Perkins rolls to 4th straight Lake crown

TIFFIN — It wasn't an ideal start for Perkins, but it was certainly an ideal ending. Tiffin Columbian came out swinging Friday at Frost-Kalnow Stadium. The Pirates trailed after one quarter, but then Perkins got the run game going and the Tornadoes didn't have an answer. Perkins scored 37 straight points to grab a 43-14 victory, giving the Pirates their fourth straight Sandusky Bay Conference Lake title. "They've been playing some good football and it was tough sledding in that first quarter, but then when we got the run game going it helps the defense because it gives them a chance to rest, so they went out there and got after their offense," Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said. "Fourth straight league title and a lot of these guys were new starters this year. We went through some adversity early on, but just hats off to these guys and these seniors for trusting the process. It wasn't the results we wanted early on, but they stuck with it and kept working." Tc started well as Logan Gooding hit Johnny Bremyer in stride for a 69-yard touchdown just two minutes into the game. But Perkins (7-3, 4-0 SBC Lake) responded right away as Sam Schweinfurth hit Bryce Davie for an 11-yard touchdown, but the extra point was missed. After a fumble, TC's Masen Seitz plunged into the end zone for a two-yard score as TC (5-5, 3-1) led 14-6 at the end of one. Then Perkins started to hit some big runs as Levi Jackson ran in a 43-yard touchdown and JoJo Moore added a 73-yard score to give Perkins a 20-14 halftime advantage. Moore finished the game with 15 carries for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson carried 19 times for 113 yards and a score. Because the Pirates dominated up front, the run game was working and TC couldn't get the run game going, so the Pirates pinned their ears back and got after Gooding. Perkins kicker Grant Hickman drilled a 21-yard field goal, Schweinfurth hit Kaden Legando for a 28-yard touchdown pass and then Legando picked off Gooding on the next play and took it to the house for a 25-yard score. Moore capped the scoring with a one-yard run. Perkins doubled up Columbian in total yards (482 to 241) and Schweinfurth threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns. The Pirates will host a home playoff game next week. "Ultimately, they're pretty chaotic on defense, so we were able to run the football," Santoro said. "It's one of those things where they'd guess right sometimes and get you, but then we'd get them other times and we made them pay. "JoJo had some big runs there in the second quarter and so did Levi. We got the score where we wanted it to and then the defense stood up and made some plays."