Perry carries over late-season momentum into 2025

By: Greg Macafee
Friday, August 22, 2025 | 6:01 AM

Perry Traditional Academy didn’t have the success it would’ve liked last season, but the Commodores are ready to build on what they did accomplish.

Perry (1-6, 1-3) was shut out in two of its first three games and scored just six points. In their final three games, the Commodores scored 52 points, earned their only win of the season over Brashear, 28-6, and came up just short against Carrick, 16-12, in their regular season finale.

Led by sophomore quarterback Chaz Jackson, the offense started to come together. Coach Stephen Hale credited his team for improving at the end of the season, as his players built a cohesiveness that translated to the field.

“We may have changed a few things up a little bit and made it simpler, but other than that, it was just they got a feel for it,” Hale said of his team’s offensive improvement. “It grew into this spring, and it’s looking good. Now we’re building even more and we’ve even looked a little better in camp.”

The Commodores finished their season by earning a City League playoff berth before losing to eventual league-champion Westinghouse, 68-0, the exact score of their matchup earlier in the season.

Hale has coached at Perry since 2012 and is entering his fourth season as head coach with a team that is young, but has experience.

“We didn’t lose too many, and they are young,” Hale said. “So they were grasping it at the end of last year. Now, those sophomores will be juniors and they are battle-tested. … The key for us is going to be our line play and keeping our quarterback protected and keeping him upright. I think if we can do that, we’ll be OK.”

After finishing last year as the starter, Jackson returns under center and will look to target Tyrese Davis and junior Deonte Harring, who’s the only returning All-City selection from a year ago. Hale added that he’ll use a multitude of running backs, and a few wide receivers could also get carries. However, sophomore Jayden Washington has stood out among that group.

Perry’s offensive and defensive lines are still a work in progress, Hale said, but the trio of Ramon Holiday, Shadon Booker and Terry Brooks will stabilize both sides.

With a roster that sits in the low 20s, Hale has several players who will play both ways, including Herring, Davis and Holiday. But low numbers also present another challenge for the Commodores as they are not able to go 11-on-11 in practice.

“The more people we have at practice, the more that we can actually go against each other. I think that it will build a cohesiveness and a togetherness that we need,” Hale said. “We’re going against air because we have low numbers. That doesn’t cut it. We just need more numbers and that’s why I think, toward the end of the season, we got a little bit more fluid because we were able to build that cohesiveness. So we just have to keep building. The more together we are, the better we’ll be.”

Perry opens its season Aug. 29 against Uniontown at Cupples Stadium.

Perry

Coach: Stephen Hale

2024 record: 1-6, 1-3 in City League

All-time record: 468-377-48

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.29 Uniontown, 7

9.4 Allderdice*, 6

9.19 at University Prep*, 7

9.26 at Wheeling Central Catholic, 7

10.3 Brashear*, 7

10.10 Carrick*, 7

*City League game

FAST FACTS

• The Commodores scored 58 points in their final four games of last season.

• Perry Traditional Academy was the last City League school to win a state championship in 1989.

• Hale has recorded five wins in his three years at Perry.

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Perry