No. 2 Perkins hosts surging Sandusky in rivalry game

Pride, playoff positioning and a conference championship are on the line when Sandusky travels a few miles south Friday night to challenge Perkins. The crosstown rivals are the last two unbeaten teams in the SBC Lake Division. Sandusky is 3-0 and can finish with a perfect league record with an upset win. Perkins, 2-0, closes the regular season with a home Lake game against Columbian. The Blue Streaks began the season with three straight losses, but have won five in a row since senior quarterback Jason Henlon returned after minor knee surgery. "The kids have earned their way to this point," Sandusky coach Jamaris Brown said. "They've done things behind the scenes to make sure the season got turned around. It's a great feeling as a first-year head coach to have helped them get here." A win for the Blue Streaks would snap a four-game losing streak to the Pirates, secure a division title and likely clinch a first-round Division II Region 6 playoff game. "As long as they believe they can beat this team we will be fine," Brown said. "Perkins has been rolling, but I said before the season that if we get rolling, look out. Right now we are rolling." Sandusky has averaged 34 points per game during its winning streak. Henlon has thrown for 960 yards and eight touchdowns while senior Makyveon Lately has boosted the running game with 481 yards and seven TDs on the ground. Dennarius Walk leads the defense with 88 tackles. Quen Tavion Fisher has eight quarterback sacks. "I'm proud of him. We didn't really know where he could play; he's one of those tweeners," Brown said. "He might be a little too slow to play linebacker and not big enough to play defensive line. But he has a lot of heart and will play hard no matter what." Perkins hopes to check the first of many boxes with a win, which would clinch no worse than a tie for the Lake title. The Pirates are shooting for their third straight division championship. A win also would keep Perkins in line for the No. 1 seed in Division IV Region 14. The Pirates are 7-1 overall and ranked No. 2 in the state in D-IV. Perkins coach Jalen Santoro is 4-0 versus Sandusky after taking over the program in 2020. The Streaks' last win in the series was a 49-14 rout in 2019. Since then, the Pirates have won by scores of 21-14, 37-7, 21-17 and 38-24. Santoro has seen a different Sandusky team in the last several weeks. "They're playing with a little more energy since Jay has been back at quarterback," he said. "They make plays and have a lot of good athletes." Perkins has leaned on senior running back Isaac Bunts all season. Bunts became the Pirates' all-time leading career rusher last week and has 3,614 career yards and counting. Bunts has carried 177 times for for 1,425 yards and 20 touchdowns this season behind a big, mobile line. He ran for 297 yards last year against the Blue Streaks. "They're willing to do everything they can to block for him," Brown said. "It's a tough job to get past (the line) and it's even tougher to get him down. "It's kind of personal for me from a defensive perspective. I was D-coordinator last year and he flat-out embarrassed me as a coach, breaking records and stuff." Junior quarterback Sam Schweinfurth has added 1,411 yards passing with 17 touchdowns and just four interceptions in his first year as a starter. "He does what we need him to do and he's putting his own spin on the offense," Santoro said. "Each game he's getting better." Each team has a game-breaking senior wide receiver. Sandusky's Amir Aaron has caught 34 passes for 722 yards and six touchdowns. He also has four kick return TDs. Perkins' Braylon Collier has 37 receptions for 565 yards and 10 touchdowns. Perkins has won 12 straight Lake games, beginning with a 21-17 win at Sandusky on October 22, 2021. The Pirates' last Lake loss was a 52-24 decision at Columbian in Week 9 in 2021. "This is a rivalry," Santoro said. "They're five minutes down the road and that adds fuel to the fire. And there's a league championship on top of it."