PERRYSBURG — Perrysburg senior midfielder Trey Haney scored a three-goal hat trick to lead the Yellow Jackets to an 11-5 Northern Lakes League boys lacrosse victory over Findlay at Steinecker Stadium Tuesday.

The Yellow Jackets, 6-4 overall, are unbeaten in the NLL at 5-0 and have clinched at least a share of their fourth straight league championship. Perrysburg can win the title outright with a win at Clay’s Memorial Stadium next week.

Perrysburg’s seven seniors, who were celebrated on Senior Night Tuesday, can claim to be league champions all four years of their high school careers, including two who plan to continue playing at the collegiate level.

“I’ve always experienced us winning it, and being able to contribute more since my freshman year, it’s just so amazing. I’m so grateful,” senior midfielder and faceoff specialist Alexander Birch said.

Senior Alexander Scarborough, who was the winning goalie Tuesday, added, “It feels amazing, honestly, to be a part of something like that. It’s an accomplishment.”

The other five seniors are Haney, midfielders Trevor Evanski and Samuel Evans, midfielder/attack Caden Yarnell, and defenseman/long stick midfielder Taylor Kregel.

“Day-in and day-out these are the kids who are coming in, working, and laying the groundwork of the direction this program is going,” Perrysburg coach Baily Weatherwax said. “It’s exciting to see them fully come through.

“Most of them I saw from their freshman year on up, so it’s awesome to see them blossom to where they are.”

Birch plans to continue his collegiate career at Trine University in Angola, Indiana. In the win over Findlay, Birch and junior midfielder Zachary Schroeder won 12-of-19 draws, and for the season Birch has won 77.3% of draws.

It is kind of like the very early days of basketball where there was a jump ball after every basket, and when you control possession, you control the game.

“He’s extremely important because possessions win games, so the more we can have the ball on offense the more opportunities we get to put them in the back of the net,” Weatherwax said.

“He’s been dominant. He came into this year just absolutely explosive. Something was lit inside of him and that’s exciting to see.”

In Wednesday’s win, Birch even scored. He won the draw, them zoomed up the middle through Findlay’s defense for a score, his only one of the game, giving the Jackets a 7-3 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

A little earlier, after winning the draw, he handed off to junior midfielder Grandin LeBoutillier, who immediately drove through the Trojans’ defense for a score, giving Perrysburg a 6-2 lead 19 seconds after the faceoff.

Birch says it is a job he takes seriously.

“It’s a big responsibility,” Birch said. “I mean, it’s the whole weight of just keeping possession of the ball is yours all the time. You’ve just got to go in there with confidence. You can’t really doubt yourself because if you doubt yourself you are going to basically psych yourself out.”

Scarborough, who will play college lacrosse at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan, shares goalie duties with standout junior Nathan Ettore. Since it was Senior Night, the Findlay game was Scarborough’s to win.

“Day-in and day-out these kids are coming into work, especially between the pipes,” Weatherwax said. “I mean, there is a battle every day in practice. They get their share of reps and they are both so impressive. I think Alex has blossomed into his own, and putting him between the pipes, we are not really worried about what is going to happen.”

Most goalies will tell you that is not an easy position to play, especially when peppered by little hard white balls with only limited protection, like shoulder pads, a mask, and a bigger net. Plus, shutouts in lacrosse are extremely rare.

“It takes a lot of confidence,” Scarborough said. “You have to be able to push past mistakes and just keep your head up and keep going no matter what happens.”

Scarborough may have been the difference between winning and losing against Findlay because Perrysburg only outshot the Trojans 32-27, including 21-17 in shots on goal, so Scarborough’s 12 saves were huge in helping the Jackets win by six goals.

Both Birch and Scarborough say the Perrysburg program is the reason they are going to get a chance to play collegiate lacrosse.

“It’s helped so much,” Birch said. “My entire growth as a player has stemmed from playing for Perrysburg. The coaches have always pushed for me to be a better person. I owe pretty much my whole career to my coaches.”

Scarborough added, “It has just helped me improve my game a lot, given me looks, and overall improved my confidence in the sport.”

Weatherwax believes both can do well if they maintain their work ethic.

“I think if they continue with the mindset they are going into they are going to do fantastic things,” Weatherwax said.

There are other seniors, like Haney, who could play college lacrosse, but Haney is planning to study nursing at Bowling Green State University, and the other seniors have their own future aspirations, too.

Birch only wishes he could trade places with his younger brother, freshman defenseman Benjamin Birch, because with his knowledge now he would have a “better perspective” of the game. Benjamin, who will likely glean knowledge from Alex, is already on the varsity roster.

Perrysburg’s future is in good hands, too, as all the other scoring Tuesday was by underclassmen. LeBoutillier, freshman attack Liam Thompson, and freshman attack Mitchell McKay had two goals and one assist each, and Schroeder scored once.

Findlay, which dropped to 7-6 overall and 2-3 in the NLL, could be a threat to the Jackets winning their fifth straight title next year because they did not start a single senior.

Junior attack Nathan Marchal led the Trojans by scoring his own hat trick, junior midfielder Ben Mueller and senior midfielder Jackson Lane, a non-starter, scored one goal apiece, while junior attack Cole Kirian dished out two assists. Junior goalie Jude Brasfield had 10 saves.