Pirates chase first goal in Lake title clash

PERKINS TWP. — Now that it's here, there's no reason to play the "one week at a time" card. This is the week. This is the time. From the moment 2023 football schedules were finalized, Perkins and Tiffin Columbian saw their Week 10 showdown looming as the likely SBC Lake Division title game. "We've been waiting for this game," Perkins senior quarterback Logan Lesch said. "These are the games that you dream about. It's a college stadium, everyone in both towns is gonna be there. Probably my most memorable game of my senior year, hopefully." The Division IV No. 2 Pirates (8-0, 3-0) and D-III No. 8 Tornadoes (8-1, 3-0) will square off at Frost-Kalnow Stadium in Tiffin on Friday night. One team will end the night as a league champion. The other will be missing the one accomplishment that can turn a strong regular season into a historic one. "There's no reason to be nervous, no reason to be timid," Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said. "There's a reason to be excited for the game, excited because you work your butt off for moments like this." They played what amounted to the league's deciding game last fall, too, but that was in Week 9, a 31-14 Perkins triumph. The Pirates still had to take care of business in Week 10 against Sandusky to claim the outright crown. This fall, the schedule broke in a way that left all the smaller steps before the biggest one. Perkins and Columbian both cruised past Clyde and Norwalk. They both found ways to win competitive contests with Sandusky. And so they'll both be there on Friday in Tiffin, playing one of the biggest games they've ever played. "Obviously you don't look ahead, but at the end of the day, it wasn't like they didn't know about it," Santoro said. "Yeah we're saying you've got to focus on where you are and what week you're in, but the end prize was if you take care of business now you get to play Tiffin for a league title." These squads have gotten here in similar ways. They've got star senior quarterbacks — Akron commit Brayden Roggow for Columbian (157 for 230, 2,094 yards, 20 TDs) and scholarship-level Logan Lesch for Perkins (107-157, 1906 yards, 22 TDs). "Roggow is a really good quarterback," Santoro said. "He gets the ball out on time. He puts the ball in a good spot for his receivers to make plays after the catch." Tornadoes running back Damien Brockington (1,543 yards) leads the Lake in rushing. Pirates running back Isaac Bunts (1,065) is second. "Brockington is just a really good running back," Santoro said. "He sees the field well. He's elusive, hard to bring down. Once he's in the open field, he's got breakaway speed." The receiving corps are deep and talented, too. "From a skill player perspective, there's a lot of similarities," Santoro said. "There might be a game where they run for 200 or 300 yards, there might be a game where they throw for 300 yards. We're very similar in that aspect. Both have very potent offenses." The challenge for both defenses will be this: slow down offenses that can beat you in almost any way they choose. "They have probably the best offense we've faced the entire year," Perkins junior linebacker Mikey Young said. "... It's all about studying film. Our coaches each week put in a great game plan for us. It's about Monday through Thursday executing that game plan in practice just to put yourself in a good situation on Friday." Santoro expects both teams to throw wrinkles onto the field that they've been saving for a big game. The Pirates broke out their diamond receiver arrangement in Week 9 last year and scored a touchdown out of what then was a new look for Perkins. "They're a good coaching staff, so they're not numb to the fact that they probably have something in their back pocket that they're gonna show this week," Santoro said. "We've just got to be ready for anything and everything." Perkins is coming off a win over an impressive Sandusky team that had things all knotted up at halftime. Two things went all right for the Pirates in the second half. First, Bunts was basically unstoppable en route to 297 rushing yards, third-most in a game in program history behind two Collin Nemitz outings. "It's really incredible to see his numbers, but just going back and looking at this winter, there's no one more deserving of his season," Lesch said. "Honestly, I've never seen anyone work as hard as him." Bunts' rushing was more than enough because Perkins' defense shut down the Blue Streaks after halftime, not allowing a single point. "It just all starts with energy and effort," Young said. "That's the most important thing. As a defense, no one can play perfect, but when all 11 guys on defense are running to the ball, that's the difference between a 60-yard touchdown and just a gain of 15." Columbian's earlier win over Sandusky required even more dramatics. The Tornadoes trailed by a score at halftime, then gave up the first touchdown of the second half. But they intercepted two passes, got four TDs from Brockington, had Roggow throw two long scores and then benefited from a wild punt play that extended what turned into their game-winning possession. "It's a microcosm of life when you talk about a high school football career," Columbian coach Judd Lutz said. "It's a great group of guys, young men in a lot of ways. They've done a ton of work to be in a position like this." Those clutch victories brought Perkins and Columbian to Week 10 in full control of what they've been chasing all season. Win, and you're a league champion. For the Pirates, it's their first goal. They've got bigger ones for the postseason, but as Young pointed out that none of their aspirations have been achieved yet. From the moment last fall's schedule came out, Perkins has believed it would play for a league title in Week 10 in Tiffin. All that's left is to win it. "Everybody knew it was a possibility," Santoro said. "Everyone knew at the end of the year this could be a thing. There was a lot of talk up until this point, and now it's here, and now it's just about going to get the thing done."