Perkins bounces back quickly in rout

NORWALK — First and foremost, it was time to move on. There will be plenty to nitpick after the fact, the Perkins football team needed to move past last week's 15-14 loss at Edison. The Pirates did that and then some, as the No. 2-ranked team in the Division IV Associated Press poll outgained host Norwalk 581-47 in total yards in a 49-0 win on Friday at Contractors Stadium. Perkins improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the SBC Lake, while the Truckers fell to 2-6 (0-2). "Absolutely, that's what you want to do," Perkins head coach Jalen Santoro said. "You have a loss like last week, the big thing is to come back out with a good week of practice that we did. "We had to get that taste out of our mouths. We wanted to come out and fire and execute, play fast — and that's what we did." The Pirates scored three times in the first quarter and twice in the second quarter to remove any doubt early. Isaac Bunts started his big night with a 1-yard touchdown run to cap a 6-play, 82-yard drive that saw him also pick up a 53-yard gain. He broke the record for career rushing yards at Perkins on the drive, and later tied the program record for touchdowns. The Pirates' second possession saw Sam Schweinfurth connect with Braylon Collier four times for 62 yards, the last a 10-yard TD pass. Danny Bugha's extra point gave his team a 13-0 lead at the 4:37 mark of the opening quarter. After a quick three-and-out by the Truckers, Perkins got a 33-yard TD pass from Schweinfurth to Blake Parker with 22 seconds left in the quarter for a 20-0 lead. Bunts then capped a 9-play, 74-yard scoring drive with a 13-yard TD run at the 6:05 mark of the second. Bunts raced 62 yards on the first play of the ensuing Perkins possession to the Norwalk 17, where Schweinfurth found Collier on the next play for a 17-yard TD pass to cap a 2-play, 83-yard drive for a 34-0 lead with 3:33 left in the half. Perkins moved 80 yards in nine plays to open the second half, with Schweinfurth finding Collier for a 36-yard TD pass at the 4:28 mark of the third quarter. For good measure, Collier corralled a high snap, and was still able to outrun three Norwalk defenders for two points and a 42-0 lead. The final score of the night game on a 9-yard TD run by Levi Jackson with 5:42 left in the game. Bunts ran 14 times for 240 yards and 2 TDs, while Schweinfurth was 19-of-22 passing for 285 yards and 4 TDs. Collier caught 11 of those passes for 170 yards and 3 TDs. On the downside, the Pirates were also flagged 14 times for 161 penalty yards. "There's definitely things we can nitpick … a lot of penalties, too many," Santoro said. "Just a lot of little things that we'll see when we watch this one back. Trying to get where we want to go, you have to be on point with everything, big or small, wins or losses. "You have to be harder on your team in wins than you are in losses, so I thought we played a good game — but there are things to fix." Norwalk has now gone four-plus weeks without scoring. "That's a great team that plays fast," Norwalk head coach Keith Mora said of the Pirates." They are big and strong up front, and Collier is every bit as advertised. When he touches the ball, he can go, and go fast. "It's a real lethal weapon when you can get him and Bunts going together. For us, it's just a matter of getting back to what we want to be and trying to grow within that. Perkins will host Sandusky (5-3, 3-0) in a key SBC Lake Division and rivalry game next week. "It's a game where obviously both sides are very familiar with each other, and they're right across the street," Santoro said. "They are playing well and have a good team, so we'll have to be ready to go." Norwalk visits Tiffin Columbian (3-5, 0-2) next week. "We kind of stopped with some of the extra things we're trying to do in the past and just got back to our roots of what we are trying to be," Mora said. "We saw some good things and were able to move the ball at times, but we're depleted right now with young guys on the field due to injury and sickness." Perkins 20 14 8 7 — 49 Norwalk 0 0 0 0 — 0 PER — Isaac Bunts 1 run (kick blocked) PER — Braylon Collier 10 pass from Sam Schweinfurth (Danny Bugha kick) PER — Blake Parker 33 pass from Schweinfurth (Bugha kick) PER — Bunts 13 run (Bugha kick) PER — Collier 21 pass from Schweinfurth (Bugha kick) PER — Collier 36 pass from Schweinfurth (Collier run) PER — Levi Jackson 9 run (Bugha kick)