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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

PERRY – A special season came to a close for the LaGrange Grangers with a 34-4 loss to Perry in the second round of the Class AAAA state playoffs.

LaGrange’s normally high-powered offense was unable to get much going against Perry’s stout defense.

LaGrange’s only points of the game came on two safeties in the first half, with the snap to Perry’s punter going awry and out of the end zone on two occasions.

Perry scored a touchdown right before halftime to take a 17-4 lead, and it added two more touchdowns in the second half to put it away.

It was a remarkable turnaround season for LaGrange with first-year head coach Matt Napier at the helm.

The Grangers (8-4) finished with a winning record for the first time since 2009, and they won their first playoff game since 2012.

The Grangers won a combined six games from 2016 to 2019, and it matched that win total this year with two games left in the regular season.

LaGrange, the number two seed from Region 2-AAAA, rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter to beat New Hampstead 30-26 in the first round of the playoffs.

Perry, which is coached by LaGrange High graduate Kevin Smith, will face Marist in the state quarterfinals next week.