Steubenville ends Perry’s season in regional final

NILES » The Perry Pirates have lost two games in their last two seasons. Each loss came to the same team, and each loss ended Perry’s season.

Steubenville piled up 237 rushing yards, controlled the line of scrimmage on defense and succeeded in a handful of game-altering situations to defeat Perry, 33-21, in a Division IV regional final on Nov. 17 at Niles McKinley.

Steubenville limited the Pirates to minus-12 rushing yards and harassed quarterback Kolston Brewster on every dropback.

“They were just bringing the blitz,” Brewster said. “My line did the best they could. They were just a good football team and we’ve just got to remember the good memories.”

Brewster completed 17 of 33 passes for 226 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Steubenville’s front seven was in the Perry backfield seemingly at the instant each play was snapped.

Steubenville’s Jacob Bernard carried 39 times for 181 yards. The Big Red rushing game controlled tempo and converted in almost every third-andshort scenario to sustain drives, and momentum.

Perry coach Matt Rosati knew his team’s fortunes hinged on how the Pirates performed at the line of scrimmage — especially on offense.

“We had our chances,” Rosati said. “We really did. When it came down to it, their defensive front was more than we could handle. That was the difference in the football game.”

Perry appeared to seize control when Jaylen Anderson returned the opening kickoff 81 yards for a score that was negated by a penalty. After Steubenville forced the Pirates to punt, Javon Davis dropped a screen pass to Johnathon Blackmon for a 52yard touchdown and a 7-0 Steubenville lead. The Big Red went ahead 13-0 in the first quarter on Davis’ 27-yard pass to Alec Taylor.

Tyler Horvath’s 2-yard score put Perry on the scoreboard before Steubenville went ahead, 26-7. Davis completed another touchdown pass to Taylor, and Eric Lulla pick-sixed Brewster.

Erik Somogyi intercepted Davis and returned to the Steubenville 10, where Anderson caught a touchdown from Brewster to pull the Pirates within 26-14 at halftime.

Steubenville and Perry traded touchdowns out of halftime, as the Pirates scored on a 53yard pass from Brewster to Josh Martin. In the fourth quarter, Cam Rogers forced a Steubenville fumble near midfield before a 44-yard pass to Jacob Allen moved Perry into the red zone.

Perry had a chance to cut Steubenville’s lead to a score. On fourth and four at the 10, the Big Red notched a its most crucial sack of Brewster to maintain its 12-point lead.

The loss to Steubenville concludes the high school careers of Brewster, Martin, Hayden Makad, Tyler Horvath and a group of seniors who led the program to 25 wins in their final two seasons.

“They set the path for us and we have some pretty good guys coming through to follow,” Rosati said. “I couldn’t be more proud of those guys and what they’ve accomplished.”

Brewster threw for more than 3,000 yards and 37 touchdowns in his senior season. He is a finalist for the News-Herald’s Tony Fisher Award.

“I feel like I left a good mark on this program,” Brewster said. “It was a pleasure playing for the Pirates. It’s weird that it’s finally here, it’s over, but these past two years have been incredible and I’m going to miss it.”

As Rosati and the Pirates look to make a third straight regional final run in 2018, they’ll draw confidence from an improved effort against a Steubenville team that rolled Perry, 51-27, last season.

Then, they’ll hope to execute on fourth downs near the goal line or avoid a costly turnover.

“That’s part of life and we’ll learn from it,” Rosati said. “We’ve got most of these guys coming back and we’ll learn from it. We’ll see them again, we’re not going to give up.”