Border battle

It’s been a long time coming.
When the Jay County and Fort Recovery high school football teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Harold E. Schutz Memorial Stadium, it will be the first time they play each other on the gridiron.
“I think it’s a great challenge,” Fort Recovery senior Mitch Stammen said of getting the chance to play the Tribe’s state-line rivals. “I love it. I know a lot of guys over there. It’s going to be a tough game and I’m looking forward to it.”
Although the teams have never met before, JCHS coach Tim Millspaugh thinks it will be an instant rivalry.
“To be honest with you, I think it’s more of a rivalry game because we haven’t (played), given how close our communities are and that we’ve played in so many other sports,” he said. The Patriots and Indians already compete in cross country, girls golf, volleyball, basketball, swimming, track and softball. “I think that’s helped build it to this point.”
Getting the schedules to align in order to play one another was the difficult part. Indiana high school football begins a week earlier than it does in Ohio.
As Jay County was set to join the Allen County Athletic Conference this year and Fort Recovery agreeing to end its contract with Waynesfield-Goshen — its normal week-two opponent — the table was set for the two teams to meet in week two of the Indians’ schedule and in week three for the Patriots.
So FRHS athletics director Kurt Rammel and JCHS AD Steve Boozier put together a four-year deal.
That is, until an ACAC scheduling snafu forced Jay County’s third non-conference game to week eight beginning with the 2015 season, putting the series on a hiatus after this season.
But both teams still feel it is going to be a big game for many reasons.
“It’s very big, without question,” Millspaugh said. “This is the border war. Our community is excited about it. I don’t know that I can give you an answer that shows just how important it is.”
In terms of preparation, FRHS coach Brent Niekamp has been getting the Indians to focus on Jay County’s running game, but imitating the Patriots’ Wing-T offense has not been easy.
“It’s hard,” said Niekamp, whose Indians squad is coming off a 26-19 win Friday over the North Union Wildcats. “It’s really hard to simulate the speed. Their quarterback (Nick Clemens) hides the ball really well when he carries out his fakes.
“I think the speed of it is what’s difficult to duplicate.”
Drew Huffman leads the Patriot running game with 250 yards on 37 carries. The junior fullback scored his first touchdown of the season Friday in a 21-14 victory against the Blackford Bruins in Hartford City. Levi Stant, a senior, has also gotten a lot of touches out of the backfield, carrying the ball 26 times for 133 yards with a touchdown.
Evan Schoen, another FRHS senior, understands the importance of trying to find the ball in the Patriot backfield.
“We’ve been working a lot on getting our keys on the (pulling lineman) and getting to our gaps to make sure we don’t look at the backs,” he said. “It’s tough with how much they do in the backfield.”
For Millspaugh and the Patriots, though, not much has changed trying to get ready for the Indians.
“Typically we don’t change much in type of prep from week to week,” Millspaugh said. “I don’t want the kids to get an idea that one opponent is more important than another.”
Jay County may have its hands full with a number of skilled players on the Indians’ roster.
Senior Cole Hull tallied 129 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries against the Wildcats, and added another score through the air on a 42-yard pass from Caleb Martin. The sophomore quarterback was 14-of-23 for 146 yards.
Wide receiver and return specialist Darien Sheffer is also a threat, and utility man Stammen will be used all over the field.
“They’re going to be good,” said JCHS senior Cameron Kunkle. “They’re going to pass a lot. (It) should be a good game if we can defend it.”
Aside from it being a border battle, Friday night’s tilt will have some family implications as well.
Kunkle has three cousins at Fort Recovery — Evan and Alex Schoen and Brandon “Speedy” Schoen — and the Patriot captain is hoping for bragging rights.
“We used to play football at Christmas parties,” Kunkle said. “It was fun tackling them and it will be nice tackling them again.”
Given the proximity of the two schools, which are separated by 13.6 miles, Millspaugh is hoping for a great atmosphere at the stadium Friday night.
“I encourage the fans to come out,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great game. I think the kids on both sides are going to play really hard.”