 victory Friday night at Wagner Field.

“No, it wasn’t (an easy game),” Harrison Central (3-0) head coach Anthony Hayes said. “We had a lot of young guys gut it out. We got great senior leadership.

“The past five years, we have lost a lot of one point or two point games. Tonight, we finally got one to go our way. It feels great.”

Mykel Quito tallied 127 yards and two touchdowns to lead the way on the ground for the victors. Quito scored the first two touchdowns of the game. He scored on runs of 12 and 8 yards.

Quarterback Hayden Cassidy had a good night throwing the football. The junior completed 12-of-19 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Cassidy also added a 2-yard touchdown run.

Tre Rex collected four receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns. He scored on passing plays of 38 and 27 yards.

Parker Hutton produced five receptions for 63 yards to help the cause of the boys from Harrison County.

Quito’s two touchdown runs, and two extra points by Jace Madzia enabled the Huskies to take a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

A 29-yard run pulled Perry within 14-6 in the second, however, Cassidy plowed his way into the end zone from the 2, and Madzia’s PAT gave Harrison Central a 21-6 lead.

A 16-yard touchdown pass pulled the Commodores to within 21-12 at halftime.

The visitors from Pittsburgh struck first in the third on a 5-yard run, and the 2-point conversion pulled them to within 21-20 with 6:54 left in the third.

Harrison answered right back when Rex hauled in a 38-yard touchdown from Cassidy, and the conversion kick made the score 28-20.

Twenty-one points were scored in the fourth.

First, Rex caught a 27-yard touchdown, and the extra point made the score, 35-20, with 11:12 left.

Next, a 19-yard touchdown pass pulled Perry to within 35-26, but the 2-point conversion attempt failed.

Then, the Commodores blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. The extra point failed keeping the score 35-32 with 5:37 left to play in the game.

Finally, Harrison Central gave up a safety on fourth down to make the score 35-34 with 4:39 left in the game.

Perry got the ball back, but it was unable to do anything with it, and the Commodores turned the ball over on downs to the Huskies. Cassidy ran for a first down to ice the game.

“Years ago, a coach told me you should always enjoy your victories” Hayes said. “We are going to enjoy this one for 24 hours.”

Harrison Central is scheduled to play again at 7 p.m. Friday at Union Local.

Perry will be the road team when it plays Westinghouse at 7 p.m. Friday.

Harrison Central 35, Perry Traditional Academy 34

Perry 0 12 8 14 – 34

HC 14 7 7 7 – 35

HC: Quito 12 run (Madzia kick), 5:33

HC: Quito 8 run (Madzia kick), :56.2

P: Walker 29 run (pass fail), 9:53

HC: Cassidy 2 run (Madzia kick), 5:41

P: Hill Jr. 16 pass from Arrington (pass fail), 4:02

P: Arrington 5 run (Walker pass from Arrington), 6:54

HC: Rex 38 pass from Cassidy (Madzia kick), 4:45

HC: Rex 27 pass from Cassidy (Madzia kick)

P: Smalls 19 pass from Arrington (run fail), 6:40

P: Freeman block punt return (kick fail), 5:37

P: Safety, 4:39

RUSHING: Perry Traditional Academy 33-194-2TDs (Arrington 13-69 TD, Williams 11-58, Walker 9-67 TD); Harrison Central 41-136 3TDs (Cassidy 9-6 TD, Quito 26-127 2TDs, Atkins 4-0, Frye 1-4, Madzia 1-(-1))

PASSING: Perry Traditional Academy 5-13-64-2-1 (All by Arrington); Harrison Central 12-19-192-2-1 (All by Cassidy)

RECEIVING: Perry Traditional Academy 5-64-2TDs (Hill Jr. 3-31 TD, Simpkins 1-14, Smalls 1-19 TD); Harrison Central 12-192-2TDs(Rex 4-94 2TDs, Hutton 5-63, Fluharty 1-9, Wurshum 2-24)

FIRST DOWNS: Perry Traditional Academy 12; Harrison Central 16

PENALTIES-YARDS: Perry Traditional Academy 13-75; Harrison Central 3-41

FUMBLES-LOST: Perry Traditional Academy 2-1; Harrison Central 3-1