FR focused in finale

VERSAILLES, Ohio — It wasn’t perfect.

As Brent Niekamp pointed out, perfection is rare.

But in the absence of perfection, poise can make all the difference. It did for his Indians on Friday.

Fort Recovery High School’s football team stayed locked in on the goal — a victory to close the season — and pulled away in the second half to defeat the Versailles Tigers 41-22.

“We played with a lot of enthusiasm and determination,” said Niekamp, who is in his 15th season leading the Tribe. “I don’t think I heard a single negative word on the sideline the whole game.

“They made some plays. Not everything went perfect. But our kids supported each other and had a way about them tonight that they were going to win that game one way or another.”

The most obvious example came late in the second quarter.

After being forced to punt from relatively deep in their own territory, the Indians (4-6, 3-5 MAC) had the snap sail high over punter Josh Muhlenkamp’s head. As the ball went bounding toward the goalposts, he slapped it out of the back of the end zone for a safety to give up two points rather than a potential touchdown.

But Versailles (3-7, 2-6 MAC) was able to cash in on the ensuing drive as well. It took the ball 40 yards in eight plays, with Landon Henry scoring a touchdown with 18 seconds remaining before halftime to complete a 16-point quarter and slice the Indians’ lead to five.

The special teams mishap didn’t rattle Fort Recovery. The visitors came out of the locker room after halftime and tacked on a pair of third-quarter touchdowns. Those scores pushed the advantage back to 18 points, and Owen Moorman’s 1-yard TD plunge in the fourth quarter sealed the victory.

“Those are the kind of things that could be disastrous in a game like that if you let them affect you,” said Niekamp. “And our kids didn’t even blink. They just turned right back around and went back at trying to execute, do their thing.”

Clay Schmitz and Gavin Thobe powered the FRHS offense, connecting on a trio of touchdown passes.

The first came as Thobe got open on a corner route midway through the first quarter. He bobbled the ball but was able to haul it in before taking out the pylon in the back-left corner of the end zone.

Midway through the second quarter, Schmitz found Thobe streaking down the middle of the field for a 40-yard touchdown. The quarterback and receiver reversed roles in the third, with Thobe hitting Schmitz for a 15-yard TD just 29 seconds after teammate Riley Hiser scored on a 19-yard run.

Thobe caught seven of Schmitz’s 12 completions for 140 yards.

“He’s such a mismatch. They tried to single cover him, man-to-man. And we were able to protect really, really well,” said Niekamp, complimenting Kendrik Wendel and Jake Bechtol as they rotated in place of starter Carter Rockwood. “Clay had time and he could let Gavin get that separation, which Gavin can do to almost anybody if he has time to do it.”

Schmitz had 214 yards through the air, adding a third TD toss to Regan Martin. And the FRHS ground game was efficient, as Moorman ran 10 times for 102 yards and a TD and Hiser toted the ball six times for 44 yards and his score.

Jacob Acheson led the Indians with 18 tackles.

However, it wasn’t the stats that stood out for Niekamp following the game. It was the approach.

“I keep going back to our poise, how those kids were just so ready to compete,” he said. “They were really playing in the moment, competing their hearts out and enjoying playing the game that they love. And that allowed our seniors to go out on a positive note.”