CLINTONVILLE — If you ask Peru’s Trent Taylor, the Nighthawks needed to get to blocking. Once that happens, there’s no stopping them.
“Honestly, I think we finally started blocking,” Taylor said. “Once we get our blocking down, we just keep on driving.
“[Jake Frechette] gives us the ball, and it’s not like we just have one person. We’ve got all four of us. Yeah, it definitely makes it easier — if I get covered, we go to Mason [Starke]. If he’s covered, we’ve got Chase [Carpenter]. Then we’ve got Blake [Porter] or Isaiah [Hendrix].”
That’s just the receiving corps. It’s part of a balanced attack that helped Peru (7-0, 6-0 CVAC) defeat AuSable Valley (2-5, 2-4 CVAC), 27-0, Friday in Clintonville.
The Nighthawks were led by Brody Blaise-Smith’s 86 yards and two touchdowns, which were the first two scores of the game.
Frechette added a touchdown in the air to Taylor in the second quarter before rushing for a score in the third. He finished 13-20 for 140 yards, surpassing the 1,000 yard mark in passing yards. He currently stands at 1,125 total yards.
While the offense has been stealing the headlines in recent weeks, the defense has stepped to limit teams’ scoring opportunities. Friday night was its second shutout of the season.
“I’m really proud of our D line,” Peru head coach Ryon O’Connell said. “They’re doing a nice job and our secondary is solid.
“I’m just really happy with the way the kids are performing, and they know there’s a big week coming ahead of us, and just try to get better every week.”
AuSable Valley put up a fight as Deon Lawyer finished with 63 yards on 14 carries to lead the rushing attack for the Patriots.
Defensively for AVCS, they halted Peru on multiple series forcing punts and keeping things interesting as the game wore on. Gradually, the Nighthawks pulled away.
“AuSable’s a really good football team,” O’Connell said. “Their defense is solid. We’ve been watching them all year, and they have a really good defense. We focused on stopping their run game, and I thought we did a decent job on that. Offensively, we hit some good plays.
“I thought we played good football. I mean, it wasn’t flashy, but it was good football.”
The Nighthawks now turn their attention to Saranac (5-2, 5-1 CVAC), which will determine the CVAC regular season champion.
Taylor said it’s a big week for the team as it’s Homecoming and will be Senior Night when the Spartans visit the Apple Bowl, Friday.
“It’s going to be wild,” he said. “It’s a big game and we’re going to be ready to play. We’re going to keep driving and doing the best we can. I’m not ready for this year to end.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., Friday.
—
Peru 27, AuSable Valley 0
PCS 7 13 0 7 — 27
AVCS 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring Summary
First quarter
P- Blaise-Smith 6 run (Garrow kick), 0:44.
Second quarter
P- Blaise-Smith 47 run (Garrow kick), 7:18.
P- Taylor 10 pass from Frechette (kick missed), 0:33.
Fourth quarter
P- Frechette 7 run (Garrow kick), 8:45.
Individual statistics
Rushing
P- Wilkins 4-12; Blaise-Smith 8-86, 2TD; Bridges 8-31; Frechette 7-20, TD; M. Starke 1-4; Carpenter 2-1; #6 3-15; C. Starke 1-(-3). Totals: 34-166, 3TD.
A- Lawyer 14-63; Blaise 5-(-5); Lewallen 2-(-4); Amato 3-5; Pray 1-3; Team 1-(-1); Dashnaw 1-1. Totals: 27-62.
Passing
P- Frechette 13-20-0-140, TD; Taylor 0-1-0-0. Totals: 13-21-0-140.
A- Blaise 2-9-0-25.
Receiving
P- Taylor 4-51, TD; Blaise-Smith 2-3; Carpenter 4-75; M. Starke 2-15; Hendrix 1-(-4).
A- Amato 1-11; Milton 1-14.