Kenston Football made a valiant effort at a come-from-behind victory on the road against a very tough foe in Perry High School but ultimately fell 35-30. The game was unfortunately tainted by a controversial call that swung the tide of the game in the third quarter.
The Bombers stalled on the first offensive drive of the game and the Pirates took advantage with a 33-yard TD pass to put them up 7-0 early.
The two teams traded fruitless drives but Kenston became the beneficiary of a long snap over the head of the Perry punter and gained possession on the Perry 31.
That was the break the Bomber offense needed to get on track. On third down, quarterback Jack Bryner threw a 31-yard TD pass to wide receiver Khalil Hinton who made a play on the ball reminiscent of a tip drill and took it all the way in for the score.
Unfortunately, Perry struck right back with a long TD pass play of its own to make it 14-7 heading into the second quarter.
The teams traded punts before a sustained drive by Perry culminated in another score, giving them the 21-7 lead into the half.
On Perry's opening drive of the second half, defensive back A.J. Giancola picked off a Pirate pass and ran it all the way back for a touchdown to narrow the score at 21-14.
On the culminating Perry possession, the Kenston defense locked up the Perry offense for what was thought to be a stellar three-and-out and tide-turning punt block. However, the officials controversially ruled that Kenston had achieved possession and fumbled the ball after the block.
Instant replay, a luxury unavailable during the OHSAA regular season, revealed no such possession and Perry put together yet another long drive ending in seven points to take a 28-14 lead.
After another stalled Kenston drive, senior punter Grady Kucharson nailed a beautiful 43-yard punt that was downed at the Perry one-yard line setting up another key defensive play for Kenston.
On the last play of the third quarter, Hinton swallowed up a Perry runner in the end zone with linebackers Colin Weiland and Jake Rostocil teaming up for the safety gang tackle. The big stop made it 28-16 Perry with one period to play.
In the fourth, Bryner hit Hinton again for a touchdown from 20 yards out, making it 28-23. But Perry kept plugging away and added another score to give them the 35-23 lead.
Kenston refused to go away though, with Bryner leading an impressive scoring drive, throwing for 75 yards including a 25-yard dime to Max George for his third TD pass of the evening.
After a key defensive stop, the Bombers got the ball back with a chance to snatch victory from defeat with under two minutes to play. The Perry defense ultimately made the necessary stops to end the game though at 35-30.
As heart-breaking an outcome as it was, the Bombers have to be encouraged taking the 2023 State champions to the brink on the road in a renewal of the series last played in 2020.
Bryner finished the game completing 12 of 21 passes for 206 yards and three TDs to no interceptions. Sophomore sensation Ethan Burge was bottled up on the ground, rushing for only 16 yards on 11 carries but caught three passes for 53 yards.
The Bombers were led in the air by Hinton, who not only turned in that big defensive stop, but also snatched three receptions for 79 yards and two TDs .
Several Kenston defenders stood out with double-digit tackles and were led by Weiland who had 15 stops (11 solo), Rostocil, who had 14 tackles including a half-sack, and Dominic Silla who tallied 10 stops including the other half of that sack and two tackles-for-loss.
Defensive linemen Ethan Black (5 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 QB pressure) and Tommy Seifried (5 tackles, 5 QBP, 1 pass-broken-up) also each tormented the Pirate backfield all night.
With the telling barometer game behind them, Kenston will look to get back in the win column next week at home as they host NDCL at Bomber Stadium.
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