When a play needed to be made, Perry Hall senior Corey Costner was there to make it in the Gators’ 39-2 victory over Thomas Wootton in the Class 4A/3A state quarterfinals.
Costner scored on touchdown passes of 36 and 33 yards from quarterback Terrell Hearn and on runs from 96 and 37 yards. He totaled 229 yards from scrimmage — 162 on the ground and 67 through the air.
“Corey is just unbelievable. Every day he is just so reliable, he’s just a playmaker, offense, defense, he just a refuse-to-lose kind of guy,” Perry Hall coach Ryan Pittillo said. “He’s a very special player to coach.”
The victory sends the Gators (9-2) to the state semifinals next Friday where they will host North Point, who shut out Old Mill on Friday.
On a cold, drizzly night, the Gators’ shotgun was affected the most as they had six plays total a loss of 38 yards because of problems with the snaps and securing the ball.
Without that lost yardage, the Gators gained 354 rushing yards and 80 passing yards. Running back Cam Scott ran for 119 yards on 10 carries and Hearn had five for 81 yards.
Wooton (6-6) actually got on the scoreboard first when a high snap resulted in a safety late in the first quarter. It stayed that way until the end of the quarter and that’s when Costner went to work. He caught a short pass on the right sideline, broke a tackle and weaved his way to the opposite sideline before hitting pay dirt. Perry Hall missed the extra point and led 6-2.
“I saw the open field and I just ran to the open field,” Costner said. “Playmakers make plays and that’s what I did for them. Coach told me to make a play and I made a play.”
“Any time things are going tough, just get the ball to Corey and he just makes plays,” Pittillo said. “Not many guys can just play middle linebacker like he does. He just goes and gets the ball. He can cover the best receivers, he can play middle against the run and offensively. He just makes plays.”
Wootton’s next drive after Costner’s run included a 20-yard run by Tyler Siegel (26 carries, 77 yards), but it stalled at the Gators’ 37.
A punt pinned the Gators back at their own 4, but Costner busted off a 96-yard touchdown run.
“It was just a power play, power to the right. I went up the gut and I broke a tackle and I was gone,” said Costner, who will play football at the University of Virginia next fall.
Kicker Mario Garcia booted the extra point and the Gators led 13-2 with over seven minutes left in the half.
Wootton’s next possession started with a 3-yard loss by Siegel on a tackle by junior Kornel Davis. It was one of several tackles for Davis. When he wasn’t around the ball a swarm of Gators were.
“Defense has been a focal point,” Pittillo said. “I thought we haven’t played good defense all year to be honest with you. It wasn’t just one person making the tackle, it was gang tackling, we really put the emphasis on defense and it’s really starting to come together.”
Perry Hall upped the lead to 20-2 on a drive that started with a 46-yard run by Scott and ended with a perfectly thrown deep touchdown pass for 33 yards by Hearn to Costner.
“Shout out for Terrell,” Costner said. “He’s that guy, QB since freshman year. He’s that guy.”
The half ended with an interception by, who else? Costner, and the Gators’ first possession of the second half ended with a 12-yard TD run by Scott and 26-2 lead.
Wootton’s best field position started at the Perry Hall 22 after Carlos Perez blocked a punt, but they turned the ball over on downs after four straight incompletions. Wooton finished with 61 yards rushing and 44 passing.
“The coaches all week have been on us about getting better at defense. We gave up a lot earlier in the year and we just wanted to turn it around, so that’s what we did,” Costner said.
After Costner’s 37-yard run for his fourth touchdown, the defense got into the act on the game’s final play when Cameron Johnson retuned a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown.
A clean finish after a sloppy start for Pittillo and the Gators.
“I’m glad to see we faced a little adversity to start the game, jumping offsides, snapping it over our head, but our mentality is so what, now what, it’s been kind of our thing, next play, how are we going to respond and tonight it was good to see, I’m glad it actually started that way to see out we kind of countered.”
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