Sandusky looks for return to form

SANDUSKY — Sandusky's football program endured a miserable 2020 season, but the Blue Streaks appear to be back on the rails. After losing their first seven games last year, the Streaks won three of their last four, including a win over rival Fremont Ross to enter the offseason on a high note. Still, the eight losses were the most for the Streaks since a 1-9 campaign in 2000. "That wasn't us last year," Sandusky coach Mike Franklin said. "There's no excuse because every team went through what we went through, but there was a tremendous lack of focus. But I give those guys a ton of credit with everything that was going on. We had a very small senior class and it was difficult to have everyone there every day for various reasons. "I thought that once we settled down a little bit we were competitive most of the year. Norwalk, we were right there. Clyde, we were right there against very good teams." Click here for the Sandusky Register's full high school football preview coverage Sandusky won a total of 37 games from 2016 and 2019 and made the playoffs four straight seasons. Franklin thinks this team has the talent to get back to winning. The Streaks' beefed-up schedule will be a challenge. They play Division I Lorain in their home opener and play a pair of Division II programs in Springfield and Ross. Two tough Division III opponents — Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and Padua Franciscan — round out the nonconference slate. "We thought that this senior class would be pretty talented so let's continue the challenge," Franklin said of the practice of scheduling tough nonconference games. "That's where that schedule came from." Offense Sandusky has a lot of playmakers and a senior quarterback who can distribute the football. Michael Franklin threw for 708 yards and seven touchdowns and only two interceptions before missing the last half of the 2020 season with an injury. Franklin, the coach's son, has plenty of experience, though. He took over for an injured Shonsai Aaron in 2019 and helped the Blue Streaks advance to a Division III regional final. "He's very accurate and knows the offense," Coach Franklin said. "He can direct anybody anywhere on the field, which is what a quarterback should be. "He's also an excellent runner. Given that, and the backs we have, that gives us a really potent combination." The Streaks' top running backs are seniors Michael Pisarsky and Desmond Williams. Pisarsky ran for 939 yards and five touchdowns last season. Williams added 504 yards and seven TDs and also caught 18 passes for 199 yards and three scores. "They're fast, gifted, good blockers, good hands," Franklin said. "As they get older, they get more patient. They're really learning that. There's no jealousy between the two. They both know they're going to touch the football and make great things happen." Another back who should be a factor is JJ Henry, a sturdy 190-pound senior who played a key role on the 2019 team before injuring his knee on a kickoff return in last year's season opener. Henry hopes to be cleared medically next week. He can play running back, wide receiver, quarterback and linebacker. "He's very flexible. He's a good athlete and he looks better every day," Franklin said. "He wants to be out there." Antonio Talley is the Streaks' leading returning receiver. He caught 19 passes for 193 yards and three TDs last year. Williams, Nate' Abbott, Kanye Peake, Kyle Justi and Maurice Armstrong give Franklin a wide variety of targets. Sandusky often will use an off-the-line tight end. That spot will be filled by Demarion Westbrook or Decarvion Jones. Franklin, who was a standout quarterback at SHS, draws from his playing days when drawing up his offense. "We were very successful, so I'm not taking anything away from when I played," he said. "You're in a traditional pro offense and you would look in the back and there are 90 guys behind me that are very skilled but they're sitting on the bench. "We have some very skilled guys and we have to find ways to get them the football and keep the defense off balance." The Streaks' offensive line is young, but has potential. Senior guard Mekhi Brown (5-foot-10, 300 pounds) is a standout two-way lineman. "As big as he is he is incredibly athletic," Franklin said. "He played both ways (in Sandusky's scrimmages) without a problem and did a great job." Joining Brown at guard will be senior Julian Parker (6-1, 270) and sophomores James Fox and Jordan Lawrence. Donte' Waddington-Jones, a 6-2, 270-pound sophomore, will start at left tackle. He played last the two games as a freshman. James Peugeot, another sophomore, will start at center. Senior Zack Prill will start at right tackle. "He's been one of the hardest workers since he was a freshman," Franklin said. "A lot of people never would've thought Zack would be as good as he is right now. It just shows what effort and hard work can do." Franklin has been impressed by the progress made by his young lines in recent months. "Their attendance throughout the summer was higher than any group. You can see it on the field now," he said. "They got much stronger, much quicker. They're young but gifted." Defense The Streaks' defense is built on speed, and opposing quarterbacks will be keeping an eye on ends Talley and Issiah Taylor. Talley led the team with five sacks last season despite his slight build. "He's extremely athletic, talented and strong. Good burst," Franklin said. "Always overmatched size-wise, but he's so incredibly quick you're not going to get much time to throw the ball with him outside. It's kind of difficult to go from wide receiver to defensive end, but he's physically gifted." Taylor, a 6-2, 210-pound senior, was injured for much of last season. "He grew up a lot over the last year and understands that there are expectations from our seniors," Franklin said. "He's known for a long time that he's a gifted athlete and sometimes you have to wait for that maturity to kick in. We use him on our scout team defense and you can't get a better look at de when you're trying to make reads and pass pro." Brown and Fox will start at defensive tackle with help from Parker. Jones and Zander Johnson, who got plenty of reps last year as a freshman, will start at inside linebacker. Lawrence will provide depth at that position. Justi and Westbrook will man the outside linebacker spots, along with Jayvion Johnson. Westbrook, who Franklin called the team's most improved player, had 53 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions last year. "He had a pick-6 in the Fremont Ross game, but he's taken his game to another level in the offseason," Franklin said. "The work ethic is second to none." Sandusky lost leading tackler Damarion Dennison, a second-team All-SBC Lake Division linebacker, who moved to Ashland. Peake, Williams and Armstrong, a move-in from Perkins, are the top cornerbacks heading into the season. Abbott, a second-team All-SBC pick last year, will start at one of the safety positions. His 57 tackles last season were second on the team. Franklin, who also will handle punting and placekicking duties, will start at the other safety position. Peugeot will be the long snapper and freshman Dre' Campbell will be the holder until Henry returns. Sandusky's numbers increased this year and the Streaks have 49 players on the varsity roster. Franklin said there are more than 30 freshman playing this fall. "The numbers are OK," he said. "I'm really happy we've been able to consistently have a freshman, JV and varsity." Franklin feels like he has enough quality upperclassmen to help the many sophomores who will play get up to speed. "We have a good group of guys with a tremendous amount of experience, even our sophomore group has a lot of experience," he said. "We think we have a strong senior group. "We have experience at every at every level of the offense and defense and special teams. That allows those guys to be leaders and grow the young kids." The Streaks are putting last season behind them, but what they went through still stings a bit. "That should be some motivation," Franklin said. "That's not the type of season that is expected of us, and our community deserves better than the product we put on the field last year." ----- 2021 schedule Aug. 20: at Springfield (Holland), 7 p.m. Aug. 27: Lorain, 7 p.m. Sept. 3: at Fremont Ross, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10: at Padua Franciscan, 7 p.m. Sept. 17: Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, 7 p.m. Sept. 24: Columbian, 7 p.m. Oct. 1: at Norwalk, 7 p.m. Oct. 8: Clyde, 7 p.m. Oct. 15: at Bellevue, 7 p.m. Oct. 22: Perkins, 7 p.m. 2020 results (3-8) Edison 28, Sandusky 13 Columbian 41, Sandusky 14 Norwalk 24, Sandusky 17 Clyde 34, Sandusky 27 Bellevue 38, Sandusky 7 Perkins 38, Sandusky 24 Sandusky 40, Mansfield Madison 20 Port Clinton 21, Sandusky 14 Sandusky 22, North Ridgeville 3 Sandusky 36, Fremont Ross 30 Playoffs Norton 21, Sandusky 20 2021 roster No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. 2 Desmond Williams RB/DB 5-10 170 12 3 JJ Henry RB/LB 5-10 190 12 4 Michael Pisarsky RB/DB 5-9 150 12 5 Maurice Armstrong WR/DB 5-8 155 11 6 Jahmir Jones WR/DB 5-8 145 11 7 Nate' Abbott WR/DB 5-10 150 12 8 Damarion Westbrook TE/LB 5-10 175 11 9 Kyle Just WR/DB 5-9 170 12 10 Rocco D'Amico LS/SS 5-7 130 9 11 Xander Young QB/WR 5-11 150 10 12 Kanye Peake WR/DB 5-9 155 11 13 Decarvion Jones TE/LB 5-11 185 11 14 Antonio Talley WR/DE 5-10 170 12 15 Israel Fletcher WR/DB 6-2 165 12 17 Michael Franklin QB/DB/K 6-0 180 12 19 Brinen Arnold WR/DB 5-8 125 11 20 Donovan Klein WR/DL 6-3 180 11 21 Adrik Purdy WR/DB 5-9 150 10 24 Jamarion Alexander RB/WR 5-9 165 10 27 Alejo Wilfredo WR/DB 5-9 145 10 30 Landon Parker RB/DB 5-8 160 9 37 Issiah Taylor TE/DE 6-2 210 12 43 Braden Sartor TE/DL 5-11 165 10 44 Jayvion Johnson RB/LB 5-10 175 11 50 Max Lazarra OL/LB 5-11 200 9 51 LaShawn Burchett OL/DL 5-11 200 10 52 Damian Westbrook OL/DL 5-11 195 12 53 Jordan Lawrence OL/LB 5-11 200 10 54 Julian Parker OL/DL 6-1 270 12 55 LaDarion Prophet OL/DL 5-10 230 12 56 Zack Prill OL/DL 5-10 220 12 57 Kaden Reiman OL/DL 6-0 260 11 58 James Peugeot OL/DL 5-10 215 10 59 Tamarious Parker OL/DL 5-10 220 10 60 Taezhon Alexander OL/DL 6-2 250 10 65 Donte' Waddington-Jones OL/DL 6-2 270 10 66 Brycen Ridgeway OL/DL 5-9 250 10 67 Jackson Ward OL/DL 5-9 175 11 71 Jose Aguilar OL/DL 5-9 205 10 72 James Fox OL/DL 6-1 285 10 74 Rayce Klein OL/DL 6-0 220 11 76 Isaiah Voelzke OL/DL 5-10 220 10 77 Demarion Sharp-James OL/DL 6-0 325 11 78 Kamron Delpercio OL/DL 5-7 195 11 79 Mekhi Brown OL/DL 5-10 300 12 81 Jyrell Johnson WR/DB 5-9 140 11 82 Spencer Bahnsen WR/DB 5-8 105 10 85 Dre' Campbell WR/DB 5-10 150 9 88 Zander Johnson WR/LB 6-2 195 10