PERRYSBURG – Perrysburg has seen a steady improvement throughout its season.It has recovered from
glaring mishaps and penalties in a Week 1 loss to Toledo Whitmer and is in the Division II playoffs for the
second straight year.The Yellow Jackets, 8-2 overall, are in the postseason for the third time in school
history.Perrysburg, the No. 6 seed in Region 4, travels to Akron Ellet (10-0) on Friday. Kickoff is at 7:30
p.m."It’s one of those things that we kind of expected if we got on a roll … that we’d be in pretty
good shape to get into the playoffs," said Perrysburg head coach Matt Kregel.The ‘Jackets, who continue
to play better each week, according to Kregel, are looking for their first-ever playoff win."To be
where we’re at, the kids are excited. … And we’re pretty confident we can get a win and move on. It’s
still a one week at a time thing, but the kids are excited and pretty confident right now," Kregel
said.Since the season-opening loss Perrysburg holds an 8-1 record, which includes a current seven-game
winning streak. Its only other loss was a Week 3 loss to Toledo Central Catholic.The ‘Jackets enter the
playoffs on the heels of claiming their first Northern Lakes League championship since 2006."I told
someone this weekend that it feels like we’re in Week 6," Kregel said. "It doesn’t feel like we’re
through the regular season. It’s exciting that every week they’re getting a little bit
better."Perrysburg has battled adversity all season, especially when it comes to injuries.Mark Delas,
Kadin Llewellyn, Matt Kaczinski, JP Newton and Quinn Thomas are just a few key players that have missed time
due to injury.But even without those players at certain times, Perrysburg has not slowed down and it looks
to continue that trend Friday."The thing we have stressed to the kids is, I don’t think we have to do
anything outside of our comfort zone," Kregel said. "If we go out and do what we have done for the
last several weeks … I don’t think we have to do anything huge. … We have so many things that we’re
doing well right now, I just think we’ve just got to go out and do what we’ve been doing."The ‘Jackets
have put up huge numbers all year, averaging 37.6 points per game. Part of their success is balance in the
passing and running games.Perrysburg has ran for 2,447 yards and passed for 1,710 yards.Quarterback Gus
Dimmerling, a running back last year, has shined all season. The junior is 100-for-178 passing for 1,464
yards and 13 touchdowns with only three interceptions.He also has 1,076 yards rushing and 13 scores. Delas,
a tailback, has contributed with 548 yards and 12 touchdowns."That’s kind of what we’re going to stress
this week, is balance,” Kregel said. ”We’re going to work hard on throwing the ball on time out of breaks
on offense so when the passing games presents itself, we can complete passes."We’ve gotten better all
year on the offensive line, so if we continue to bang it inside and run for yards, and then with Gus inside
and outside, it doesn’t matter. He’s gained yards all season."Defensively, Perrysburg needs to be
stingy up front as it encounters an offensive scheme much like its own.Ellet runs a two-back system and
possesses a mobile quarterback with the ability to make would-be tacklers miss, according to Kregel. Ellet
is averaging 35.9 points per game.The ‘Jackets have been stellar on defense all season recording 18 sacks,
101 tackles for loss, and 19 interceptions.Linebacker Matt Mesker leads Perrysburg with 94 tackles with 17
for a loss, while Chaz Westfall has 70 tackles and 12 for a loss.Llewellyn and Warner lead the ‘Jackets with
four sacks each, while Seth Durham has eight interceptions."The defense kind of goes hand-in-hand with
what we do offensively," Kregel said. "When we have the ability to up-tempo on offense and get
(the opponent) tired and get them a little bit flustered, and then our defense comes in and hits them with a
couple three-and-outs. That really puts a team in a bad situation."