FOSTORIA — Perrysburg football saw its season end during a Division I regional semifinal loss to Powell Olentangy Liberty, 14-3, Friday at Fostoria Memorial Stadium.
Perrysburg coach Dirk Conner thought it might be a defensive battle, but not to this extreme, especially when the Yellow Jackets put up better offensive numbers, just not on the scoreboard.
“I thought we could put some more points up on the board. I didn’t expect it to be 52-45 in November OHSAA, week 13 football — probably not,” Conner said.
Liberty advances to the regional finals wiht an 8-5 record, while Perrysburg finishes 11-2.
“What a great group of kids these kids are and what a pleasure it was to coach them this season. They pushed this program forward and they played the way we wanted them to continue to play,” Perrysburg coach Dirk Conner said.
“They established the groundwork that is going to push us forward. They are a tremendous group of young men, I love them, and what a pleasure it was to be their football coach.
“I just can’t sum up what these kids did,” Conner continued. “Honestly, it’s been a once in a lifetime great group of seniors and hats off to their families and the work that they put in. I’m proud of them and they will forever be a group that speaks volumes.”
Perrysburg’s only scoring was a 34-yard field goal by place kicker A.J. Bibb with 21 seconds remaining in the first half.
Perrysburg outgained Liberty 223-201 in total offensive yards and the Yellow Jackets controlled possession of the ball by a 28:23 to 19:20 count. Perrysburg had a 15-11 advantage in first downs.
Liberty scored on a 68-yard pass from quarterback Andrew Leonard to Evan Nelson with 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter, and on a 25-yard pass from Leonard to Alexander Okuley with 2:27 remaining in the game.
Perrysburg senior quarterback T.J. Takats completed 12-of-25 passes for 140 yards with one interception.
Perrysburg senior running back Connor Waldendzek ran for 45 yards on 15 carries, Nick Oros had 20 yards rushing on five carries and Takats ran for 14 yards on 11 carries.
Gavin Fenneken caught four passes for 65 yards, Jack Borer caught four passes for 45 yards, and Andrew Hunt had two catches for 23 yards.
Defensively, Walendzak had two sacks and Avery Hunt had one sack for the Yellow Jackets.
For Liberty, Leonard completed 13 of 15 passes for 159 yards, including two to Nelson for 75 yards, six to Okuley for 52 yards, three to Wilson Roberts for 17 yards and two to Tobias Gage for 16 yards.
Ryan Schapker ran for 68 yards on 17 carries to lead Liberty’s rushing attack and defensively, Okuley had the Patriots’ interception.
