Lake County Sentinel
Perry Rolls Past Kenston, 45-12
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(CHAGRIN FALLS, OH) - Perry started fast and never let up – offensively or defensively – racing out to a 14-point lead within the first six minutes of the game on its way to a 45-12 victory over Kenston at Kenston Bomber Stadium.
Both teams were coming off week one victories. But the Bombers struggled from the very beginning and were unable to keep up with the Pirates.
Perry (2-0) has all the ingredients of a solid football team looking to make a deep run in the Division V playoffs. The Pirates have offensive weapons galore, led by senior quarterback Nate Trefzer. Defensively, the Pirates swarm to the ball and their defensive backs stick close to opposing wide receivers.
Kenston (1-1), on the other hand, graduated a number of seniors from last season’s playoff team and have numerous underclassmen at skill positions and on both the offensive and defensive lines. And the Bombers came into the game without their starting quarterback, sophomore Ethan Lawrence who suffered a broken collarbone in the Bombers 26-9 week one victory over Solon. His replacement, sophomore Michael Cieslak, struggled in his varsity starting debut.
Trefzger has a boatload of weapons at his disposal, both in the passing and running game, and head coach Bob Gecewich is not afraid to use them all.
“Nate owns the offensive,” Gecewich points out. “Our offense is designed around the quarterback, and the difference between a young quarterback and now being veteran is his confidence in the playcalling and execution. We have full faith in him. He did a great job tonight.”
After holding Kenston to a three and out on the game’s first possession, Perry took over at its own 33. On the second play of the drive, Trefzger hit senior wide receiver Chase Sivon on a 38-yard pass to get the Pirates deep into Kenston territory. Two plays later, Trefzger did it again, this time hitting a wide open Brody Krantz for a touchdown pass of 24 yards.
It was a wide receiver option that got the Pirates their second touchdown of the first quarter. Junior wide receiver Brayden Martin took a handoff from Trefzger and with the Bomber defense thinking run, hit senior Greg Mechenbier in stride for a 58-yard touchdown.
Meanwhile, Perry’s defense was stuffing the Bombers’ running attack, limiting them to 12 yards and no first downs on their first three possessions and getting the ball back to the offense quickly.
“Our defense always plays with a high level of intensity and knows their assignments,” Gecewich notes. “They were well-prepared, especially playing against an unknown at quarterback (for Kenston).”
Kenston got the first break of the game when a botched snap on a Perry punt attempt resulted in an incomplete pass. The Bombers started the drive at the Pirates’ 25 yard line. But two rushing plays resulted in negative yardage. Cieslak completed his first pass of the night on third down for 8 yards to give Kenston a chance on fourth down. But again, the Pirates defense stood up Kenston running back Reed Jackson at the line of scrimmage, resulting in a turnover on downs as the first quarter was drawing to a close.
On the first play of the second quarter, senior Nick Gustin, dropping back into coverage from his defensive line position, intercepted a Cieslak pass and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 Perry lead.
Three minutes later, senior running back Carter Hopkins took a handoff, broke through a couple of Kenston would-be tacklers and raced 80 yards for a touchdown.
Later in the second quarter, Trefzger took it in from one yard after setting up the touchdown with a 47-yard pass to wide receiver Traxton Richards.
Junior Colton Crissinger put the topper on the first half with a 24-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter, giving Perry a 38-0 halftime lead.
Trefzger threw for one touchdown and nearly 150 yards, and ran for another, along with a third passing score on the wide receiver option.
“My mindset tonight and every night is I have all of these weapons all around on the field,” Trefzger says. “My job is to get those guys the ball and let them do their work.”
It was a tough first half for Cieslak and the rest of the Kenston offense. He threw two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and completed only two passes. On other pass plays, he was forced to scramble away from oncoming Perry defenders. Rushing-wise, the Bombers longest run from scrimmage was 4 yards.
With a running clock, Perry picked up right where they left off at the start of the third quarter as Trefzger found Brady Krantz for a 41-yard touchdown pass. After the first series of the second half, Gecewich pulled his starters.
Kenston got on the scoreboard soon thereafter. Senior Eric Lemons set Kenston up by returning the ensuing kickoff 57 yards, and junior running back Jackson Ehrenbeit ran 23 yards for the Bombers first score of the night.
And on their final drive, Cieslak led the Bombers 91 yards, picking up 20 yards himself on a scramble. Ehrenbeit came through again, this time going 30 yards, including through several Perry defenders, for his second touchdown of the night.
Despite the lopsided score, Kenston Head Coach Jeff Grubich praised his team’s effort.
“We had a solid week of practice,” he pointed out. “The kids put in a lot of work. In the second half, we had success on offense and defense. We’ll build off of this effort.”
Specifically, Grubich cited in-game improvement by quarterback Cieslak.
“We put a lot on a sophomore quarterback who had never started a game before,” Grubich notes. “He had four days to prepare to play against a real good, well-coached football team.
“Michale settled in during the second half, and it showed,” Grubich added.
Next week, Kenston travels to Notre Dame Cathedral Latin for a matchup with the Lions. Perry returns home for its annual battle with fellow Lake County and state power Kirtland.
“It’s a huge game,” Gecewich says. “We know exactly what to expect from them. They are who they are because of who they are and what they do. Kirtland is the standard-bearer for small-school football in Ohio.”
The Pirates will look to break a two-game losing streak to Kirtland. Trefzger is eager to turn the table on their county and Chagrin Valley Conference rivals.
“We’re going to work hard this week and be ready for them next Friday,” he says.
POSTED 08/29/2026 00:13
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Perry QB Nate Trefzger prepares to throw during the Pirates 45-12 win over Kenston. Photo by Ken Krizner
