Montgomery Bell Academy junior Henri Perry was swarmed in the end zone, the loud cheers serving as a watershed moment for his family.
More of his relatives were in town than usual, and for a sad reason. Perry attended his grandpa’s funeral just hours before taking the field for MBA in Week 3 of the TSSAA football season.
But what happened that night is something his loved ones won’t forget for some time.
Perry’s leaping interception — his final act on a night he seemed to do it all — secured MBA’s wild 40-36 win over Franklin Road Academy in the final seconds at Tommy Owen Stadium on Sept. 4.
“My mind is all over the place right now. I had a long, hard two days,” Perry said. “I was doing it for him; I was just doing my job, but it was all for my grandpa.
I’m just so happy right now.”
Grandpa was always “Pop” to his grandchildren. James Rodney Perry, an Army veteran and retired Tennessee state trooper, was 74 when he died.
When a Big Red assistant coach grabbed Henri Perry afterward and told him that was the best football performance he’d ever seen, it was hard to argue the point.
Perry is a defensive back but also handles punting and kicking duties. He finished with two interceptions, four field goals, four PATs, a successful onside kick and a 14-yard run on a fake punt that helped MBA (3-0) erase a 13-point second-half deficit.
FRA (2-1) was set to get the ball back in the fourth quarter up 36-30 when Perry called his own shot on a fake punt — something he’d been bugging MBA coach Chris Chauvin to let him run.
“(Chauvin) said, ‘If you see it, take it,’” Perry said. “I run track. So, I saw a hole and I went.”
Chauvin knew what Perry had been going through. It was noticeable in the pregame lead-up to kickoff. “It really didn’t hit him today (about his grandpa) when he was at the funeral, so he was emotional,” Chauvin said.
Chauvin also noticed his players rallying around Perry and his twin brother Micah, a junior linebacker.
MBA tight end Bennett Conyers, a three-star prospect who drew coaches from Vanderbilt and Georgia to the game, forced and recovered a fumble for a TD in the second quarter.
It was another pivotal play, but Conyers knew who the night belonged to.
“He’s just a ball hawk,” Conyers said of Perry. “He comes downhill, he’s not scared to hit. He just plays for the team and he makes plays.”
Tyler Palmateer covers high school sports for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform,@tpalmateer83.
He also contributes to The Tennessean's high school sports newsletter, The Bootleg.Subscribe to The Bootleg here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Henri Perry does it for 'Pop' in MBA's wild win over FRA in TSSAA football Week 3
