In slick conditions, Perrysburg stuck to its ground game, led by elusive running back Dakota Jackson, against a resilient Anthony Wayne team on Friday night as the Yellow Jackets stayed undefeated and in contention for a league championship.

Jackson rushed for 236 yards and scored three touchdowns as Perrysburg topped the Generals 21-13. The Yellow Jackets also played stingy defense and moved to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division.

Anthony Wayne (4-5 overall, 1-3 NLL Buckeye), which forced two turnovers and led 7-0 early, came into the game fighting for a playoff spot.

Cool temperatures with steady drizzle throughout much of the contest made conditions difficult on the slippery natural grass field at AW's Schaller Stadium.

Jackson had little trouble, however, sealing the game with a 14-yard TD run on fourth down with 2:33 left.

“Coach told us we were just going to grind the ball on the ground. That's what we did, and we came out here and beat them,” Jackson said.

Perrysburg finished with 275 yards of total offense — all on the ground — and held Anthony Wayne to just 95.

“We'd been talking about the forecast since Monday, knowing what this field was going to be like tonight, and we knew it was going to be a tremendous challenge,” Perrysburg head coach Dirk Conner said. “I don't care what their record is, that's the best run defense that we've played against this year.”

The Yellow Jackets stayed even with Whitmer (8-1, 4-0) at the top of the NLL Buckeye. Those teams meet in Perrysburg next Friday in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Jackson scored on runs of 38, 1, and 14 yards. Senior running back Liam Nowakowski finished with 36 rushing yards.

The Generals had a chance to tie the game at 14 with 7:42 left but missed an extra point. AW passed for 69 yards and had 26 rushing.

“Our kids played with a ton of pride,” Anthony Wayne head coach Andy Brungard said. “It's been a gut test for all of us this year [with injuries], and we have kids stepping up left and right who don't quit. You can't walk off this field with your head down. It's weird to have maybe a moral victory, but you keep playing with pride. We're going to try next week to make the playoffs.”

The Generals were ranked No. 14 in Region 6 of Division II. The top 12 teams in each region make the playoffs. AW controlled its own fate heading into Friday's game, according to OHSAA computer point expert Joe Eitel’s website. AW hosts Findlay next Friday.

The game was tied at 7 at the half as the Yellow Jackets moved the ball on the ground, but the Generals forced two turnovers.

On the first drive of the second half, Perrysburg marched 72 yards on 11 plays to take a 14-7 lead.

Anthony Wayne answered with a lengthy drive and had the ball at the Perrysburg 1. But the Yellow Jackets made a tremendous goal-line stand. Defensive back Ben Patterson snuffed out a fourth-down misdirection play, stopping AW QB Spencer Fox at the 1.

“I wasn't even supposed to have that [assignment], but I was like, all right, I'm gonna have him,” Patterson said. “I saw it was a reverse and him roll out and I saw him tuck the ball. I went for him and made the play. It felt great, especially for how we battled and how much adversity we've faced.”

The Generals responded with a 28-yard TD pass from Fox to Joe Bernhard. Perrysburg's Giano Walkosky, however, blocked the extra point, and the Yellow Jackets still led 14-13 with 7:42 left.

In the first quarter, Anthony Wayne defensive back Wyatt Carroll stepped in front of a fourth-down pass and returned it 77 yards for a pick-six as the Generals went up 7-0.

On the first play of the second quarter, Jackson scored on a 38-yard TD run to tie it at 7.

“My offensive line blocked very well. There's so many holes. I couldn't have done it without them,” Jackson said. “The defense kept Anthony Wayne from getting a lot of yards, and that helped us. We had really good field position on most of our drives.”

Both AW and Perrysburg were playing without their starting quarterbacks. Perrysburg starter Brady Maxwell suffered a season-ending knee injury in last Friday's 41-13 win over Clay. AW's Porter Brungard was injured in mid-September.

The Yellow Jackets retained the “Battle of the Maumee” trophy — a wooden cannon structure — and won back-to-back games vs AW for the first time since 2014-15. Last season, Perrysburg beat AW 24-3.

“This is a rivalry game in week nine and this is the kind of playoff football we want to be playing in,” Conner said. “In November, we're going to see something like this right here, and we're going to have to be able to make more plays than they do.”