HEYEN: Yeah, that Perkins win had it all

PERKINS TWP. — I needed to get up to the press box. At halftime and then multiple times during the second half Friday night, I resolved that when Elyria Catholic started to pull away, I'd get upstairs early to start working ahead with our print deadline fast approaching. Perkins had other ideas. When Logan Lesch threw a 69-yard touchdown to Braylon Collier less than a minute into the second half, it seemed less likely the game would get out of hand. Then there was the 61-yard TD to Weston Sturzinger, the 34-yard deflected pass that fell to Brady Legando for another score, and overtime. Perkins' former baseball coach Chris Walton, who helps run logistics at PHS football games, joked to me at one point: "Good thing you don't have a deadline to worry about." There wasn't any way to respond but to laugh and smile. Perkins was on its way to a statement-making, 42-41 overtime win over Elyria Catholic. A season ago, the Pirates (2-0) had also put up 42 points against the Panthers (1-1), but they had allowed 68. Sportswriters enjoy having competitive games to cover, but they also want games that make hitting deadline easier. A shootout with lots of passing is not one of those types of games. All week, when people had asked me about the Perkins matchup, I'd told them that I was worried it'd be a long game. So much for the reverse jinx. It even kicked off a minute early following Senior Night festivities, and in this business, every minute counts. Speaking of Senior Night — that's normally an easy angle for a story, picking out a couple seniors who made big plays to provide themselves a memorable night. By night's end, those walks across the field for seniors and their families felt like they'd taken place a whole week prior. This game had everything. Elyria Catholic opened the proceedings with a 79-yard passing touchdown connection. A Pirates defender was all over receiver Mason Haliburton, but QB Brady Cook somehow threaded the needle anyway. Perkins senior running back Dom Zahel, previously of Bellevue, threw a 56-yard touchdown to Drake Venerucci. I mean, seriously, there was a double pass touchdown thrown by a running back and it was just a footnote. There was a blocked extra point by Perkins' Jayden Rowe — talk about a play that really mattered in a one-point outcome. The Pirates got a piece of a field goal attempt later on, too, after Elyria Catholic used a timeout even as its kicker was lining up and making his initial attempt that wouldn't count. Perkins appeared to lose much of its momentum in the span of a few third-quarter plays, when Lesch tried to sneak for the game-tying touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, was stuffed, and then Elyria Catholic running back Levi Ellis took an ensuing carry 77 yards to paydirt for a 35-21 lead. Even after the Pirates rallied, the Panthers appeared to score the go-ahead touchdown late in regulation, but offensive pass interference away from the play negated that. The game-tying touchdown, that 34-yarder from Lesch to Legando, was defended almost perfectly. The only problem was that the Elyria Catholic defender's deflection went up instead of down, and it floated just right so Legando, falling to the turf, could make the catch as his backside hit the paint of the end zone. There were more cramps this time around than during a hotter Week 1, extending the game's length even further. There was just so much action that it made staying hydrated a struggle. Collier cramped for the first time after his 69-yard TD, then kept cramping throughout the game but figured it out enough to catch a key first down in overtime. The numbers were just as eye-popping. Lesch threw for 470 yards on 26-of-38 passing. The junior's four passing scores made him Perkins' career leader in touchdown throws (33), passing 2013 grad Brandon Smith's 31. The Pirates chucked for more than 500 yards as a team Friday night when you add in Zahel's toss. Perkins had four receivers with at least 100 receiving yards — Collier seven for 123 and two TDs, Jayden Rowe eight for 117, Venerucci three for 105 and a score, and Weston Sturzinger two for 100 and a touchdown. For Elyria Catholic, Ellis, an absolute tank wearing No. 44, totaled 26 carries for 186 yards and three touchdowns, including that 77-yarder. Cook threw just in the first half for 244 yards and four touchdowns. It's a cliché to say that someone couldn't have scripted this game, but in this case, it's also true. Perkins had a fumble recovery in the first half that didn't count because it was ruled an incomplete pass, then two plays later, Elyria Catholic had what appeared to be an incomplete pass ruled a fumble, but that time the Panthers fell on it. Jon Normington-Slay, also a standout soccer and track athlete, broke Perkins' kicking points record on his first extra point. That, too, felt like a long time ago by the time the game was over. By that final play, when Sam Sturzinger stood up Ellis at the 1-yard line with help from Weston Sturzinger and Zach Oprzadek, Perkins had almost had 12 men on the field. Ben Meggitt recognized it and sprinted all out to the sideline, where he took a penguin dive out of bounds less than half a second before the football was snapped. Someone would've been laughed out of a writers' room if they suggested the late escape from the 12-men on the field penalty on the game's last play. In the Perkins celebrations, Pirates lineman Mark Cahlik stopped to extend a hand to Ellis, the Elyria Catholic star who had just been tackled to end the game. Cahlik helped Ellis to his feet. By that point, making deadline was a near impossibility. And after I hammered out my story and helped Norwalk Reflector sports editor Mark Hazelwood and our design team assemble the rest of the section, only a little late, I couldn't stop thinking about the insanity I had just witnessed. But through all of the replaying the game in my head, it took me until Saturday afternoon to remember what may have been my favorite moment of the night. At the start of overtime, there's a coin toss to determine which team gets the ball first in the alternating format, along with which end of the field OT will take place at. Each team sent one player to the center of the field for the toss, Lesch for Perkins and Ellis for Elyria Catholic. After the toss and decisions were made and before either captain headed to their respective sideline, they embraced in a multi-second hug. Whatever was said between the two stars in that moment was something only they'll remember. But it really made obvious what was happening there at Perkins High School on Friday night. Two of the best players on the field, still with a win within their grasp, hugged each other. They knew what everyone else in the stadium knew, too. This game was just that incredible. Perkins quarterback Logan Lesch (5) celebrates his rushing touchdown in overtime. Provided photo/WYATT GILBERT