October 27, 2018 at 4:59 a.m.
Tribe ends on a high note
Schmitz throws for three TDs and catches another in Indians’ 33-14 win over Tigers
Tribe ends on a high note
FORT RECOVERY — Pride.
That’s about all that was at stake Friday night at Barrenbrugge Athletic Park.
The Indians and Tigers had both been eliminated from playoff contention, so ending the year on a positive note was the goal for both squads.
Clay Schmitz had four total touchdowns on Friday in leading the Fort Recovery High School football team to a 33-14 victory over the Versailles Tigers.
“It’s just awesome,” said Schmitz, who has battled through ups and downs along with his Tribe squad that finished the year 4-6 (2-6 Midwest Athletic Conference). “Going out with a win for the seniors, I can’t ask for anything else. These seniors just wanted to win.
“That’s all it is. They just wanted to win. We came out here ready to play.”
Brandon Siegrist is one of those seniors who approached Friday’s game knowing it would be his last.
“I’ve been in football for 10 years,” he said. “It’s kind of hard not to get excited for your last game. It’s been a fun ride with all of these guys, and they make it easy. They make it easy for us to come out here every day, even when we have a losing record, and just play hard for them.”
Fort Recovery’s defense clamped down on Versailles (2-8, 1-7 MAC) from the opening drive, forcing the first of five punts in the opening half.
The Indians started their first possession at their own 35 yard line, and 12 plays later Schmitz found classmate Regan Martin for the first of his three touchdown passes.
That’s about all that was at stake Friday night at Barrenbrugge Athletic Park.
The Indians and Tigers had both been eliminated from playoff contention, so ending the year on a positive note was the goal for both squads.
Clay Schmitz had four total touchdowns on Friday in leading the Fort Recovery High School football team to a 33-14 victory over the Versailles Tigers.
“It’s just awesome,” said Schmitz, who has battled through ups and downs along with his Tribe squad that finished the year 4-6 (2-6 Midwest Athletic Conference). “Going out with a win for the seniors, I can’t ask for anything else. These seniors just wanted to win.
“That’s all it is. They just wanted to win. We came out here ready to play.”
Brandon Siegrist is one of those seniors who approached Friday’s game knowing it would be his last.
“I’ve been in football for 10 years,” he said. “It’s kind of hard not to get excited for your last game. It’s been a fun ride with all of these guys, and they make it easy. They make it easy for us to come out here every day, even when we have a losing record, and just play hard for them.”
Fort Recovery’s defense clamped down on Versailles (2-8, 1-7 MAC) from the opening drive, forcing the first of five punts in the opening half.
The Indians started their first possession at their own 35 yard line, and 12 plays later Schmitz found classmate Regan Martin for the first of his three touchdown passes.
Schmitz had a 40-yard TD pass to Jacob Acheson in the second quarter, caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Clayton Person in the third quarter and began a perfectly executed hook-and-ladder play on the first play of the fourth.
Schmitz, who was 13-of-19 through the air for 229 yards while also leading the team with 52 rushing yards on seven carries, threw a 5-yard pass to Martin to begin the fourth period. Martin then lateraled the ball to Gavin Thobe, who went the remaining 71 yards to the end zone to make it 33-7 Indians.
But it was his first career touchdown reception with which he was most proud.
“It’s exciting, especially when we put it in this week,” said Schmitz, noting he was nervous about messing up on the reverse pass play from Pearson, a former quarterback. “I couldn’t ask for anything better. It was awesome.”
FRHS coach Brent Niekamp was happy with the way his sophomore signal-caller ended the year.
“The development isn’t like climbing stairs … we knew there would be some ups and downs, but looking at how he finished out the year I’m really happy,” he said. “It’s encouraging what we have going forward with him.”
Aside from two second-half scoring drives, Fort Recovery’s defense was dominant at the line of scrimmage. The Indians allowed 218 yards of offense, only 69 on the ground, and only 108 yards in the first 24 minutes.
Much of that success defensively between the tackles was from a defensive front of tackles Jack Knapke and Siegrist as well as ends Owen Sheridan and Kody Shinabery, all of whom are seniors.
“They did a great job,” Niekamp said. “Versailles struggled blocking our front four. Our two inside tackles … really caused them troubles in there. They couldn’t really run between the tackles at all.
“Then when they went wide our ends played real well.”
Sheridan was second on the team with seven tackles but led the squad with three stops in the backfield. Siegrist had four tackles while Shinabery and Knapke had three apiece.
“As far as our defense playing against their run game, that was about textbook,” Niekamp said.
After the Indians scored 27 straight points to open the game, including an 86-yard kickoff return by Riley Pearson to begin the second half, Versailles broke the shutout as quarterback Ryan Martin threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Evan Hiestand.
Martin, who was 11-of-23 for 149 yards, tossed a 19-yard TD to Andrew DeMange in the fourth quarter.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less of them,” Niekamp said in reference to the Tigers not giving up despite being behind by four possessions. “They are a MAC team. They’ve got a lot of pride, and they just have enthusiasm for playing the game just like we do.”
Schmitz, who was 13-of-19 through the air for 229 yards while also leading the team with 52 rushing yards on seven carries, threw a 5-yard pass to Martin to begin the fourth period. Martin then lateraled the ball to Gavin Thobe, who went the remaining 71 yards to the end zone to make it 33-7 Indians.
But it was his first career touchdown reception with which he was most proud.
“It’s exciting, especially when we put it in this week,” said Schmitz, noting he was nervous about messing up on the reverse pass play from Pearson, a former quarterback. “I couldn’t ask for anything better. It was awesome.”
FRHS coach Brent Niekamp was happy with the way his sophomore signal-caller ended the year.
“The development isn’t like climbing stairs … we knew there would be some ups and downs, but looking at how he finished out the year I’m really happy,” he said. “It’s encouraging what we have going forward with him.”
Aside from two second-half scoring drives, Fort Recovery’s defense was dominant at the line of scrimmage. The Indians allowed 218 yards of offense, only 69 on the ground, and only 108 yards in the first 24 minutes.
Much of that success defensively between the tackles was from a defensive front of tackles Jack Knapke and Siegrist as well as ends Owen Sheridan and Kody Shinabery, all of whom are seniors.
“They did a great job,” Niekamp said. “Versailles struggled blocking our front four. Our two inside tackles … really caused them troubles in there. They couldn’t really run between the tackles at all.
“Then when they went wide our ends played real well.”
Sheridan was second on the team with seven tackles but led the squad with three stops in the backfield. Siegrist had four tackles while Shinabery and Knapke had three apiece.
“As far as our defense playing against their run game, that was about textbook,” Niekamp said.
After the Indians scored 27 straight points to open the game, including an 86-yard kickoff return by Riley Pearson to begin the second half, Versailles broke the shutout as quarterback Ryan Martin threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Evan Hiestand.
Martin, who was 11-of-23 for 149 yards, tossed a 19-yard TD to Andrew DeMange in the fourth quarter.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less of them,” Niekamp said in reference to the Tigers not giving up despite being behind by four possessions. “They are a MAC team. They’ve got a lot of pride, and they just have enthusiasm for playing the game just like we do.”
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