TIFFIN — A bitter wintry mix of rain and snow settled on the shoulder pads of Ontario football players late Friday night.
It didn’t keep the Warriors from sharing hugs, tears and embracing one another after the conclusion of their winningest season in the history of the school’s football program.
After knocking off second-seeded Shelby last week, Ontario went toe-to-toe Friday with No. 1-seed Sandusky Perkins in a Division IV regional final at Tiffin’s Frost-Kalnow Stadium.
Perkins’ running back Isaac Bunts scored on an 8-yard run with only 39 seconds remaining to give the Pirates a 28-21 win and a trip to the Final Four.
Gallery: Perkins 28, Ontario 21
Bunts, who shared the Northwest District Offensive Player of the Year award with Ontario’s Bodpegn Miller and Shelby’s Brayden DeVito, scored all four Perkins’ touchdowns.
Despite the game’s outcome, Ontario coach Aaron Eckert believes this year’s team has raised the bar for future Warrior squads.
“I hope they have set the path going forward for the Ontario football program,” he said. “It’s a tough thing to play football — especially at Ontario.
“I hope the guys that are underclassmen see that and the guys we have coming up buy into what we’re trying to do … the standard of our program is to compete in big games.”
Ontario overcomes 14-0 deficit
After Ontario fumbled on the first play of its opening drive, Bunts scored on a 5-yard TD blast to give Perkins a 7-0 lead. About two minutes later, the 5-foot-9, 200-pound wrecking ball hit paydirt again, this time from 10 yards.
“When you give a really good team 14 points three minutes into the game, it’s hard to come back from that,” Eckert said.
With 45 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Miller countered with a 10-yard touchdown jaunt to give the Warriors their first points of the game. Neither team scored in the second period, and the Warriors trailed 14-7 at the half.
Bunts checked a hat trick off his list with 8:31 showing in the third quarter when he reeled off a 37-yard score, his longest TD bolt of the night.
Seconds into the game’s final quarter, Miller, an Ohio State commit, scored from a yard out to trim the Pirates’ lead to eight. But Perkins blocked the ensuing point after attempt to keep a 21-13 lead.
Then Kooper Kilgore happened.
Ontario’s freshman kicker, Kilgore executed a perfectly-placed onside kick to give the Warriors a shot to tie the game. He took care of that himself.
Kilgore sped 18-yards past the Pirates’ defense for a touchdown with 8:45 remaining. Miller called his own number on the two-point try to tie the game at 21-21.
Eckert said Kilgore has excelled this season at the lower levels and has contributed meaningful playing time for the Warriors.
“Hats off to him for coming into the ballgame and just doing a great job when we called his number,” the coach said.
Warriors were a play or two away
After the Pirates went three-and-out, Ontario found itself with a chance to claim the game — but needed to drive 95 yards after a stellar Perkins’ punt.
Faced with fourth-and-1 from their own 12, the Warriors pushed the pile and fought for a first down. A few plays later, Ontario had to punt on fourth-and-6 — giving Perkins its shot.
The Pirates took over at their own 40 with 3:14 remaining and put together a methodical drive — capped by a game-winning Bunts touchdown run with only 39 seconds on the clock.
Perkins sealed the deal when it forced an Ontario fumble a few plays later.
“I’m just so proud of the kids,” Eckert said of Ontario’s historic season. “There’s a lot of teams that fold when they’re down 14-0 three minutes into the game.
“I think you saw our character from a program standpoint. Just the guys, their grit, just believe in it and have a confidence of ‘We can do this.’
“We were a play or two away and ultimately, hats off to them (Perkins). They won the football game. But I’m so proud of the way they’ve handled themselves all season, through the ups-and-downs that we’ve had and just the way they carry themselves as men.”
The Pirates advance to the Division IV Final Four next Friday night where they’ll face two-time defending state champion Cleveland Glenville (11-3).
Glenville defeated Perry 12-6 in walk-off fashion Friday during overtime of the Division IV, Region 13 football final.
(Below are photos of the Ontario High School marching band performing during halftime Friday at Frost-Kalnow Stadium.)
