MADISON TOWNSHIP — When the Perry football team gathered at midfield Friday night following a 44-7 victory over Madison in the renewal of the schools’ rivalry, Madison principal Bill Fisher approached the four Pirate captains with their much sought after prize — the Little Brown Jug.
Immediately, Mike Hanhauser, Vinny Hokavar and Robert Law pointed to their left and the final member of their foursome, defensive end/kicker Johnny Phelps. Phelps took the trophy and held it high over his head while his teammates mobbed him, showing it off in the direction of his family over on the sidelines.
“My dad’s been on us every day since the summer, asking us ‘what have you done to beat Madison today?’ ” he said. “This rivalry was really big for him and my uncle and now it feels great to be part of that family tradition. It’s without a doubt my biggest win.”
The Phelps’ story symbolizes the feelings the two neighboring communities have for the renewal of the rivalry, which dates back to the 1930s, but has been dormant since 1995. And those feelings were not lost on the current players.
“It’s a big win for us, not only as a team, but as a community,” Hokavar, the lanky quarterback who contributed a pair of touchdown tosses to go along with a 53-yard TD run and a fumble recovery in the Pirates’ first win in the series since 1992, said. “All week we saw how big it was to our parents and to everyone in Perry and how bad everyone wanted to win this game.”
Running back Hanhauser, who also helped the cause with three touchdowns of his own (2 rushing, 1 receiving), agreed with his backfield mate.
“The community involvement with our program — the support and the great tradition we have at Perry — is amazing, but tonight it seemed like there was more on the line.”
“We wanted to go out there and play well for them,” said Hokavar.
And play well they did. The Pirates broke open a close game with two touchdowns in the closing minutes of the first half and then scored three more times in the third quarter en route to a 44-0 lead and their largest win in the 48 editions of the Battle for the Little Brown Jug.
“These kids played tonight for their whole community, for everyone who has put on the Perry colors,” Perry coach Matt Rosati said.
“This win is for them, and for Coach (Bob) Ritley,” he added, alluding to the late, great Pirate coach. He’s the reason this game means so much to the players and to this community.”
Now the team and the community have the Jug back in their possession, but none of the players hope they have to wait another decade for the chance to defend it.
Both Phelps and Hokavar have younger brothers on the team, sophomores Ryan and Mitchel, respectively.
“We’ve brought this rivalry back and now it’s up to the underclassmen to keep it going,” Hokavar said.
Tirotta is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.
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Related Photos
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JOHN PHELPS (42) of Perry represents his Pirate teammates as he hoists the Little Brown Jug after the Pirates defeated Madison on Friday night. DANIEL KRAUS
Discussion
For Pirates, triumph a true community effort
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