09/14/2026
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PUPS BACK HOME: McKinley welcomes Perry with Federal League lead, record chases and playoff points building
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McKinley (3-1, 1-0 Federal League) vs. Perry (2-2, 0-1)
Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 — 7 p.m. — Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium
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CANTON (by Bad Spike)— Four weeks into the season, Canton McKinley has already seen a little of everything.
A season-opening shutout. A road test against one of Ohio's premier programs. Two straight games in which the Bulldogs put an opponent under a running clock. And now comes the part of the schedule where every Friday night can help determine who wears the Federal League crown.
The Bulldogs — or the “Pups,” as generations of McKinley fans have affectionately called them — return to Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium Friday night to face Perry in the 26th meeting between the programs.
McKinley enters at 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Federal League following a 48-14 pounding of GlenOak. Perry is 2-2 and 0-1, having lost a defensive battle to Lake, 15-9, in its league opener.
And while the calendar says Week 5, there is already plenty at stake: a league race beginning to take shape, McKinley's climb in the Division I Region 1 computer points, two Bulldogs moving rapidly through the school record book — and a McKinley program sitting on 894 victories in its remarkable football history.
McKinley has found another gear
The Pups' season has developed rapidly:
Warren G. Harding — W, 33-0
St. Edward — L, 22-8
Sandusky — W, 53-7
GlenOak — W, 48-14
That is 142 points scored and only 43 allowed, an average score of 35.5-10.8.
More strikingly, McKinley has scored 101 points in its last two games.
The GlenOak performance was probably the Bulldogs' most complete offensive showing of the season. According to statistics supplied by McKinley assistant coach Jason Blackiston, McKinley generated 468 yards on just 38 offensive plays, averaged 8.8 yards per rushing attempt and completed 13 of 14 passes. The Bulldogs converted six of seven third downs while holding GlenOak to six first downs.
The game was essentially decided before halftime.
McKinley led 21-0 after the first quarter and 41-7 at halftime, triggering a running clock to begin the second half.
The 48 points were the second-most McKinley has scored against GlenOak, one shy of the 49-7 victory in 2005.
Now the question becomes whether that offensive surge carries over against a Perry defense that has shown it can be formidable.
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Perry has gone from 83-7 to two straight losses
Perry's first two games could hardly have gone better.
The Panthers opened by beating Canton Central Catholic 42-7, then shut out St. Vincent-St. Mary 41-0.
That meant Perry was 2-0 and had outscored its opponents 83-7.
Then came a dramatic reversal.
Warren Harding went into Perry and won 34-7, and Lake followed by winning 15-9 at Wakefield Stadium. Perry now enters Canton having lost two straight and having scored only 16 points in those two games. Perry's official early-season results confirm the 42-7 and 41-0 starts followed by the Harding defeat.
But the Lake loss should not be confused with Perry playing poorly defensively.
Josh Weir of the Canton Repository reported a game dominated for long stretches by defense. Perry actually led 9-7 entering the fourth quarter after Jonathan Lemon's 5-yard touchdown run. Lake finally went ahead when Ty DeGeorge turned a short receiver screen into a 42-yard touchdown, then added the two-point conversion for the final 15-9 margin.
Perry still had an opportunity to win, advancing to the Lake 11 late in the fourth quarter before the Blue Streaks stopped the Panthers on fourth down with 2:25 remaining.
That makes Perry dangerous despite the 2-2 record. This isn't a team McKinley can simply evaluate by its last two final scores.
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A series that has caused McKinley some headaches
Perry has indeed been one of those Federal League opponents that has periodically made life uncomfortable for McKinley.
But lately, the Bulldogs have controlled the matchup.
McKinley beat Perry 38-7 in Canton in 2024 and followed that with a 28-18 victory at Perry in 2025.
Friday will be meeting No. 26.
And there is a bigger league context. McKinley has now won seven consecutive Federal League games dating to the beginning of its unbeaten 6-0 championship run in 2025. After beating GlenOak, McKinley is 111-27 (.804) in Federal League games since joining the league football schedule in 2004.
Friday offers the Pups a chance to make it eight straight.
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Federal League race after Week 4
Green joined McKinley and Lake at 1-0 by beating Hoover 24-20, while Jackson improved to 2-2 with a 44-37 nonleague win at Warren Harding.
That sets up an interesting Week 5:
Jackson at Green
Perry at McKinley
GlenOak at Lake
Louisville at Hoover
Jackson-Green is the other league game with obvious implications. Louisville-Hoover is nonleague.
For McKinley, though, the equation is uncomplicated: beat Perry, move to 2-0 in the league and force everybody else to continue chasing the defending champion.
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McKinley Record Watch: Hill and West on the move
There may be almost as much activity in McKinley's record book Friday as on the scoreboard.
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Darius Hill
Senior receiver Darius Hill now has:
91 career receptions
1,365 career receiving yards
14 career touchdown receptions
Hill added four receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown against GlenOak, and his numbers have moved him into rare territory. Blackiston's GlenOak statistics confirm the four catches, 88 yards and touchdown in Friday's victory.
He currently stands:
No. 2 in career receptions, behind Keith Quincy — 107
No. 3 in career receiving yards, behind Keith Quincy — 1,805 and Reggie Corner — 1,444
Tied for No. 4 in career TD receptions with 14, three behind Corner's record of 17.
That means one particularly productive Friday night could produce another piece of McKinley history.
Hill needs only 80 yards against Perry to move past Corner into second place in career receiving yardage.
He needs 17 more receptions to surpass Quincy's 107 and take possession of the career receptions record.
And three touchdown catches would tie Corner's career record of 17.
The receiving-yardage milestone is clearly the one immediately within striking distance.
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Kyelin West
Junior running back Kyelin West is beginning a different sort of climb.
West erupted against GlenOak for 142 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 14 carries, averaging 10.1 yards per attempt. He also caught a 51-yard touchdown pass, giving him four touchdowns and 193 yards from scrimmage that night.
That brings West to 234 rushing yards in 2026 and a verified 1,738 career rushing yards.
The next round number is a big one:
262 yards to 2,000.
Then things get crowded quickly.
West needs 293 yards to pass John Colceri's 2,030 career total. Another 478 yards would put West at 2,216 and carry him through a cluster of Bulldog greats and into McKinley's career Top 10.
And here's what makes that chase particularly intriguing:
West is still a junior.
Hill is attacking some of McKinley's oldest and most prestigious receiving marks during his final season. West may be beginning a chase that stretches through the remainder of 2026 and an entire senior season.
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CROOK JOINS THE RECORD WATCH
Quarterback Braylon Crook added his name to McKinley’s record watch with an exceptional performance in the 48-14 win over GlenOak. Crook threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, completing 13 of 14 passes for 92.9 percent. That places his 266 yards 11th on McKinley’s single-game passing list, but the accuracy of the performance stands out even more: no other quarterback on McKinley’s 200-yard passing-game list has completed a higher percentage of his passes. Crook is also completing 63.3 percent for the season (38-of-60) through four games. He has not yet reached the 100-attempt minimum required for McKinley’s single-season completion-percentage rankings, but that number bears watching — if maintained once he qualifies, 63.3 percent would currently rank fourth in program history. With Darius Hill climbing the career receiving lists and Kyelin West closing on 2,000 career rushing yards, Crook gives McKinley a third developing individual record-book storyline to follow as the Bulldogs prepare for Perry.
•••(See ranking charts in the responses below)***
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McKinley suddenly has multiple record-book stories worth checking every Friday night.
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894 and counting: America's winningest programs
McKinley's win over GlenOak also moved one of the oldest counters in high school football:
CANTON McKINLEY — 894 WINS
Using the historical totals in our preseason national study, the Pups entered 2026 at 891 victories and No. 11 on our expanded list of America's winningest programs.
Four weeks later, the race is moving.
Several of those storied programs had notable results this weekend.
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Valdosta, Georgia, the leader on our preseason graphic with 971 victories, remained unbeaten by crushing KIPP Atlanta Collegiate 58-18. That moves Valdosta to 4-0 and 975 victories using our historical baseline.
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Massillon, which began with 968, improved to 4-0 by shutting out Canisius, New York, 42-0. That puts the Tigers at 972 victories on our count — still three behind Valdosta.
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Fort Thomas Highlands beat a strong Boyle County team 41-21, improving to 3-1. That raises Highlands from 953 preseason victories to 956.
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Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, stayed perfect with a 48-14 victory over Milton, moving to 3-0 and, using our preseason total of 912, 915 all-time victories.
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Muskegon, Michigan, finally broke through after an 0-2 start, defeating River Rouge 21-14. The Big Reds move to 911 victories on our running count.
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Easton, Pennsylvania, went the other direction. Parkland beat Easton 44-14, leaving the Red Rovers at 1-2 and 904 victories based on our 903 preseason figure.
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Steubenville remains perfect. Big Red beat Cardinal Mooney 21-16 to improve to 4-0, taking its total from 883 to 887 victories.
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And Ansonia, Connecticut, finally began its season, edging Seymour 6-0 in a highly unusual finish. That makes Ansonia 1-0 and raises its total from 883 to 884 on our baseline.
Louisville Male did not play this weekend and remains 2-1. Some late scores for Mayfield, Highland Park and Haynesville were still not reliably reflected as finals in the indexed sources checked. Male's next game is the huge Louisville rivalry meeting with Trinity.
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894 victories means win No. 900 is only six away.
McKinley has six regular-season games remaining.
So, mathematically, No. 900 can happen this regular season.
What to watch Friday
The most interesting matchup may be McKinley's increasingly explosive offense against a Perry team that just held Lake to 15 points.
Braylon Crook comes off a 13-for-14, 266-yard, three-touchdown, zero-interception performance against GlenOak. West is healthy and coming off his biggest rushing game of the year. Hill is threatening the record book. Derrick Gordon III caught all five passes thrown his way against GlenOak. Legacy Lee and DeMarco Richardson Jr. give Crook additional targets.
Perry, meanwhile, has Jonathan Lemon and demonstrated against Lake that it can grind through a defensive football game and still be in position to win in the fourth quarter.
The thing McKinley cannot carry forward from GlenOak is 10 penalties for 100 yards. Against GlenOak, McKinley was so dominant that it didn't matter. Against a better opponent in a closer game, it could.
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Everything else is trending in McKinley's direction.
The Pups are 3-1.
They've won seven straight Federal League games.
They're No. 6 in Division I, Region 1 in Joe Eitel's unofficial computer rankings.
They have scored 101 points in two weeks.
Hill is chasing three career receiving records.
West is closing on 2,000 career rushing yards.
And one of the winningest programs ever to play high school football now stands at:
894 wins — and counting.
Friday night, Perry comes to Canton.
For the defending Federal League champions, the next part of the chase begins at 7 p.m. at Tom Benson
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Tickets for Perry at McKinley
Fans planning to attend Friday night’s Perry-McKinley game can purchase tickets through the Canton City School District online ticketing page, which uses HomeTown Ticketing for McKinley home events. Home-event tickets go on sale one week before the event. Varsity tickets are $10, reserved seats are $11, and student tickets are $5. Credit/debit cards and cash can also be used at the gate, although the district encourages fans to buy online in advance.
Fans who prefer to purchase in person or need help with online ticketing can visit the Canton Memorial Field House ticket office, 1815 Harrison Ave. NW, on school days from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The athletics/ticket office phone number is 330-438-2741.
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Sources/thanks: McKinley statistics supplied by assistant coach Jason Blackiston; Perry-Lake reporting by Josh Weir, Canton Repository/Friday Night Ohio; Division I Region 1 computer rankings courtesy of Joe Eitel/JoeEitel.com; historical McKinley records from the Bowersox/Stevenson McKinley Football record.
