Brianna Gilliam is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Perry High School for AZPreps365.com.

After a hard-fought first half from both teams, Perry quickly lost its momentum in the third quarter which resulted in a 42-20 win for the Hamilton Huskies. The Premier Region conference game was hosted by the Huskies for their 27th annual homecoming matchup.

The Pumas, who are currently ranked 9th in 6A are now 4-3 while the Huskies who are ranked 12th have moved to 6-1. After the game on Friday night both teams reflected on what this outcome means for them moving forward as they still have two more region games remaining.

After its first loss of the season last week, Hamilton was quick to regain their confidence with great performances from multiple players.

“We did a great job tonight hitting the reset button and sticking to the basics which is what we do,” said Hamilton coach Travis Dixon.

Senior wide receiver Sabriam Torres scored three of six touchdowns for the Huskies. He is small but mighty standing at 5-foot-7 and 145 pounds.

Torres stayed on his feet through many hard hits. Another star for Hamilton on Friday was junior Jacob Brown. The running back had two touchdowns and several carries that gave the Huskies great field position.

Going into the second half, the game was 28-7 Hamilton. The Pumas were looking to hit the ground running as they were going to be receiving the ball. However, in just the first series they fumbled and the ball was recovered by Hamilton on Perry’s 24-yard line. Quarterback Rich Lucero Jr. was able to find one of his wide receivers for a touchdown by Reiss Rinaldi.

Perry responded right away with a 69-yard run by Hayden Moon, whose run set up an easy 4-yard run to the end zone with the ball in Talen Frazier’s hands. The score was 28-14 with 9:32 left in the third quarter. The Pumas had more than enough time to possibly make a comeback but they struggled.

After Perry forced a fumble, they had the ball at Hamilton’s 28-yard line. Quarterback Kael Snyder found Amos Augustine for what they thought was a touchdown, but a penalty set them back.

Perry added another score as Lj Walker was able to get the touchdown and tattempted a 2-point conversion but failed. At that point there were less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Huskies were leading 42-20.

As the clock ran out, the Huskies celebrated their homecoming win and the Pumas gathered for a post-game huddle. Since this is the third loss of the season for Perry, it is unclear what the future holds for them.

“Tonight we were not the Perry team that played the first six games. Right now we need to find our identity on both sides of the ball and bounce back,” said Pumas head coach Joseph Ortiz.

Early in the game, senior Jayden Kimling went down with an injury and remained on the sidelines with crutches for the rest of the game. Kimling is a key player for Perry’s defense as a free safety.

 “With our loss of Kimling some of us are gonna need to step up. We need to build trust with each other again and come together more as a team with the same goal,” Perry junior Vaun Patterson said.

Both teams have three games remaining in the season including two regional matchups. The Pumas will need to regroup quickly to stick to their post-season goals. Next week they will face Williams Field in a non-conference game.