Bunts, Pirates' line overpower Blue Streaks

SANDUSKY — Isaac Bunts ran, and ran, and ran his way all the way into the Perkins record books. After 34 carries and 297 rushing yards on Friday night, he etched his name as the third-most single-game ground yards in Pirates history. "He played like a man amongst boys out there tonight," Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said. Bunts and a dominant line performance on both sides turned a tied game at halftime into a 31-14 win for D-IV No. 2 Perkins (8-0, 3-0 SBC Lake) in Week 9 at Sandusky (5-4, 2-2). The Pirates held the Blue Streaks to 12 yards rushing in the second half, counting on two-way linemen Haiden Bollini, Reagan Kaufman and Joey Ziegler to win the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. "It comes from the hard work we do every single day," Bunts said. "Without them, I'm not doing what I'm doing. I think it's the best O-line in the state." The Pirates' victory, coupled with Tiffin Columbian's win in Norwalk, sets up a winner-take-all SBC Lake Division showdown on Oct. 20 at Frost-Kalnow Stadium in Tiffin. "It's exciting," Santoro said. "That's what you work for in the offseason. We all knew it was a possibility it could happen. We had to take care of business. It's something we've been waiting for." For a while, it looked like an upset may have been in the cards. The Blue Streaks, just like in their near-upset of Tiffin Columbian, won the coin toss and deferred. They got a quick stop, with a holding call on a long Bunts run putting Perkins behind the sticks. That set up Sandusky's Dre Campbell to fly through the offensive line on fourth down, dive out to block a punt and dive again to cover up the football at the 8-yard line. The Blue Streaks' first carry into the end zone didn't count due to illegal shift, but then Jamarion Alexander ran it in from 8 yards out and a 6-0 lead after Perkins blocked the extra point. "We put ourselves right where we wanted to be," Sandusky coach Lucas Poggiali said. More offensive holding foiled the next Pirates' drive, when Logan Lesch made an absurd off-balance throw into Braylon Collier's lap down the field that would've been a touchdown. But that, the fourth holding in two drives, again denied Perkins. "We left 17 points on the board with a missed field goal and two plays called back," Santoro said. Sandusky went for fourth-and-seven on a fake punt direct snap to Alexander early in the second quarter, but he only got five yards despite Perkins having just 10 on the field. The Pirates cashed in that time, with a 14-yard catch by Brady Legando on third-and-13 setting up Bunts to race 35 yards up the left sideline for a touchdown and a 7-6 lead on the Noah Normington-Slay point after. Sandusky came right back, with Jason Henlon going over the top to Amir Aaron for a 42-yard gain before Alexander raced 27 yards off left guard to paydirt. The Henlon-Aaron connection added two points for a 14-7 edge. "They've got athletes all over the field, a good O-line, a good D-line," Santoro said. A fourth-down conversion throw to Braylon Collier kept Perkins' next drive going, with a pre-snap motion freeing him up on a comeback route just past the sticks. Lesch lofted a 12-yard touchdown pass to Weston Sturzinger in the back of the end zone, with the kick making it 14-14. That was the score at the half after Perkins broke up a few deep passes on a promising Sandusky drive just before the intermission. "We feel like each week we're getting a little bit closer," Poggiali said. "We have a group of kids who really believe in who we are and believe in what we're about." Despite the tie score, the Pirates felt good about their gameplan. They doubled down on the trench wars in the second half. "It was definitely something different we haven't seen this season," Bunts said. "But our coaches and leaders got us pumped at halftime, and we came out and responded." After 127 yards in the first half, Bunts ran for 170 in the second on 18 of his 34 carries. "All my position coaches have made me love doing that stuff, running through people, breaking tackles," Bunts said. "I've loved it since I started playing football." That included a 53-yard touchdown for a 21-14 lead, then a 6-yard score with some helpful pushing from Bollini and Kaiden Nixon to ice the game. "He's obviously a very physical kid," Santoro said. "Tonight was IB's night. We were able to attack on the ground, win the line of scrimmage, and that correlates to IB's success. The guys up front did a heck of a job." Normington-Slay added a 21-yard field goal in between those Bunts touchdowns to add to the second-half scoring. It was a milestone night for the senior kicker, who is up to 56 made extra points on the season with none missed. That set the new Perkins single-season record, breaking Juan Romero's mark of 54 set in 2000. Normington-Slay also became unofficially the 26th player in OHSAA history to make 55 or more consecutive extra points. That was all gravy on top of a dominant defensive effort that saw those two-way lineman, along with Mikey Young, John McGlashen and more, living in the backfield. Sandusky used halfback runs nine times in the second half and gained seven yards. "They hit some cutbacks earlier in the first half, and we weren't fitting up right," Santoro said. "Overall, we came back and were more physical at the point of attack." It all added up to the regular season date Perkins had circled on the calendar all along. Week 10, at Tiffin Columbian, the SBC Lake title hanging in the balance. Bunts and his leading linemen made sure that the biggest regular season game for the defending champion Pirates would indeed have all its meaning. "That's been our goal to go back-to-back," Bunts said. "That's what we've been shooting for." Perkins 0 14 7 10 — 31 Sandusky 6 8 0 0 — 14 S — Jamarion Alexander 6 run (kick blocked)P — Isaac Bunts 35 run (Noah Normington-Slay kick)S — Alexander 27 run (Amir Aaron pass from Jason Henlon)P — Weston Sturzinger 12 pass from Logan Lesch (Normington-Slay kick)P — Bunts 53 run (Normington-Slay kick)P — Normington-Slay 21 field goalP — Bunts 6 run (Normington-Slay kick)