Perkins, Smith wrapping up college careers

AMES, Iowa — Senior punter Tyler Perkins has a light day in his final home appearance at Jack Trice Stadium. The Iowa State University standout punted once for 44 yards in a 38-14 win over Kansas in front of 58,275 on Nov. 22. A 2022 St. Paul High School graduate, Perkins was honored prior to the game with his senior classmates. Also the placeholder on extra points and field goal attempts, Perkins was greeted by his parents, Pete and Jennifer, and his high school football head coach, John Livengood, and SPH assistant coach Tom Baker. For the season, Perkins has punted 36 times for a 42.8-yard average with a season-long of 65 yards to go with 17 touchbacks. He is among 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award, given annually to the nation's top punter. The Cyclones (7-4, 4-4) close out the regular season at noon Saturday against Oklahoma State (1-10, 0-8) in Stillwater, Okla. The bowl projections for the Cyclones remain all over the place entering the season finale. They include the Alamo, Liberty, Independence, and Texas bowls as possible postseason sites. Smith adds nine points BOCA RATON — Garrison Smith kicked six extra points and a 49-yard field goal in Florida Atlantic's 48-45 loss to visiting UConn in an American Athletic Conference game on Nov. 22 at Schellenberger Field. Smith, a 2021 Norwalk High School graduate, has kicked 15 of 18 field goals and has made all 36 extra point attempts for 81 points scored this season. After a redshirt season at Ohio State, Smith has kicked for McNeese State, Akron, and FAU for his career. Smith will appear in his final collegiate game this coming Saturday when the Owls (4-7, 3-4) host East Carolina (7-4, 5-2) at noon. ONU loses bowl heartbreaker CANTON — Ohio Northern rallied from 17 points down but fell 32-31 on a score and 2-point conversion with two seconds left to Wabash (Ind.) in the ForeverLawn Bowl on Nov. 22 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. The Polar Bears (8-3) took the lead on a 28-yard run by senior Louis Blasiole (Mantua Crestwood) with 12:39 left in the game. Wabash (9-2) then drove 69 yards in 13 plays and scored on a 23-yard pass on a fourth-and-8 with two seconds left to pull within 31-30, then added the 2-point conversion on a pop pass over the middle to take a 32-31 lead. The game was the first of two on Nov. 22 as part of the Open Dorse Bowl Series, which featured the highest-ranked team to not make the NCAA Division III playoffs from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the North Coast Athletic Conference, the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Westminster (Pa.) (8-3) from the PAC beat Mount Saint Joseph from the HCAC, 40-21, in the Extra Points Bowl. Led by head coach Andy Fries, a 2005 Norwalk graduate, Ohio Northern was the highest-ranked team in the series. The Bears finished the regular season ranked No. 36 in the NCAA's NPI standings, while Wabash was ranked No. 46. ONU made its fifth postseason appearance in program history and its first since 2015. The Polar Bears finished second in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 7-1 league mark after being picked to finish fifth in the league's preseason coaches poll. Fries wrapped up his second season as head coach at ONU with a 13-8 record, good for a winning percentage of .619.