Flyers top Tribe

WAPAKONETA, Ohio — The Indians left everything on the field Saturday night, but in the end the Flyers were the better team.
And the scoreboard showed it.
Fort Recovery’s football team saw its Cinderella season come to a close with a 35-0 loss in the Division VII Region 26 semifinal to Marion Local, the top-ranked team and three-time defending state champion.
The Flyers advance to the regional championship Saturday against Lehman Catholic, which defeated Troy Christian 31-0 in the semifinal round.
Despite the Indians being at the wrong end of a lopsided score, FRHS coach Brent Niekamp said he was pleased his team played hard all 48 minutes.
“That’s something I’m really proud of this team for,” he said. “I can’t think of one time this year where we ever got discouraged in a tough game.
“We lost five games. We played Marion twice and both were not really close. It didn’t matter to our kids. They take a lot of pride in how they compete and how they played.”
Marion’s Jacy Goettemoeller, who ran over the Indians Oct. 17 for 234 yards, ran around and through the Fort Recovery defense again for 122 yards and four touchdowns on just 19 carries.
“He’s tough,” Niekamp said. “He runs with great vision. They’re always good at the line of scrimmage, and to have him be able to follow those guys and run as hard as he does … he’s pretty special.
“He’s not the (Midwest Athletic Conference) player of the year for nothing.”
But it was the defense of Marion Local (12-0) that kept Fort Recovery (7-5) at bay. The first two drives for the Indians lasted a total of just seven plays.
Trailing 14-0 in the second quarter, the Indians were finally able to put together a lengthy possession — 16 plays that took more than eight minutes. Fort Recovery converted three fourth down plays to extend the drive, twice on its side of the field, including a fake punt on which Darien Sheffer ran down the left side of the field before absorbing a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked the wind out of him.
The drive stalled inside the Flyers’ 10-yard line when consecutive passes by Caleb Martin fell incomplete.
On the ensuing possession, Marion Local quarterback Dustin Rethman orchestrated a 95-yard scoring drive in which he found Hunter Wilker down the right sideline for a 15-yard touchdown. The score extended the Flyers’ lead to 21-0.
“That was huge,” said MLHS coach Tim Goodwin, whose team has won 34 straight games and has not allowed a point in four straight contests. “We take pride in scoring right before half because it gives you momentum in the second half.”
After intermission, it was more of the stingy Flyer defense, which was allowing less than seven points per game this season.
Fort Recovery totaled just 13 yards of offense in the final two quarters, compared to Marion Local’s 85.
On fourth-and-2 from the Tribe 19, FRHS senior Seth Riegle stopped Goettemoeller short of the first down to give the Indians the ball, and two plays later Rethman picked off a Martin pass — the first of four interceptions for the Flyers — and Goettemoeller found the end zone seven plays later.
And on the subsequent possession for the Indians, Marion’s Jon Knapschaefer tipped Martin’s pass at the line of scrimmage, caught it for an interception and scampered toward the end zone before he was brought down just short of the goal line. Goettemoeller notched his fourth and final touchdown of the game as the Flyers scored 14 points in 32 seconds.
“I think we ran into a team that is playing really well right now,” said Niekamp, whose team’s seven wins are the most in school history. “Their defense is on a different level. The first time we played them (a 48-19 loss) we could get everybody blocked and sustain those blocks long enough (and this time) we could never do that. They were so good at getting rid of our blockers at the point of attack. They just smothered us defensively.”
But despite the loss, Niekamp is happy his team was able to end its season where it wanted to — in the playoffs, a place no other Tribe squad has been before.
“It’s been a fun year for these kids,” he added. “I’m proud of them.”