GMC Football: Perth Amboy rallies for win over J.F. Kennedy

The Perth Amboy High School football team, which had been held without an offensive touchdown in its first two games, scored twice and its defense came up huge in a 12-7 comeback victory over J.F. Kennedy on Friday night.

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“It’s good for the kids to come out with this win,” said Perth Amboy mentor Brad Bishop, whose team received high praise from St. Joseph coach Rich Hilliard and South Plainfield coach Gary Cassio after their respective schools defeated the Panthers in hard-fought games the previous weekends.

“It was like they finally turned the corner. The first win is always the hardest to get. To finally see the smiles on their faces and everything like that, it was great. We got a chance to march down Eagle Avenue with the band. The community rallied behind them and they deserved it.”

The Mustangs (1-2) took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Maven Garced’s 10-yard touchdown run and David Lee’s extra point. 

Perth Amboy closed the gap to 7-6 when quarterback Tahjmere O’Neal, who missed last weekend’s game against St. Joseph with an injury, connected with David Welch on a 27-yard scoring strike. The Panthers missed the extra point.

O’Neal completed a 60-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Jack in the third quarter to give Perth Amboy 12-7 lead. O’Neal completed 12 of 21 passes for 217 yards. He also rushed four times for 13 yards.

“The kid came out on a mission tonight,” Bishop said of O’Neal, a third-year starter who completed 9 of his first 13 passes. “His balls were on point. He was making the right reads and getting out of trouble and being elusive. He managed the game well and you could tell his maturity level kicked in. Tonight he was definitely the general on the field and he led the team.”

Jeremiah Stevens intercepted a pass with under four minutes left to preserve the victory for the Panthers (1-2).

Running back Erick Rivera led Perth Amboy with 58 rushing yards on 12 carries. Jack had four catches for 137 yards. 

Mario Luna anchored the defense with 10 tackles.