November 18, 2016 at 5:54 p.m.
Prepped for battle
Indians meet Wildcats in rematch of last year’s regional final
Prepped for battle
The stage is the same.
So is the opponent.
The Indians are just hoping for a familiar outcome.
“Obviously the expectations are going to be to win again,” said Will Homan, who along with the rest of his Fort Recovery High School football team will meet Midwest Athletic Conference rival Minster in the Division VII Region 28 championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Wapakoneta’s Harmon Field.
“We know what they’re going to do and they know what we’re going to do,” Homan said. “It’s just whoever can make the most plays will win the game.”
In this matchup, the Indians (8-4) hold the advantage in that they have won the last two meetings by identical scores of 33-21. The Tribe earned a bit of revenge in knocking off the Wildcats (8-4) in the regional championship game last year after losing during the regular season, and it also won Sept. 23 in Fort Recovery.
The meeting in September was the third of four consecutive losses for Minster, which two weeks later shocked then-Division V No. 1 and four-time defending state champion Coldwater 33-18. That set kicked off a streak of six consecutive Wildcat victories, including a 33-15 win over Lehman Catholic in the regional quarterfinal and a 41-8 thrashing of Upper Scioto Valley in the semifinal.
Brent Niekamp, who is in his 12th year as FRHS coach and is coming off the program’s first state championship, isn’t surprised at the rematch between his Tribe and Minster.
So is the opponent.
The Indians are just hoping for a familiar outcome.
“Obviously the expectations are going to be to win again,” said Will Homan, who along with the rest of his Fort Recovery High School football team will meet Midwest Athletic Conference rival Minster in the Division VII Region 28 championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Wapakoneta’s Harmon Field.
“We know what they’re going to do and they know what we’re going to do,” Homan said. “It’s just whoever can make the most plays will win the game.”
In this matchup, the Indians (8-4) hold the advantage in that they have won the last two meetings by identical scores of 33-21. The Tribe earned a bit of revenge in knocking off the Wildcats (8-4) in the regional championship game last year after losing during the regular season, and it also won Sept. 23 in Fort Recovery.
The meeting in September was the third of four consecutive losses for Minster, which two weeks later shocked then-Division V No. 1 and four-time defending state champion Coldwater 33-18. That set kicked off a streak of six consecutive Wildcat victories, including a 33-15 win over Lehman Catholic in the regional quarterfinal and a 41-8 thrashing of Upper Scioto Valley in the semifinal.
Brent Niekamp, who is in his 12th year as FRHS coach and is coming off the program’s first state championship, isn’t surprised at the rematch between his Tribe and Minster.
“They are a good team,” he said. “They’ve been on a tear since they beat Coldwater and I think that’s just a matter of them progressing throughout the year.”
The Wildcats, who are the region’s No. 3 seed, were 2-4 before beating Coldwater.
“They put a lot of emphasis on improving every week, getting better at the little things,” Niekamp said. “When you have a team that does that, all the sudden they become really good and it seems like it comes out of nowhere.
“It takes time for that to build up and it looks like they are clicking right now.”
Minster has a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in quarterback Jared Huelsman and Bryce Schmiesing, who is used all across the field. Huelsman leads the way with 1,132 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Schmiesing has 1,078 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Hulesman has also thrown for 1,876 yards and 18 TDs and has emerged as a solid dual-threat quarterback.
“He creates problems because he’s a real physical runner,” Niekamp said.
Huelsman only had 59 rushing yards and a touchdown on Sept. 23, but torched the FRHS defense to the tune of 282 passing yards and two more scores.
“He’s really progressed,” Niekamp said. “He became the MAC player of the year and came out of nowhere to do that. I think that shows he impressed a lot of people throughout the course of the season.”
Jonathan Niemeyer is Jared’s favorite target, having caught 54 passes for 1,008 yards and 10 touchdowns. Schmiesing is more of a slot receiver, and he’s totaled 456 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 43 catches.
The Wildcats aren’t the only team in this game on a tear lately, though.
After a heartbreaking 35-21 loss to St. Henry in the regular season finale, the fifth-seeded Indians have blasted each of their playoff opponents. The Tribe shellacked No. 4 seed Ada Bulldogs 58-21 in the regional quarterfinal before a 42-14 beating of previously undefeated and top-ranked Covington in the semifinal.
“We’ve made some major strides in the last few weeks,” Niekamp said. “The last couple weeks, those scores are deceiving because those are good teams and they were challenging games.
“We are hitting a pretty good stride right now where we’re playing at a high level.”
Those strides start with Homan, who has totaled 505 rushing yards and nine touchdowns over the last two games. He had 275 yards and six TDs against Ada while breaking the all-time career rushing record, then followed it with a 230-yard, three-TD effort against Covington to set the new single-season rushing record.
Stopping him will be a key for Minster — Homan had 129 yards and four touchdowns Sept. 23. But with University of Toledo commit Caleb Martin also finding his groove last week, it’s one more dimension for which the Wildcats have to be prepared.
“I think we’re going to force them to defend everything,” Niekamp said. “I think we really have to make sure they can’t zero in on any one thing.
“Of course the way (Homan) has been running they’ll probably try to chew his leg off before they let him run for that many yards. They’ll do everything they can to stop him.
“Just to make them defend the whole field, I think that is going to be really important.”
The Indians had it relatively easy the last two weeks, but with an always-tough conference rival this week, the Tribe is prepared for war.
“You know the MAC teams aren’t going to give in,” Homan said. “They’re going to play all four quarters and they know we’re going to play all four quarters.
“It’s going to be a battle.”
The Wildcats, who are the region’s No. 3 seed, were 2-4 before beating Coldwater.
“They put a lot of emphasis on improving every week, getting better at the little things,” Niekamp said. “When you have a team that does that, all the sudden they become really good and it seems like it comes out of nowhere.
“It takes time for that to build up and it looks like they are clicking right now.”
Minster has a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in quarterback Jared Huelsman and Bryce Schmiesing, who is used all across the field. Huelsman leads the way with 1,132 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Schmiesing has 1,078 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Hulesman has also thrown for 1,876 yards and 18 TDs and has emerged as a solid dual-threat quarterback.
“He creates problems because he’s a real physical runner,” Niekamp said.
Huelsman only had 59 rushing yards and a touchdown on Sept. 23, but torched the FRHS defense to the tune of 282 passing yards and two more scores.
“He’s really progressed,” Niekamp said. “He became the MAC player of the year and came out of nowhere to do that. I think that shows he impressed a lot of people throughout the course of the season.”
Jonathan Niemeyer is Jared’s favorite target, having caught 54 passes for 1,008 yards and 10 touchdowns. Schmiesing is more of a slot receiver, and he’s totaled 456 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 43 catches.
The Wildcats aren’t the only team in this game on a tear lately, though.
After a heartbreaking 35-21 loss to St. Henry in the regular season finale, the fifth-seeded Indians have blasted each of their playoff opponents. The Tribe shellacked No. 4 seed Ada Bulldogs 58-21 in the regional quarterfinal before a 42-14 beating of previously undefeated and top-ranked Covington in the semifinal.
“We’ve made some major strides in the last few weeks,” Niekamp said. “The last couple weeks, those scores are deceiving because those are good teams and they were challenging games.
“We are hitting a pretty good stride right now where we’re playing at a high level.”
Those strides start with Homan, who has totaled 505 rushing yards and nine touchdowns over the last two games. He had 275 yards and six TDs against Ada while breaking the all-time career rushing record, then followed it with a 230-yard, three-TD effort against Covington to set the new single-season rushing record.
Stopping him will be a key for Minster — Homan had 129 yards and four touchdowns Sept. 23. But with University of Toledo commit Caleb Martin also finding his groove last week, it’s one more dimension for which the Wildcats have to be prepared.
“I think we’re going to force them to defend everything,” Niekamp said. “I think we really have to make sure they can’t zero in on any one thing.
“Of course the way (Homan) has been running they’ll probably try to chew his leg off before they let him run for that many yards. They’ll do everything they can to stop him.
“Just to make them defend the whole field, I think that is going to be really important.”
The Indians had it relatively easy the last two weeks, but with an always-tough conference rival this week, the Tribe is prepared for war.
“You know the MAC teams aren’t going to give in,” Homan said. “They’re going to play all four quarters and they know we’re going to play all four quarters.
“It’s going to be a battle.”
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