E.J Perry leads the Michigan Panthers into the USFL Playoffs with a 23-20 win over the Philadelphia Stars

Posted By on June 19, 2023

Last week while I was at the M2 New England Showdown at Stonehill, Andover High School coach E.J Perry told me that his son E.J had flown out to Michigan to workout for the USFL’s Michigan Panthers. He thought the team was interested in signing him. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Well, now we know. E.J did sign and a week after joining the team, he has led them to the USFL playoffs.

Perry completed 12 of 23 passes for 121 yards and rushed for 48 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in leading the Panthers to a 23-20 win and a playoff berth. After the game, E.J talked about the faith that Panthers Coach Mike Nolan and his teammates showed in him.

“Coach condensed it and did a good job of putting in some stuff that I’ve run in the past and that I’ve liked and done well with, and incorporating that with the offense they already had,” said Perry after the game. “I thought you know at times we are able to execute really well, and there’s obviously some things that we need to work on this week and get better at. A lot of it is on me but yeah, I felt comfortable walking out there. The biggest part of me feeling comfortable was I had a bunch of guys around me who are terrific football players.”

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The Andover and Brown product did indeed look comfortable. The moment was not too big for him which is not a surprise. Perry is always under control and he was on Sunday night in leading the Panthers to a victory in a win and you are in scenario.

The Panthers were out-gained 330-205 offensively but thanks to Perry managing the offense and the Panthers defense and special teams coming up with big plays, Michigan was able to prevail and keep their season going.

Now it will be interesting to see if E.J gets another opportunity next week to start the playoff game. Regardless of whether he does or not, he proved last night that he can play professional football and do his job in leading a team to a win. If nothing else, he just created another opportunity for himself last night whether it is with Michigan or someone else.

Congratulations to E.J and the Panthers on the hard fought win and for advancing to the playoffs.