A Little Razzle Dazzle Keys Fort Recovery 33-21 Win Over Minster

by Bruce Monnin

FORT RECOVERY — Sometimes in a football game one team dominates the other with basic play. Sometimes a victory also requires a little offensive imagination.

Late in the third quarter, the score was tied at 21-21. The Fort Recovery Indians were struggling on offense compared to the three touchdowns and 173 yards they compiled in the first half. With the ball on the Minster Wildcats’ 24-yard line, Fort Recovery coach Brent Niekamp reached into his bag of tricks. Quarterback Jason Roessner threw backwards to Ryan Braun, who then executed the double pass to perfection, finding Will Homan open in the end zone to reclaim a 27-21 lead.

Minster responded with a drive down to the Indian 11-yard line. However, the Wildcats could not convert, being stopped by the Fort Recovery defense on downs. The Indians then finished off the game with an eight-minute drive which culminated with Homan’s fifth touchdown on the night and the final 33-21 score.

“I love the fact that our guys will play defense inside the five-yard line without fear,” complimented Niekamp. “This is a huge win for a lot of reasons. I don’t care what their record says, that’s a very solid team. We did this without Caleb (injured quarterback Martin) and that took a special effort.”

“That was a great effort by our guys,” stated Wildcat coach Geron Stokes. “We just have to get cleaner. We’re so raw and undisciplined right now. It’s hard to win games against good teams that way.”

“We had so much better effort, though,” added Stokes. “We didn’t lie down. We fought and made them earn it.”

Early in the game it looked like it was going to be a runaway for Fort Recovery. They stopped Minster cold on their first possession, then countered with a ten-play touchdown drive which featured nine runs by Homan, including the one-yard scoring plunge. Homan would end the game with 129 yards and four touchdowns rushing, as well as the touchdown reception on the third quarter double pass.

“A warrior is a good way to describe Will,” added Niekamp. “He’s still not 100%. Defensively when they were hurting us over the top, he started covering Niemeyer.”

Receiver Jonathan Niemeyer was the weapon the Wildcats used to get back in the game. He would catch a 40-yard touchdown pass on the next series, one of his five first half receptions for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He would only make one catch in the second half after Homan took over the coverage.

The second quarter saw the Indians do a better job of taking advantage of opportunities than the Wildcats. A sack of Jared Huelsman resulted in an Andrew Stocker fumble recovery at the Minster 35-yard line. Two plays later, Homan ran for an eight-yard score to make the lead 14-7. Minster’s next drive reached all the way to the Indian four-yard line, but they were again turned away just short of paydirt.

The teams would later trade touchdowns, with Huelsman finding Niemeyer for a 38-yard strike and Fort Recovery responding with a Homan three-yard score to make the Indian lead 21-14 at intermission.

The Wildcats appeared to have the second half momentum as Alex Lehmkuhl intercepted a Fort Recovery pass, and Minster’s follow-up drive featured six completed passes to Bryce and Isaac Schmiesing before Huelsman punctuated the effort with a five-yard scoring run to tie the score. It was the Wildcat’s last points before the Indian double pass took back the momentum and set up the Fort Recovery victory.

In the loss, Bryce Schmiesing did set a new Minster record for receiving yardage of 2269 yards, passing Eli Wolf’s recent mark.

The win pushes Fort Recovery’s record to 4-1. They will take to the road to face the 2-3 Versailles Tigers next week. Minster’s record drops to 2-3, and next week the Wildcats return home for a battle with the 3-2 St. Henry Redskins.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Fort Recovery 7 14 6 6 33

Minster 7 7 7 0 21

First Quarter:

FR – Will Homan 1 yd run (Tyler Acheson kick), 4:28

MIN – Jonathan Niemeyer 40 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 2:38

Second Quarter:

FR – Will Homan 8 yd run (Tyler Acheson kick), 11:11

MIN – Jonathan Niemeyer 38 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 4:45

FR – Will Homan 3 yd run (Tyler Acheson kick), 0:25

Third Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 5 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 5:33

FR – Will Homan 28 yd pass from Ryan Braun (kick failed), 0:38

Fourth Quarter:

FR – Will Homan 16 yd run (pass failed), 1:29

Team statistics FR MIN

First downs 19 15

Rushes - yards 41-190 17-73

Passing yards 136 282

Comp - att - int 11-18-1 18-36-2

Total yards 326 355

Punts - average 3-42.0 2-29.0

Fumbles - lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties - yards 2-15 3-33

Time of possession 29:42 18:18

Individual statistics

Rushing: Fort Recovery, Homan 26-126, Roessner 14-64; Minster, Huelsman 12-59, B Schmiesing 5-14.

Passing: Fort Recovery, Roessner 10-17-1-108, Braun 1-1-0-28; Minster, Huelsman 18-36-2-282.

Receiving: Fort Recovery, Jutte 3-31, Braun 3-11, Homan 1-28, Schoen 1-27, Stocker 1-20, Wendel 1-16, Will 1-3; Minster, Niemeyer 6-175, B Schmiesing 6-69, I Schmiesing 5-20, Lehmkuhl 1-18.