Perkins comes up short to Galion in bizarre finish

GALION — For a few chaotic seconds, it looked as if Braxden Miller had literally snatched victory from the hands of defeat. Perkins had the football on the Galion 33-yard line with four seconds to play, trailing 17-14 in a Division IV regional semifinal Friday at Heise Park. Senior quarterback Sam Schweinfurth launched one into the end zone and Galion's Kane Hay intercepted the pass, setting off a huge celebration on the Galion sideline. But wait. A few seconds later, Martin was standing in the end zone with the football and a standing-room only crowd began debating the outcome. What happened? "Honestly, they picked it off in the end zone," Martin said. "He ran it out and I was shaking my hands like, 'Give me the ball.' He threw it to me and I went to the end zone. I thought it was a touchdown. What did they call? I don't know what they called." The officials huddled and ruled that Perkins would get another shot from the 33, but not a game-winning touchdown. Perkins coach Jalen Santoro said he was told that an inadvertent whistle had stopped play. "They said they blew the whistle so we had to replay the down," Santoro said. "Very bizarre." On a video of the play shot from behind the end zone, a whistle can be clearly heard after interception. Schweinfurth's next heave was knocked down by Jamesen Glew, officially giving the Tigers a 17-14 win, ending Perkins' season. "At the end of the day, we didn't get the job done," Martin said. "It shouldn't have to come down to that. I think our guys gave it our all, but they're a great program. I got a lot respect for them. "I'm excited to see what these guys have left in the tank for next year." Perkins had something left in the tank to make the final seconds relevant. After Galion's Braylen Beachy kicked a 21-yard field goal to give the second-seeded Tigers a 17-7 lead with 1:43 to play, Perkins scored in 22 seconds. Schweinfurth hit Connor Smith for a 28-yard gain before connected with Kaden Legando for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 1:21 to play. "We showed what we probably could've done most of the game," Santoro said. "We started executing a little too late. Hard-fought game and we came up a little short." Perkins almost recovered an onside kick, then took two timeouts to force a Galion punt. Starting at his own 5-yard line with 57 seconds to play, Schweinfurth went to work. He hit Blake Parker for 20 yards and dumped one off to Martin for 16 yards. Passes to Legando covered 13 and 14 yards with a sack in between. An 8-yard gain to Legando on fourth-and-5 set up the strange ending. The Pirates, the No. 6 seed in Region 14, saw their eight-game winning streak snapped and finished the season 9-4. Perkins, the defending state runner-up, lost games by 3, 6, 7 and 3 points. Galion improved to 11-1 and will get a rematch with conference rival Shelby in the regional championship game next week in Mansfield. Galion and Perkins both missed early field goals — Perkins had its try blocked — before the Pirates scored the only touchdown in a first half dominated by defense. After forcing a three-and-out, Perkins took over at the Galion 42 with 1:19 on the second quarter clock. After an incomplete pass, Schweinfurth took his time and found Legando in the right flat for a 42-yard touchdown play to give the Pirates some momentum. Galion answered by scoring on its first two possessions in the second half. Shifty quarterback Ayden Schmidt threw to Hay in the left flat for a 16-yard touchdown catch and run. Schmidt completed 15 of 21 passes for 242 yards and added 33 yards on the ground. Perkins punted on its next possession and Galion drove 73 yards on 10 plays late in the third quarter, scoring when Schmidt fumbled into the end zone on a 10-yard run. The ball was recovered by the Tigers' Kurt Hay. Perkins stayed close when Legando recovered a fumble at the Perkins 4-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. But Perkins went three-and-out, giving Galion good field position and leading the Beachy's field goal. "We didn't quit but we didn't play a great game," Santoro said. "They made plays when they had to. It was combination of us doing some uncharacteristic things and them coming out and doing a really good job. "Two good defenses. Our defense did a good enough job to win the game, but we couldn't get a rhythm on offense." Galion outgained Perkins 340-323 and dominated time of possession. Neither team rushed for 100 yards. Perhaps the stat of the game: Galion was 8 for 13 on third down conversions. Perkins was 3 for 11. Schweinfurth, under pressure from Galion's pass rush most of the game, completed 18 of 32 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns. Legando caught five passes for 108 yards and both Perkins scores. The game marked the end of the line for a senior class that was part of a program that has gone 45-9 the last four years. "These seniors did a heckuva job," Santoro said. "Obviously they had a great career. It'll be a tough pill to swallow right now when you felt like we let that one slip." Perkins 0 7 0 7 — 14Galion 0 0 14 3 — 17 P — Kaden Legando 42 pass from Sam Schweinfurth (Grant Hickman kick)G — Kane Hay 14 pass from Ayden Schmidt (Braylen Beachy kick)G — Kurt Hay 1 fumble recovery (Beachy kick)G — Beachy 21 field goalP — Legando 30 pass from Schweinfurth (Hickman kick)