Tribe defense holds off Jays

DELPHOS, Ohio — For nearly seven minutes Friday, the Indians trailed the Blue Jays by one point.
But the Fort Recovery High School football team, which is ranked sixth in Division VII by the Associated Press, responded with 13 straight points and stalled a potential game-tying drive by Delphos St. John’s on its own side of the field for a 26-20 victory.
With the win, Fort Recovery is now undefeated through four games for the first time in program history. The Indians also moved to 2-0 in the Midwest Athletic Conference.
Jacob Youngpeter scored on a quarterback keeper to give St. John’s (0-4, 0-2 MAC) a 14-13 lead with 8:51 left to play in the first half.
The Indians went three-and-out on their next possession, and the Blue Jays had a drive stall on their side of the field.
Kyle Schroer, who led all players with 85 rushing yards on 17 carries, took the first play of the ensuing drive 34 yards across midfield.
Will Homan and Schroer combined for the next 25 yards to get Fort Recovery to the Delphos 21, and quarterback Caleb Martin kept the ball for a 21-yard score to put the Tribe up 20-14.
Homan had 77 yards and a touchdown on six carries, and Martin added another 77 yards on seven carries. Schroer scored from the 1-yard line in the first quarter.
After Martin’s keeper in the second quarter, that’s where the score remained until the fourth quarter, when the junior quarterback connected with Wes Wenning for a 63-yard score with nine minutes remaining.
Martin was 12-of-20 passing for 169 yards. Wenning hauled in five passes for 140 yards.
With less than five minutes to play, St. John’s got within six when Tony Elwer found Tim Kreeger for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
Elwer and Youngpeter shared quarterback duties. Both completed four of their 10 pass attempts, with Youngpeter totaling 47 yards and Elwer adding 40.
Fort Recovery had a chance to extend its lead on the next drive, but they had a three-and-out after going 6 yards in the wrong direction.
The Indians host conference foe Parkway Panthers (0-4, 0-2 MAC) at 7:30 p.m. Friday for homecoming.