Two Point Conversion in Overtime Carries Fort Recovery over Minster, 28-27

by Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — A new rivalry is in the making, as the Fort Recovery Indians and the Minster Wildcats battled to four nailbiting games over the last two years. This year was no different, as a back-and-forth contest came down to a two-point conversion attempt in overtime.

Down 27-26 after Clay Schmidt completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Cade Wendel in the extra period, Fort Recovery called timeout to setup up blocking for the point after touchdown kick attempt. The Indians came out double teaming Minster’s Jared Huelsman, who had blocked their last try, thus forcing overtime. The Wildcats called their own timeout, after which Fort Recovery switch strategies, instead lining up to attempt a two-point conversion. The ball was given to Will Homan, and he swept left to easily score, giving the Indians a 28-27 victory.

“We made it (the decision to go for the two-point conversion) when they called the timeout,” explained Fort Recovery coach Brent Niekamp. “I felt that we were doing a decent job pushing the line of scrimmage. We had a formation that had given them a little trouble throughout the game, and we knew if we put our offense out there in a formation that was a little tricky, they didn’t have a timeout left to get out of it. And we’re handing the ball to Will (Homan). Obviously, it was a gamble, but I thought we had a decent shot of getting it.”

Minster’s defense seemed confused by the Indian switch to try for two points. “We had ten guys out there. That’s my fault,” stated Wildcat coach Geron Stokes. “We wouldn’t have stopped them anyway. 24 (Homan) is a stud.”

The first half was a relatively slow affair. Minster’s opening drive reached the Fort Recovery 36-yard line before stalling. On their next possession, the Wildcats scored on a six-yard Huelsman run for a 7-0 lead after the opening period.

At this point, the Indians made a switch at quarterback to freshman Clay Schmitz. “We knew we were going to use Clay, because of what he has in terms of his arm strength and the ability to get the ball out to different people and the ability to use Cade (Wendel) as a weapon at receiver,” added Niekamp. “He came in and did really well, so we stuck with it.”

The change seemed to spark Fort Recovery, as after their defense stopped Minster eighteen yards from the end zone, the Indians used twelve plays to drive 82 yards. A Homan 5-yard run evened the score at 7-7. Fort Recovery also drove deep in Wildcat territory on their next series, but time ran out in the half when they were still 25 yards from taking the lead.

The momentum remained with the Indians in the second half, as they received the opening kickoff and drove 56 yards for the go ahead score. The drive was topped off by a Schmitz 18-yard pass to Cade Wendel. Cobe Wendel made the kick for the 14-7 lead.

Late in the quarter, Alex Lehmkuhl took over for Minster. First, he made a circus catch of a 16-yard pass on third and 12 at midfield. Later he made another six-yard reception before grabbing an over the shoulder catch in the end zone to tie the game at 14-14.

Midway through the final stanza, the Wildcats took the lead on a 55-yard run by Huelsman. However, Minster was without both their normal long snapper and holder in the game, and it finally came to haunt them on the point after, as a bad combination snap/hold led to a failed conversion and a 20-14 Wildcat lead.

Fort Recovery only had time remaining for one long drive, and they rose to the occasion. Using 11 plays, they methodically pushed Minster back until Schmitz was able to score on an eight-yard run with only one minute remaining. The extra point was potentially for the victory, but Huelsman ran around the left end of the line to block the kick and force overtime.

The Wildcats lost the coin toss and so went first in overtime. An offensive pass interference call took them back to the 35-yard line, but defensive pass interference brought them back. Huelsman then worked his way through the left side of the Indian line for a 15-yard score, and Isaac Schmiesing’s extra point made the score 27-20. That led to Fort Recovery’s touchdown and two-point conversion for the 28-27 win.

“Coach Stokes always says how we make each other better, and he’s exactly right,” added Niekamp. “I was really proud of how these guys battled tonight. That was a great game tonight between two really good football teams. No matter who won it was a heck of a battle back and forth.”

“These were two really good efforts by two good teams,” agreed Wildcat coach Geron Stokes. “These games keep getting better, too.” Stokes also added, “We have to get desperate before desperation finds us.”

As expected, Will Homan carried the majority of the load for Fort Recovery, gaining 144 yards on 26 carries. Minster’s Huelsman rushed for 135 yards on just 18 carries, and also completed 16 of 32 passes for another 187 yards.

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

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 OT Total

Fort Recovery 0 7 7 6 8 28

Minster 7 0 7 6 7 27

First Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 6 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 5:51

Second Quarter:

FR – Will Homan 5 yd run (Cobe Wendel kick), 1:34

Third Quarter:

FR – Cade Wendel 18 yd pass from Clay Schmitz (Cobe Wendel kick), 8:37

MIN – Alex Lehnkuhl 17 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 2:57

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 55 yd run (conversion failed – bad snap), 5:50

FR – Clay Schmitz 8 yd run (kick blocked), 1:00

Overtime:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 15 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick)

FR – Cade Wendel 20 yd pass from Clay Schmitz (Will Homan rush)

Team statistics FR MIN

First downs 19 19

Rushes - yards 38-196 31-179

Passing yards 118 187

Comp - att - int 11-25-0 16-32-0

Total yards 314 366

Punts - average 5-36.8 4-37.5

Fumbles - lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties - yards 5-64 3-35

Time of possession 26:10 21:50

Individual statistics

Rushing: Fort Recovery, Homan 26-144, Schmitz 9-44, Cade Wendel 3-8; Minster, Huelsman 18-135, Schmiesing 10-46, Schmitmeyer 2-1, Team 1-(-3)

Passing: Fort Recovery, Schmitz 10-20-0-113, Cade Wendel 1-5-0-5; Minster, Huelsman 16-32-0-187

Receiving: Fort Recovery, Cade Wendel 5-68, Homan 3-22, Siefring 2-23, Pearson 1-5; Minster, Lehmkuhl 5-67, Brown 4-61, Schmiesing 4-35, Boehnlein 2-16, Frericks 1-8