Edison falls in second round

PERKINS TWP. — As Edison's Clint Finnen burst through a hole and hit the open field, Perkins' Lamar Everett was five yards behind and five more yards toward the center of the field. But Everett hit the turbo button. About 60 yards later, Everett dragged Finnen down from behind. A few plays later, Weston Sturzinger snagged an interception, and instead of a tie game in the second quarter, Perkins had snuffed out all Edison energy. No. 9-seed Perkins (9-3) didn't look back from there, scoring three more times and winning 28-0 over 16-seed Edison (6-6) on Friday night. Collin Nemitz ran for 210 yards and scored twice while Jayden Rowe caught seven passes for 130 yards and the other two touchdowns from Logan Lesch. With the win, Perkins advanced to the regional semifinal round as one of the last 16 Division IV teams alive in the state. They'll take on Port Clinton on Friday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at a site to be determined. The Pirates won that matchup earlier this season, 21-20. This is the first year Perkins has won multiple playoff games since its 1999 state championship team, which rattled off five playoff wins to finish the season 15-0. Ironically, that was the first year after the OHSAA expanded the playoffs to eight teams, and this is the first year the playoffs expanded to 16 teams per region. The loss ended Edison's season with a 6-6 record with 15 seniors playing their final game, but the Chargers' 2021 legacy will be long-lasting. They'll forever be the first 16-seed to upset a 1-seed in Ohio high school football playoff history. "I'm just proud of the way our guys fought," Edison coach Jim Hall said. "I know that the 16-seed is something people will point to, and that's great. But the bottom line is our guys responded to adversity and continued to believe in each other and believe in themselves, and we were able to do something special. "(The seniors) carried on the tradition. That's one thing I talked to a few people during the week and they said they're playing like some of the better ones that we've had. Playing physical, playing fast. They did everything we asked them to do and gave us all their effort. You can't be more thankful." Neither team found its offensive footing right away as both squads went three-and-out to start the game. But late in the first quarter, Perkins' defense stopped Edison on a fourth-and-1 run to jumpstart the Pirates. That set up a 42-yard connection from Lesch to Rowe down to the 4-yard line, and two plays later, Nemitz pounded it in from a yard out. After a couple more punts, Edison almost got that score back. That's when Finnen broke through the line of scrimmage, found space and nearly ran for a 78-yard TD. But Everett, who ran a 12.14-second 100-meter dash in the spring, caught up. Two plays after getting the ball back on the Sturzinger interception, Nemitz ran for 80 yards from his own 5 to the Edison 15. And two plays after that, Lesch found Rowe on a slant route for a 12-yard touchdown. Jonathan Normington-Slay made both of his extra points in the first half for a 14-0 edge at the break. Rowe caught two touchdowns in the playoff opener at Lutheran West, and the 6-foot-4 junior continued to cause problems against Edison. Perkins scored again to end the third quarter after a one-handed interception by Sam Oddo got the ball back. It was nearly Nemitz on a 40-yard run, but a holding call brought it back. So instead, a few plays later, it was a lob to the right corner of the end zone from Lesch, and Rowe went up and high-pointed it for a 32-yard score. "They've got size, and the QB was putting it in good spots, and they were athletic," Hall said. "They were going up and getting it. They played the ball really well." Nemitz finished off the scoring with a three-yard TD run after a Venerucci catch brought it to the 3-yard line. Perkins 7 7 7 7 — 28Edison 0 0 0 0 — 0 P — Collin Nemitz 1 run (Jon Normington-Slay kick)P — Jayden Rowe 12 pass from Logan Lesch (Normington-Slay kick)P — Rowe 32 pass from Lesch (Normington-Slay kick)P — Nemitz 3 run (Normington-Slay kick)