STATE BOUND

LIMA, Ohio — The Indians got the ball with 52 seconds on the clock.
Quarterback Caleb Martin stepped under center with a teammate on either side of him and another 15 yards deep in the backfield.
He received the snap and took a knee.
Tick, tick, tick.
Martin repeated the process.
It put the Indians in a place they’ve never been.
Week 15.
The Tribe is going to the ’Shoe.
Fort Recovery High School’s football team scored 32 consecutive points and its defense shut down a stout McComb offense in a 35-14 victory over the Panthers in the Division VII state semifinal Friday at Lima Spartan Stadium in Lima.
“I can’t describe it right now, I really can’t,” said FRHS coach Brent Niekamp, whose team advances to the state championship at 3 p.m. Friday at Ohio Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University. “I’m so proud of how our kids played tonight. We came out against a very good team. We knew they were going to be a challenge. They were. We answered the bell very well.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet, but I’m pretty excited about next week.”
The eighth-ranked Indians (12-2) meet No. 2 Mogadore, which defeated top-ranked Danville 35-21 Friday.
At Spartan Stadium, it seemed as if the elements were going to be just as tough for the Indians as the Panthers (12-2) were.
Battling gusty winds, cold temperatures and heavy, constant rain and with his team ahead 3-0, FRHS senior Brandon “Speedy” Schoen lost the handle on a punt return and McComb recovered the loose football at the Fort Recovery 7-yard line.
It turned out to be one of very few mistakes by the Indians.
The Panthers scored two plays later to take a 7-3 lead with 2:34 remaining in the opening quarter.
The next chance Schoen had to touch the ball he made sure he kept it in his grasp.
He didn’t give it up until after he ran 90 yards to the end zone for the go-ahead score.
“I knew I messed up and I had to step up,” said Schoen, who found a hole through the left side of the kickoff coverage and ran down the sideline for the score. “Our kick return team blocked for me really well and I just outran everyone.”
Niekamp said he felt the return team was on the cusp of breaking one loose.
It came at the right time for the Indians — to a player who needed to redeem himself — and it also gave the Tribe momentum and a lead it didn’t give up.
“We blocked really great,’ said Niekamp, whose team reaches the state title game for the first time in program history. “Speedy made the bad play on the punt return before to set up their score and he really answered with that return.”
Schoen was nearly chased down, but high-kicked his way the final 5 yards past a diving Drew Bryan of McComb.
“I’m proud of him for stepping up and wanting the ball again,” Niekamp said, thankful for the momentum swing. “I think our kids knew that this would be a challenge but we felt like we had been very battle tested and could play at a really high level. When we figured that out then our kids fed off of it. (We) played better as the game went on.”
Fort Recovery led 9-7 after the first quarter, and had to punt on its first two drives of the second.
Junior Nate Ontrop picked off a screen pass at the McComb 30-yard line and scampered down the left sideline to the Panther 6. On the next play, Martin found Adam LeFevre in the end zone for a touchdown and a 15-7 advantage the Indians took into halftime.
The Tribe’s offense scored on three of its next four possessions to lead 35-7. Jason Roessner was interfered with but caught a 27-yard touchdown through two defenders on a pass from Martin — he was 7-of-16 for 152 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing an interception in the third quarter — and Will Homan had a pair of rushing scores from inside the 5 yard line.
Homan tallied 92 yards after eclipsing the century mark in each of the last three games.
“You could tell later in the game I felt like our offensive line started to wear them down a little bit,” Niekamp said. The Tribe had 116 rushing yards and finished with 247 yards of total offense on the rainy evening. “We were able to control the second half. It was very satisfying.”
The Indians’ defense, meanwhile, was just as stingy as it had been all season. McComb entered the game having averaged more than 270 rushing yards per game, but was held to 229 yards total. In the second half, the Panthers punted on three consecutive drives and turned the ball over on their next two possessions.
Fort Recovery kept McComb on its own side of the field for all of the third quarter. The first time the Panthers had the ball in Fort Recovery territory was when Darien Sheffer’s punt from inside the FRHS 10-yard line failed to cross midfield.
“They are big and they are good up front,” Niekamp said. “If we could maintain the line of scrimmage we would have a good chance. Our kids really played well, especially defensively. They controlled the line of scrimmage and that was the difference in the game, I think.”
McComb turned the ball over on downs again, and Fort Recovery punted on its ensuing drive. The Panthers drove 77 yards — 57 of which came against the Indians’ second-team defense — for a touchdown when quarterback Malachi Abbott ran up the middle for a 2-yard score.
But at the end of the day, the soggy conditions and the Indians were simply too much for the Panthers.
“Their kids had some drops but we had some issues too,” Niekamp said. On a number of occasions wide open receivers simply weren’t able to hang on to the football. “Some of that is just luck I think one way or another, but we’re going to take it.”
And the Tribe is going to the state championship, which has been its goal since January.
“Can’t wait,” senior Tanner Koch said. “There is no other words to describe that.”
Schoen was at a loss for words too.
“We’ve been waiting for this our whole lives,” he said.