Perkins comes alive in 2nd half, rolls past Sandusky

PERKINS TWP. — Perkins defeated Sandusky for the seventh straight year Friday at Firelands Health Stadium. Not surprising, considering the rivals came into the game on opposite sides of the win spectrum. It was mildly surprising that it took till the second half for the the Pirates to put away the Blue Streaks. Perkins led 14-0 at halftime before pulling away for a 42-6 win. The Pirates improved to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Northern Ohio Conference Lake Division. Sandusky dropped to 0-7, 0-2. "Came out a little flat," Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said. "Didn't play our best first half, but we came out of the locker room in the second half and executed how we wanted to." Santoro is now 7-0 against Sandusky. The Pirates have won the last five against their crosstown rivals by 30, 17, 37, 38 and 36 points. The Pirates dominated without their top two rushers. JoJo Moore and Levi Jackson both had their lower left legs in soft casts or walking boots. Santoro said they could be back soon. Junior Raji Randleman filled in and ran for two touchdowns and intercepted a pass to help jump-start the Pirates' big second half. "It was kind of nerve-wracking seeing No. 1 and No. 2 down so they had to rely on me," Randleman said. "I just did my thing, kept the ball high and tight, lowered my shoulder and made some plays happen." Randleman carried eight times for 35 yards and scored on a two-yard run late in the second quarter to give Perkins a 14-0 lead. That score was set up by Dante Shipp's 74-yard punt return. Perkins got on the board with 1:10 left in the first quarter when Grant Kuhnle found Kaden Legando for a 28-yard touchdown pass. Legando finished with four catches for 100 yards and caught a 37-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter to give Perkins a 21-0 lead. Randleman's interception on the next series set up Perkins at the Sandusky 25-yard line. "I told my coach during practice that if I got a good jump I was gonna grab it," Randleman said. "I got a great jump and saw the quarterback looking my way — oh, yeah, that was mine. I grabbed it. I was trying to get a pick-6 but it didn't go in my favor." Randleman, who wrestled at 126 and 132 pounds last year, said he weighs about 150. He stood tall in the rivalry game and was familiar with the Streaks. "I grew up with pretty much all of them," he said. "Baseball, wrestled with them, football. A bunch of my family, too. It's just like backyard football to me." After the pick, Kuhnle hit Connor Smith on a screen pass that turned into a 30-yard touchdown. Smith caught three passes for 67 yards. Kuhnle completed 8 of 18 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns. "Raji and Connor both had great games," Santoro said. "Those guys are hard workers and guys we believe in. They got their opportunity and showcased what they can do." Sandusky's defense was stout early and Perkins' defense was strong throughout. Zion Henlon's late five-yard touchdown run spoiled Perkins' shutout bid. Perkins senior linebacker Boden Ballinger set the tone with a hard hit early in the second half. "We really stepped it up in the second half," Ballinger said. "We told ourselves it was like 0-0 and got really fired up in the locker room. We have to be more mentally ready in the first half. I thought the defense played really great." Perkins travels to Norwalk — another winless team — next week. The Pirates may not get pushed for several weeks, but Santoro said there's plenty to work on. "You gotta challenge them," he said. "It's not about anybody we're playing, it's about us. We have a lot of aspects we can improve upon. That's what we're talking about in our film sessions and in the locker room." Perkins outgained the Streaks 317 to 155 and limited Sandusky to eight first downs. Henlon led Sandusky with 51 yards rushing. Louis Johnson, who ran down Shipp on his game-changing punt return, added 38 yards on the ground. Sandusky hosts Clyde next week. Sandusky 0 0 0 6 — 6 Perkins 7 7 21 7 — 42 P — Kaden Legando 28 pass from Grant Kuhnle (Danny Buga kick) P — Raji Randleman 2 run (Buga kick) P — Legando 37 pass from Kuhnle (Buga kick) P — Connor Smith 30 pass from Kuhnle (Buga kick) P — Randleman 7 run (Buga kick) P — Logan Wadsworth 10 pass from JJ Green (Buga kick) S — Zion Henlon 4 run (kick failed)