Big second quarter lifts Perkins football in 58-6 rout

TOLEDO — Grant Kuhnle took a step forward. The Perkins senior quarterback completed just 9 of 30 passes last week in a wild double-overtime win over Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph. Kuhnle was much better Thursday, hitting 10 of 16 passes for 224 yards in the Pirates' 58-6 non-league win over Toledo Scott. "The expectation is for him to get better," Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said. "We have to keep climbing that ladder. We played a really good opponent in Week 1 and it was a different style football game for him. We want to see big jumps from Week 1 to Week 2 and Week 2 to Week 3. "We're relying on him. He's our guy. We're going to ride or die with him." It was a short week for the Pirates (2-0) after a long 3 1/2-hour game last week. "We adjusted our practices," Santoro said. "We didn't have a day of practice that we normally had, so that was different. We had to be grown men when it came to adversity." The Pirates were a little slow out of the gate, turning the ball over on downs on their first possession. After forcing the Bulldogs (0-2) to go three-and-out, Kuhnle hit Bryce Davie for a 43-yard pass. A few plays later, JoJo Moore rumbled in from two yards out. Danny Buga hit his only extra point kick of the night to make it 7-0 with 4:55 to go in the first quarter. Perkins' defense forced another punt by the Scott offense. This time, Kuhnle dumped off a pass to Levi Jackson for what became a 50-yard pickup. On the second play of the second quarter, Jackson scored from a yard out. The two-point run failed, but Perkins was up 13-0. That was the start of a huge second quarter for the Pirates. Davie picked an interception on the next Bulldogs possession and Kuhnle went to work. He hit Davie for passes of 14 and 40 yards, sandwiched around a 16-yard completion to Kaden Legando. Logan Wadsworth scored on this drive, rushing in from seven yards out. Scott got its first first down on the next drive, but still punted. Kuhnle moved the Pirates 46 yards in five plays, capped on a 19-yard touchdown pass to Dante Shipp. The two-point pass from Kuhnle to Legando put Perkins up 27-0. "We came out real slow," Kuhnle said. "We didn't have as much energy as we did last week. Playing at 6 p.m. on a Thursday was different. We just have to keep that same energy. I think stuff clicked in the second quarter. We came together and realized we had to handle business." The Pirates used another big defensive play to further the lead. After a pair of first downs by Scott, a pass was completed, but Boden Ballinger ripped the ball from the receiver's hands and returned it 48 yards for the score. Kuhnle ran in the two-point conversion to increase the lead to 35-0 with 1:28 to go in the half. But, the Pirates weren't done. Shipp tracked down an interception on a deep ball just before the half. He tossed a lateral to Davie, who took it 52 yards for the touchdown. Kuhnle again hit Legando for the two-point conversion and 43-0 lead at halftime. "It took us a minute to get clicking," Santoro said. "We made some adjustments." Perkins added two touchdowns in the second half. Moore scored on a seven-yard run in the third quarter. Wadsworth added the two-point conversion for a 51-0 lead. Late in the game, Davon Johnson caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from JJ Green. "I didn't like the way we came out in the first half," Santoro said. "In the second half, I thought we played a little bit better. There's a lot of stuff we still need to clean up. It's still early. We had a different schedule with playing at 6 p.m. on a Thursday. We expect our guys to be able to adapt to that." The Pirates will now have an extra day of rest before hosting Toledo St. Francis, a team it lost to on the road a year ago. "We have to handle it professionally," Santoro said. "We'll have film tomorrow on a Friday, which is different. Saturday, we'll use the extra day to recoup a little bit. We'll have a chance to rest, but we'll get ahead on the scouting report on St. Francis. We won't waste the day. It's not a day off. We'll be prepared." Kuhnle has a wealth of talent to throw to at receiver including Davie, Legando and Shipp. "I put a lot of time in," Kuhnle said. "Football is my No. 1 sport. I take a lot of pride in working on my stuff all the time. I'm just grateful to be out here ballin' with my friends." Perkins 7 36 8 7 — 58 Scott 0 0 0 6 — 6 P — JoJo Moore 2 run (Danny Buga kick) P — Levi Jackson 1 run (run failed) P — Logan Wadsworth 7 run (run failed) P — Dante Shipp Jr. 19 pass from Grant Kuhnle (Kaden Legando pass from Kuhnle) P — Boden Ballinger 48 fumble return (Kuhnle run) P — Bryce Davie 52 lateral return after Shipp INT (Legando pass from Kuhnle) P — Moore 7 run (Wadsworth run) S — Renee McMillian 80 pass from Roshawn Russell (run failed) P — Davon Johnson 15 pass from JJ Green (Kannyn Henson kick)