Tribe goes to 2-0

HARROD, Ohio — The Mustangs turned the heat up on the Tribe a handful of times.

First it was a trick play to open the game with a 76-yard touchdown.

Then a pick-six to start the third quarter.

The only problem for the Mustangs? Each time they’d turn up the heat, the Indians had an answer.

Fort Recovery High School’s football team walked out of Allen East on Friday with a 23-16 victory over the Mustangs despite slip ups to start each half.

“It goes back to how we responded after they made big plays,” said FRHS first-year coach Wes Wenning. “We talk about that first drive, that first play, boom. They strike us big. It would have been very easy to bend down and not respond at that moment. I felt we responded.

“We come out of half. We’re expecting to drive down the field, put down a methodical drive and all of a sudden, they get a pick-six. It would have been very easy to be deflated and let this place get out of control and let tides go their way. But we really dug in our heels. We trusted our game plan and grinded out a good win.”

    Brady Evers wraps up Allen East’s Ethan Hershberger during the second quarter of Friday’s 23-16 win for Fort Recovery High School. The Tribe’s defense came up big in the fourth quarter to record multiple stops in a one-score game. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)
  

This is the first time the Tribe has started the season 2-0 since they beat Wayne Trace and Urbana in the 2021 season.

But it didn’t come without its hiccups.

The first came on the opening play of the game. With the ball sitting on Allen East’s 24-yard line, quarterback Keagan Jones pitched to Ethan Hershberger. The Mustang wide receiver then launched a pass to Braxston Montgomery for a 76-yard touchdown to go up 7-0 just 19 seconds into the game.

The Tribe didn’t stay down long, responding with an 11-play, 83-yard drive capped off with a Reece Wendel carry for 12 yards. Wendel cut through the Mustangs’ defense with ease, rushing the ball seven times on the drive, with all but one of them going for 4 or more yards.

“He’s a dynamic kid with good vision,” said AEHS coach Joel Billings of Wendel, who led the Indians with 184 rushing yards. “I think he was really able to make some cuts and able to keep his pads down to get some dirty yards.”

The second hiccup against the Mustangs (1-1) came early in the third quarter.

The Tribe dominated the final five minutes of the second quarter, but Allen East’s defense came out of the intermission with a vengeance. The first two plays had Wendel gaining 6 yards before FRHS went to the air. Dominic Burkett picked off the ball intended for Breaker Jutte at the 24-yard line and took it back to the house for the score.

Allen East stopped the Indians again on four plays before working a 31-yard field goal.

Fort Recovery’s defense locked in from there.

Allen East’s best chance to tie the game came midway through the fourth quarter when it had the ball at its 42-yard line. A pair of rushes and a 7-yard pass to Cam Smith got it in the Tribe’s territory. 

Jones completed a short pass to Montgomery before keeping the ball on second down and getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage. Jones scrambled to the right on third down, but his pass got tipped by Josh Evers to fall incomplete and his fourth-down heave to Montgomery got bothered by Gaerke for a turnover on downs.

“That was probably the biggest stop of the game on the second-to last drive,” Gaerke said. “They’re pushing down the field and we need the ball back to control the pace of the game. Getting that stop completely shut them down.”

The Tribe burned the clock down to 17 seconds, and AEHS couldn’t cover the 77 yards to tie the game.

The Indians broke through for the lead on their third drive of the second quarter. All six plays were various kinds of carries, including hand offs to Wendel, a lateral to Wendel, a quarterback keeper by Alex Gaerke and finally, a 6-yard rush by Jutte on a direct snap to score the ball with 3 minutes, 10 seconds, remaining in the half.

“Everything fit up perfectly,” Jutte said. “Broke a tackle and got a few extra yards. It felt really good to do that and get the lead.”

FRHS got the ball right back after Devin Miller touched a short kickoff, allowing a pack of Indians to pounce on and recover the football.

Colson Post came down with a 34-yard throw from Gaerke, setting up the senior for a 1-yard keeper to score at 2:28.

They ended the half with Gaerke hitting a 28-yard field goal to go up 23-7.

While the Indians enter Midwest Athletic Conference play undefeated, they had multiple problems including three interceptions and 80 yards of penalties they will look to fix.

“There’s a ton we gotta clean up,” Wenning said. “There were aspects of this game where we were very sloppy, but it feels good walking out of here with a win.”