Perkins wins big after slow start

PERKINS TWP. — The offense was slow to start. Limited to less than 200 yards and 14 points last week, Perkins relied on its defense and special teams early against Toledo Scott on Friday. The Pirates got two non-offensive touchdowns to jump ahead early, then got the offense going in a 55-6 non-league win over Scott. "This felt good," Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said. "It was good to get back on the right track. We have a couple big weeks coming up here. This one we'll celebrate for a hour or two and move on to the next." Perkins (1-1) tallied five interceptions — two by Connor Smith and one each by Kaden Legando, Braxden Martin and Fred Taylor — and a blocked punt. "They're out there doing their thing, playing assignment football," Santoro said. "That's huge when you can steal some possessions and do something you preach. We understood what we had to do defensively and be in the right spots. It's stuff we've worked on. It's nice to see on a Friday night in a game." The Pirates got on the board first from its defense. After giving up a first down by pass interference, Perkins got a stop on an interception by Smith. He returned the pick 26 yards for the touchdown. The extra point by Danny Buga made it 7-0 with 9:11 left in the first quarter. The Pirates were wobbly offensively, but again used a big play defensively to get on the board. The Pirates forced the Bulldogs (0-2) into a punt, but it was blocked. Christian James-Smith fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Grant Hickman made the extra point to push the Perkins lead to 14-0. Scott struck offensively on its next drive. After a first down, quarterback Rolandis Russell hit Braylon Ballard in stride for what became a 63-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion run was no good, but the Bulldogs were within 14-6. Perkins was again propelled by its defense on its next scoring drive. Martin intercepted a pass late in the first half and returned it 25 yards to the Scott 7. On the next play, Bryce Davie scored on a pass from Sam Schweinfurth. The extra point by Buga made it 21-6, a lead the Pirates took into halftime. After mustering just 46 yards in the first half, Perkins had more than that on its opening possession of the second half. Schweinfurth hit Davie for 10 yards on the first play of the third quarter. After a short pass between the two, Schweinfurth swung a pass out to Blake Parker. He broke through tackles and used his speed to accelerate. After another broken tackle, Parker was off to the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown. Hickman made it 28-6 just 31 seconds into the second half. The defense leading to offense kept going for Perkins. After Scott picked up a first down, Legando hauled in an interception for the Pirates' defense. On the next play, Schweinfurth connected with Smith for a 51-yard touchdown strike. Buga's point after pushed the Perkins lead to 35-6 with 9:01 left in third quarter. "He's done a good job all camp and did a good job in the game," said Santoro of Smith, a junior for the Pirates. "He's a guy where it's his turn now. He has to take his game to the next level." Martin added a one-yard touchdown run to put the game in the running clock mode. It came one play after Schweinfurth tossed a 52-yard strike to Parker. Hickman pushed the advantage to 42-6 with 4:24 remaining in the third. "It was a lot of mental mistakes and stuff that is controllable that we have to get better at that we weren't great at in the first half," Santoro said. "We have a lot of a lot of new guys in across the board — offensively, defensively, all across the field." Jojo Moore added a nine-yard touchdown run and Rajon Randleman scored from 11 yards out in the fourth quarter to wrap up the scoring for Perkins. Perkins finished with 89 yards rushing on 22 attempts, one week after rushing for negative-20 yards in a 17-14 loss to Clear Fork. The Pirates haven't gelled yet on the offensive line, missing seniors Eli Sanchez and Joey Zeigler, among others, against Scott. "We've had some opportunities to get the run game going," Santoro said. "Some of the plays we scored on out of half were actually run calls. We just threw to the backside. Some of the stuff was there. "We could've run the ball out of the gate, but we're working through some things up front. We want to be healthy here soon." Scott 0 6 0 0 — 6Perkins 7 14 21 13 — 55 P — Connor Smith 27 interception return (Danny Buga kick)P — Christian James-Smith 0 punt return (Grant Hickman kick)S — Braylon Ballard 63 pass from Rolandis Russell (run failed)P — Bryce Davie 7 pass from Sam Schweinfurth (Buga kick)P — Blake Parker 43 pass from Schweinfurth (Hickman kick)P — Smith 51 pass from Schweinfurth (Buga kick)P — Braxden Martin 1 run (Hickman kick)P — Jojo Moore 9 run (Buga kick)P — Rajon Randleman 11 run (no kick)