Shady Side Academy steps on gas, beats Burrell

By: Josh Rizzo
Friday, August 29, 2025 | 10:14 PM

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Javon Johnston made waves this summer by winning the triple jump in the freshman division at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals. The Shady Side Academy sophomore quarterback is quickly adding items on the gridiron for what will be a diverse athletic resume.

After leading a come-from-behind win over Greensburg Central Catholic in Week Zero, Johnston led an offensive assault during the Bulldogs’ 56-26 win over Burrell Friday night at Farrell Stadium.

Johnston passed for 357 yards and threw for four touchdowns and added four more on the ground.

Johnston said though the team does get stressed sometimes, it tends to recover

“We do sometimes,” Johnston said. “We ran into problems in the beginning. We got better and better as the game went on.”

Shady Side Academy (2-0) struggled early in the game with their emotions. Several Bulldogs personal fouls extended Burrell scoring drives.

Antonio Perkins intercepted a Johnston pass — a rare mistake — midway through the second quarter to help the Buccaneers grab their only lead. Burrell marched 32 yards and scored on a 6-yard run by Perkins to put the Buccaneers ahead 20-16 with 8 minutes, 46 seconds left in the half.

The Buccaneers (0-2) recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. The good luck didn’t last for Burrell.

Burrell couldn’t capitalize as Perkins lost a fumble while he was scrambling for more yardage. The Bulldogs took advantage when Johnston found BJ Mallory on a 45-yard touchdown pass to go back ahead.

Burrell coach Dom Girardi said this was a good learning process for his team.

“I told the kids after the game that there are ups and downs and ebbs and flows of the football game,” Girardi said. “We did a good job there early on answering some of those. We had some things happen where we didn’t answer and started spiraling.”

It was one of three fumbles Perkins lost in the second quarter. Shady Side Academy cashed all three in for touchdowns. Johnston scored on a 3-yard run, and Cam Mallory caught a 16-yard pass for a score with 7 seconds left before halftime to give the Bulldogs a 38-20 lead.

Perkins led the Buccaneers with 154 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns.

Shady Side Academy lost leading rusher Maddox Harvey to a leg injury before halftime. Harvey had 122 rushing yards when he was injured on a 22-yard run.

Bulldogs coach Andrew Geisler was happy with how his team scored off turnovers.

“Turnovers make or break games,” Geisler said. “They came in key moments where our backs were against the wall, and it worked out.”

Shady Side Academy did everything it could to keep Burrell off balance. Cam Mallory blocked a punt on Burrell’s first drive to set the Bulldogs up inside Buccaneers territory.

Shady Side Academy cashed in on a 9-yard touchdown run by Johnston. Burrell responded with a long drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Perkins.

The Buccaneers were scrappy but couldn’t get out of their own way.

“I know the first half wasn’t the best,” Johnston said. “We are getting better as we keep playing, The second half, we played better and the line was amazing. They gave us the opportunities we had.”

Tags: Burrell, Shady Side Academy