Perkins shuts out Norwalk in rout

NORWALK — Another dominant performance by an undefeated Perkins football team was too much for host Norwalk. The Pirates — ranked No. 2 in the Division IV Associated Press state poll — looked like they were on a mission. They never punted once and scored on every offensive possession in a 75-0 win over the Truckers in a Northern Ohio Conference Lake Division game Friday night at Contractors Stadium. Perkins (8-0, 3-0) outgained the Truckers 460-60 in the win. Norwalk (0-8, 0-2) will visit Sandusky (0-8, 0-3) next Friday, which was the immediate focus following Friday's rough loss. "I told them in the locker room, 'We're going to flush this one away as fast as we can," Norwalk head coach Keith Mora said. "Next week, we both go into the game, 0-8. So one of us walks out next Friday with a win, and we're going to put everything we have into this week before that one." Perkins didn't waste any time to start out. After the Pirates forced the Truckers to a three-and-out, Grant Kuhnle found Logan Wadsworth for the 12-yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0 just two minutes into the game. The Pirates forced the Truckers back off the field again, then took advantage of another short field. It wasn't long before Kuhnle found Bryce Davie on the 26-yard screen pass, where he sprinted into the end zone to put Perkins up 14-0. Norwalk continued to struggle on offense. A blown-up punt formation ended with the Truckers smothered into the end zone for a safety. Perkins went back to work with a 16-point lead. Kuhnle topped off the first quarter with a 29-yard TD pass to Kaden Legando and left the Pirates up 22-0 less than eight minutes into the game. The next possession for Norwalk showed some life on offense. The Truckers got all the way to the 49 but ultimately stalled out on a fourth-and-1. The Pirates only needed one run by Connor Smith, who made a 55-yard TD rush on the very next play, to increase the lead to 29-0. The Pirates defense continued to hold the Truckers in check. After they forced another three-and-out, they would start in plus territory again. Kuhnle capped off his night with a 32-yard TD pass to Paul Keys to put them up 36-0 with eight minutes still left in the first half. On the next play, it was Keys this time on defense. He read the route perfectly and took it 27 yards the other way for an interception return TD that added to the lead again, 43-0. The Pirates again intercepted the Truckers on the next possession. It took two quick plays, and on that second play it was Smith achieving his second rush TD of the night. A 29-yard sprint put the Pirates up by 50 with 4:41 left in the first half. The Pirates finished off the first half with one more TD in the final seconds. A quick 4-yard throw by JJ Green to Landon Flores put the Pirates up 57-0 at halftime. Perkins didn't waste any time in the second half before it added to the lead again. The Pirates started with the ball, and Green found Cayden Greenman-Adcock for the 35-yard touchdown pass to put them up 63-0. Perkins continued to dominate on defense and held down the Truckers in the second half. Green got himself a 29-yard TD run to put the Pirates up 69-0 at the end of the third quarter. Green finished off the night with one last TD run from 10 yards out to give Perkins the 75-0 lead with 4:59 left in the game. Mora was disappointed with the results but tried to stay positive in the loss. "I thought it came down to that drive towards the end of the first quarter going into the second quarter," he said. "I thought we sustained the drive pretty well," said Mora. "We put together three consecutive first downs, then came up short on a fourth-and-one. "It showed they were able to spread the ball out and run, and that good things can happen to us. It was something worth building on. That's something we'll continue to talk about and work on going into next week." Lyric Shipp ran 11 times for 20 yards for Norwalk. Austin Gentry was 5-of-11 passing for 22 yards, with Caiden Wilson catching two passes for 20 yards. Through a tough season, Mora highlighted that his players are learning more than just the game but also growing as people and a team. "Our five core values don't change, no matter what the outcome is," he said. "We talk about one core value every single day of the week. That doesn't change when you're losing a game 75-0 or winning a game in the opposite direction of that. We talk about those things every single day. T "Today, our core value is collective responsibility. It takes all of us to be a part of this thing and move our program forward. The result didn't show itself tonight, but I thought our guys did a great job of being good teammates to each other. They picked each other up. They were involved and supportive of each other on the sidelines, and in those types of games, that's what you want to make sure you see, and we saw those things."