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The two combined for stellar performances Saturday as the Pirates smacked previously unbeaten North Huron, 40-12, to the delight of a sun-baked homecoming crowd. The win, in the rare, October 90-degree weather, assured Peck (6-0, 7-0) of, at least, a share of the NCTL championship with just a game remaining, in the league, at Owen-Gage (1-5, 1-6) this Friday night.

With North Huron putting all of its focus on stopping Peck's Michael Mann, who has rushed for over 1,300 yards already this season, Hamilton turned in an amazing day. The 5'4", 143 pound sophomore compiled 298 yards of offense and scored four electrifying touchdowns in the victory. He had shown his ability to break plays with long scoring runs scattered throughout the first six games, but nothing like what happened Saturday.

After a bruising, slug-it-out, in the trenches battle for the first 14 minutes, Coach Rob Pouch of the Pirates cut Hamilton loose, and he seized the moment. The two teams went through five punts and a fumble each until Hamilton was unleashed.

The scoreless tie was broken at 9:55 of the second quarter when quarterback Zac Overstreet found Hamilton on a pass play that covered 49 yards.

After North Huron's only threat of the first half was stopped by the Pirate defense on the Peck four, Pouch went back to Mann to slowly push the ball out to mid-field. Hamilton took it from there, breaking loose on a 46 yard TD run and a 12-0 lead.

With just 23 seconds left in the half, Hamilton took the ball and started left, reversed direction, made two jukes in the open field and completed a 77 yard score. Nathan Kreiner's two-point run gave the Pirates a stunning 20-0 lead at the half.

"We knew sometime this year people would be keying on Michael Mann. So, we've been prepping (Hamilton) all season. He has great ability. This game.... he had the opportunity.

Pouch added that he was not going to waiver, sat first, from a game plan that has helped bring his team to this point.

"We wanted to establish the running game and see if (North Huron) could slow Mann down," said Pouch. "From there we made adjustments. We opened up the passing game and used all of our resources."

At least, all of Hamilton's resources.

"Anytime we have the opportunity to open the field up for Donell, we know he has the ability," Pouch remarked.

The Pirates hit quick in the third quarter on a 49 yard TD pass play from Overstreet to junior receiver Billy Burns, who has been wearing a cast and a large pad on one arm since the start of the season. The score made it a 26-0 game.

The Warriors, with the biggest line in the conference, had been unable to run the ball all day against the Pirate defense. So, they went to the airways to try to rally. It worked for awhile.

With 48 seconds left in the third quarter, freshman QB Eric Dhyse found Ed Wisneski on a 20 yard touchdown pass.

A few minutes later, North Huron struck again, this time on 50 yard pass play from Dhyse to Nick Mills. Suddenly, the Warriors were within 14 points.

Just as sudden, Hamilton came to the rescue again. Overstreet flipped a short pass on the near, left sideline, Hamilton reached back to snag it and did the rest on the 82 yard touchdown play. Overstreet ran in the two-pointer.

With the Pirates basically looking to kill the rest of the clock, Mann put on the finishing touches with his 41 yard scoring run in the final six minutes.

While Hamilton finished with 166 yards rushing on eight carries and 132 receiving on two receptions, Mann added to the Pirates' overall rushing total (298) with 133 yards on 29 tries.

The other part of the story for Peck was limiting the Warriors, who have piled up massive amounts of rushing yardage all season, to just 11 net yards on 34 carries. They did have 154 yards through the air, most coming in the fourth quarter.

Pouch praised his defense. "All season our defense has stepped up. But, going into this week, we knew we were weak at defending the pass. Our main thing, though, was to stop their running attack. We did give up some pass plays, but we made adjustments and they didn't complete any more.

"Our defense has been doing it all year. It's been stout all season."

Seniors A. J. Kiley, Brian Jozlin and Jesse Germain were each in on 13 tackles for the Pirates. Peck also had four quarterback sacks, including one each from Kiley, Josh Williams and Bryan Carrier, and two interceptions from Burns.

Another thing for the Pirates was dealing with the record heat. It was Peck that had the focus, and the adrenaline, to overcome it at the end.

"This was the first time we played in stuff like this. We have at practice before, but it's not the same," noted Pouch. "We prepared all week for it. We knew it was coming. It's more of a mental game. We knew (the kids) were in shape. It's my job to make sure of that. But, you have to be mentally tough to block all of the distractions out and withstand it."

Before the Pirates could leave the field, Pouch told his team that their job wasn't done. Defeating Owen-Gage gives Peck its first outright league title since 2001 and only its second since 1980.

"They know what it is. There's one more game ahead," said Pouch. "This is a blue collar group...and they have goals. They know what they have to do. They won't be satisfied until certain things happen."