Tribe awaits tourney fate

NEW BREMEN, Ohio — Now, they wait.

After a 34-8 loss to the New Bremen Cardinals in Friday’s regular-season finale, the Fort Recovery High School football team’s playoff fate is up to the computers.

Tournament teams will be announced Sunday, with top 16 teams in each region making the playoffs this year as the Ohio High School Athletic Association expands the field. (Eight teams in each region made the playoffs in 2019 before an “all-in” system was used last year amidst the coronavirus pandemic.)

The Indians (3-7) were 13th in the Division VI Region 24 computer rankings prior to Friday’s game. (They had been 14th a week earlier, moving up a spot despite their Oct. 15 loss to St. Johns.)

Fort Recovery, which went 1-7 in the MAC with the lone win over Parkway after opening the season by defeating non-conference foes Wayne Trace and Urbana, was overmatched Friday against the Cardinals (7-3, 5-3 MAC), who are defending Division VII state champions. It was out-gained 393-180 and trailed 20-0 heading into the final period.

Troy Homan broke the shutout for the Tribe when he caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Cale Rammel on the opening play of the fourth quarter. Homan also snagged the 2-point conversion pass from Rammel to cut the deficit to 20-8, but New Bremen immediately responded with a five-play touchdown drive to put the game away.

Homan had three catches for 59 yards from Rammel, who finished 7-of-19 for 104 yards. Ethan Hartnagel and Riley Hiser each had 29 yards rushing for FRHS. Ross Pearson led the defense with 11 tackles.

Hunter Schaefer paced the New Bremen offense with 109 yards on 14 carries, including touchdown runs of 8, 15 and 22 yards in the second half. David Homan, who went 10-of-17 passing for 157 yards for the Cardinals, tossed a 13-yard TD pass to Nick Alig in the second quarter, and Owen Gabel hit field goals of 27 and 38 yards.

Fort Recovery had 4.04 computer points through nine weeks, ahead of National Trail?(3.76), Huntington (3.625) and Deer Park (3.618). The 17th team in the region was Adena, which had 2.78 points. The top four teams in the regional were Mechanicsburg (14.93), Allen East (13.9), Arcanum (10.7) and defending state champion Coldwater (10.1).

Fort Recovery last qualified for the playoffs in 2017, losing 27-0 in the opening round to eventual state champion Marion Local. It won the Division VII state championship in 2015.