STATE CHAMPS

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Finally.
The wait is over.
Through all the one- and two-win seasons, the Indians only hoped of playing for a state championship.
And when the Tribe finally got its chance on Friday at Ohio Stadium, it wasted no time.
Quite literally.
Fort Recovery High School’s football team scored 94 seconds into the game, and quarterback Caleb Martin picked apart the Mogadore Wildcat defense to the tune of 385 yards in leading the Indians to the program’s first state title in school history.
“Ever since our first workout in early May we knew this was the goal from the start,” said Martin, who led the eighth-ranked Indians to the Division VII state championship with a 33-14 victory Friday against No. 2 Mogadore. “Our goal was to get here and once we did we were going to be good enough to win the game.
“That’s what we did. We made it happen.”
Senior Wes Wenning had a hard time figuring out how to describe the victory.
“It is unbelievable,” the senior said. After going 3-7 in back-to-back years his freshman and sophomore seasons, Wenning and his teammates have won 20 games in two years. “Words can’t even describe what just happened. What we were a few years ago … we defied all odds. These guys worked their tails off for it.
“I’m proud of them.”
He paused.
“I’m proud of them,” he reiterated.
Fort Recovery safety Will Homan picked off Zeddie Pollock’s first pass attempt, giving the Indians (13-2) the ball at the Mogadore 29-yard line. It was then Martin and company went to work.
Four plays later, Martin completed a pass to Darien Sheffer down the left sideline, and the senior absorbed contact at the 3-yard line then extended his left arm to make sure the ball broke the plane.
Sheffer’s extra point made it 7-0 Fort Recovery with 10:26 remaining in the quarter.
“I’m awfully proud of how our team came out tonight,” said FRHS coach Brent Niekamp, whose team made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, the only two berths in history. “From the beginning of the game I thought we came out with really good intensity. I have to admit I was a little concerned with it being our first time here … obviously the magnitude of the game (and) if it would affect us at all mentally.
“It didn’t seem to. The guys came out like they come out just about every week ready to play really well for four quarters.”
The Indians forced Mogadore (13-2) to punt on its second drive, and they once again marched the field for a score. Martin connected with Tanner Koch for the first of two touchdowns, and midway through the opening quarter Fort Recovery led 14-0.
Mogadore cut into the lead with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Pollock to Jarad Dunn in the left corner of the end zone. Dunn caught Pollock’s well-placed pass just before Wenning knocked him out of bounds.
Not to be outmatched, Martin orchestrated two more scoring drives to put the Indians ahead 27-7 at half.
The ensuing kickoff went for a touchback, and Homan’s run on first down went for no gain. Martin hit Wenning — who caught eight of Martin’s passes for 121 yards and a touchdown — for a five yard gain. On third-and-5 from the FRHS 25, Martin hit Brandon “Speedy” Schoen in stride at the 40-yard line and Schoen darted the final 60 yards through the middle of the field for a 75-yard score.
After Mogadore went three-and-out, Martin and the Indians marched 75 yards on 14 plays, highlighted by a fake punt for a first down at midfield.
Adam LeFevre’s snap from near midfield was low, and thinking his punt would be blocked, Sheffer — a former quarterback — took off through the left side of the line for a 16-yard gain on fourth-and-6.
“(Sheffer) is a great athlete and he has been able to do that a couple times this year,” Niekamp said. “He improvised. I can’t pretend to take credit for that.”
Nine plays later, Martin found Koch yet again in the left corner of the end zone for a touchdown with 51 seconds remaining in the half. It was Martin’s fourth score of the game.
The Indians had a chance to add on to their halftime score when Hunter Vogel recovered an onside kick, but the drive stalled at the Mogadore 35-yard line.
“Obviously we knew coming in when you play a (Midwest Athletic Conference) school of their caliber in this setting you can’t do the things we did right off the bat,” said MHS coach Matt Adorni. “They probably surprised us a little bit with their overall speed and athleticism. The tape didn’t do them justice.”
Martin, who threw for 277 yards in the first half, launched his fifth and final touchdown toss of the night early in the fourth quarter to give the Tribe an insurmountable lead.
On first down from the Wildcat 30, Martin faked a handoff to Homan, and hit a wide open Wenning over the middle for an easy pass-and-catch. It was a play that was set up by a key stop by Sheffer, tackling Mogadore wide receiver Stephen Stott one yard short of the first down marker.
Niekamp credited the defense for limiting Mogadore’s scoring opportunities.
“I think it starts with these guys defensively (having) a lot of trust in each other,” he said. Mogadore had 306 yards of total offense compared to Fort Recovery’s 458. “Nobody tries to do anybody else’s job. All 11 guys just try to do their job, and when we do that we can be pretty effective.”
LeFevre, who was fourth on the team in tackles entering the game, wasn’t a factor as an individual, but he wasn’t too concerned about it after the game.
“I’ve been fortunate this year to have the chance to make a lot of plays for the defense,” he said. LeFevre set a school record for sacks in a season, finishing the year with 17 1/2. “Tonight it didn’t happen and that’s great because we won a state championship and those other guys made every single play.”
Ross Homan and Sheffer led the team with eight tackles.
“It comes down to guys filling their gap,” Homan said. “We know if we make plays we’re going to win the ball game.”
And they did so in convincing fashion.
For the conference — with Coldwater’s win earlier in the day it now has 35 football state titles —but also for the community.
“I don’t know if I can describe it,” Niekamp said of winning one for the MAC. “We went through a lot of years of being sort of cellar dwellers in our conference.
“I guess we feel like we belong now.”