Injuries big in Tribe's loss to LCC (09/27/04)

LIMA, Ohio — Fort Recovery lost its key player to injury before halftime, and that wasn’t even the worst injury of the night. That makes for a rough evening on the road.

Greg Faller, who went into the game with a broken nose, suffered a lower back injury in the first quarter and spent the second half in street clothes. Then Steve Trobridge gave all of Lima Stadium a scare as he laid on the field for what seemed like an eternity midway through the fourth quarter before being taken off on a stretcher.

The Tribe football team still managed to score 13 fourth-quarter points, but it was not enough as the banged-up Indians took a 20-13 loss to the Lima Central Catholic Thunderbirds.

Trobridge’s injury came with 5:41 left in the game while Fort Recovery was trying to hold LCC out of the end zone as they trailed 14-7. He and a Thunderbird player hit head-on at that 5-yard line, leaving Trobridge motionless.

Indians coach Mark Fenik said Trobridge had no feeling when he first got to him, but he was talking and had regained feeling in his arms and legs before being taken off the field. He was believed to have suffered at least a concussion and was transported by ambulance by Lima Allen County Paramedics to St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima.

He stayed overnight and was discharged Sunday.

LCC (2-3) scored on the next play, getting to the end zone on a four-yard run by Michael Corwin. The extra point was no good, giving the home team a 20-7 lead with just 5:26 to play.

Fort Recovery (1-4) still made a valiant effort at a comeback as Mark Willmann led them on a quick eight-play, 72-yard drive. Willmann capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Clint Tobe to cut the lead to 20-13 with 2:29 left.

Shawn Stein then kicked an excellent onside kick to his left, but the Thunderbirds managed to come up with the ball. They gave up the ball on downs as the Tribe held them on fourth-and-1 at the Fort Recovery 40-yard line.

Taking the ball with just 46 seconds left, Willmann completed a pass to Tyler Wuebker to the Thunderbirds 40-yard line. But, he was sacked on the next play and the Indians’ final three passes fell incomplete as the comeback try fell short.

“We played all right, we just didn’t score enough points to win the game,” said Fenik. “We didn’t stop them enough times. It’s pretty simple, I’m not going to over-analyze it. We’ve got to get better.

“We knew it was going to be a challenging game. We told the kids beforehand this could be a touchdown game either way, and it was. We just came up on the short end of the stick.

“It didn’t help that our No. 1 linebacker and our starting tailback [Faller] goes out in the first quarter. That hurts. When you lose your go-to player at the beginning of the game it makes things difficult.”

Fort Recovery was still better than the Thunderbirds statistically, gaining nearly 75 more yards of total offense. But, the Tribe was hurt by four interceptions and a key blocked punt in the third quarter.

Already leading 7-0 thanks to an 11-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Link to Louis DeRose in the second quarter, LCC got to Stein late in the third. Having already partially blocked one kick, Jared Rigali rejected Stein’s punt try and the Thunderbirds took possession at the 15-yard line.

From there they needed just three plays to get to the end zone, finishing the drive on a 9-yard run by Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds finished with 81 yards rushing on 15 carries to lead LCC.

“The defense played very aggressive all night long, and they played very smart when they had to play smart,” said LCC coach Andy Etzkorn. “We gave them a couple of long passes there in the second half, but when we had to do it we got it done.”

“That’s what we needed was a win to get us going in the right direction.”

Fort Recovery scored its first touchdown on a 13-yard run by Willmann less than a minute into the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 14-7. But, the Thunderbirds scored after Trobridge’s injury and the Tribe’s couldn’t come back from the 13-point deficit.

Fenik said he felt the blocked punt and a first-quarter interception really changed the game.

“They kick off to us right at the beginning of the game, we get the ball to about the 45-, 50-yard line and start moving it, and all of a sudden the momentum changes,” he said of the interception. “Even though we held them a couple times, it still changed the field position. It’s always easier to play with a short field.”

Willmann went 13-of-27 through the air for 164 yards, but also had the four interceptions. He was the Tribe’s top rusher, carrying 13 times for 59 yards.

Faller had 15 yards rushing before leaving the game, and Nick Hemmelgarn ran for 15 yards.

Tyler Wuebker caught six balls for 112 yards, and Dusty Guggenbiller had five receptions for 39 yards.

The Tribe will play on Saturday night at Delphos St. Johns at 7:30 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]