By Brian Dzenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

Listening to South Range coach Dan Yeagley describe linebacker and running back Peyton Remish’s accomplishments on defense is akin to describing the feats of a big-game hunter.

“He could read his keys and react very quickly and when he got there, he made the tackle. He has hardly any missed tackles. He gets there and he’s able to wrap them up and he’s very explosive,” Yeagley said. “We’ve seen huge backs all year, there’s [Sharon, Pa.’s Jordan Wilson, Akron Manchester’s Ethan Wright] and [Jack Cappabianca] from Western Reserve and he’s able to bring them all down.”

Remish is the other half of the dynamic offensive pairing between himself and quarterback Aniello Buzzacco, but his passion — where he done some of his best work — comes when he plays without the ball.

“I love playing defense, so I have to go with linebacker,” Remish said when asked about his position preference. “I just like to hit people. I’ve been playing linebacker all my life and yeah — I just like to hit people. It’s how I’ve always been.”

Very little has gotten past Remish and the Raiders’ defense this season during a 13-0 campaign that has them in a Division V state semifinal against Pemberville Eastwood (13-0) on Friday. Only three teams have scored more than three touchdowns on the Raiders in 2017. Remish recently earned the title of Division V Defensive Player of the Year on the 2017 Northeast Inland All-District team. Through 13 games, Remish has 134 tackles and 33 for losses.

It only took a a few games for Remish to establish himself as a key cog on the football team.

“He started as a true freshman and we usually don’t play very many freshmen. We may play a sophomore here or there,” Yeagley said. “He started out as a backup and he ended up eventually winning the job and has ever since. It’s pretty awesome.”

On the offensive side of the ball, Remish has 1,733 yards and 19 TDs. Between him and fellow 1,000-plus rusher Buzzacco, the pair form the first 1,000-yard rushing tandem since current Youngstown State running back Joe Alessi and Ryan Miller in 2014. There’s a chance Alessi and Remish could be teammates again. YSU and Slippery Rock are among the schools looking at Remish. The two backs couldn’t be more different.

“I think [Alessi] is a lot faster than me,” Remish said with a laugh. “I think I hit harder than him.”

Given all that the Raiders’ defense has accomplished this year, it’s no surprise that Remish is confident South Range can handle Eastwood’s wing-t offense on Friday.

“We faced a couple wing-t teams this year, so that’s going to help us out. We just have to read our guards and make our way to the ball,” Remish said. “I really don’t think we’re going to have a problem with it.”