FR cruises past Lions

CINCINNATI — The last time Wes Wenning was repping purple in the OHSAA football playoffs, he was helping lift up the state championship trophy.

Ten years later, he picked up right where he left off, leading the Indians to a fast victory over the Lions.

The 10th-ranked but 12th-seeded Fort Recovery High School football team ran out to a quick 20 points en route to a 34-8 victory over the No. 5 seed Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy Lions in the OHSAA Division VII Regional 28 opener at Finneytown Secondary Campus on Friday.

The victory earns the Indians (6-5) a matchup with No. 4 seed Eastern on Nov. 7.

“We started fast and started physical, and really proud of the way we came out,” Wenning said. “We handled that business in the first half as we expected. The kids executed the game plan.

“Overall, I would like to have seen us play clean in the second half and like to see us finish more offensively and defensively. But all-in-all, a week 11 victory and very satisfied.”

The last time Wenning participated in an OHSAA playoff football game as an Indian, he worked as a wide receiver on the state champion team in 2015. In just his first year coaching the Indians, he got them back into the playoffs as the final seed and led them to a victory.

“It’s tremendous momentum for our guys,” Wenning said. “To make it through this brutal schedule that we have, fighting every week to squeak out making it to week 11 and then taking care of business and having a 12th week, it’s just tremendous momentum for the program.”

The Tribe got off to a strong start, eating up 7 minutes, 40 seconds, with a 14-play, 50-yard drive for an opening score.

FRHS faced an early fourth-and-3, but Alex Gaerke found Brody Barga for a 10-yard pass to keep the drive alive. The Indians continued to march down the field before Breaker Jutte punched in a 1-yard rush for a score.

After a three-and-out by the Lions (8-3), Gaerke and Jutte took immediate advantage with a 48-yard touchdown pass to go up 14-0.

“First of all there’s a size advantage,” the 6-foot, 5-inch Jutte said. “So just giving me the ball let me blow through those guys.

“Then on that big pass play, they just overplayed a little bit and I got wide open. That was pretty huge for us.”

On the following kickoff, none of the Lions came in to grab the ball while Isaac Roessner raced in to recover it for Fort Recovery at the 18-yard line.

“My responsibility on kickoff is to be the first one down the field,” Roessner said. “Watching film this week, I’d seen in a past game against Stivers, they did the same thing where they kind of just let the ball go and let the other team pick it up and recover it. I saw that happening and thought, ‘OK, this is my opportunity.’”

Six plays later, Jutte got a boost from Ray Grube to score his third touchdown of the first quarter. (The following 2-point attempt failed, giving FRHS a 20-0 lead.)

After another three-and-out for the Lions, Gaerke found Reece Wendel for a 51-yard touchdown.

Gaerke scored the final touchdown for Fort Recovery with a 40-yard keeper with 9:38 remaining in the third period.

While the Lions ended with more yards from scrimmage — they had 232 to Fort Recovery’s 217 — they only scored in the fourth quarter after the game had long since been decided. Along with keeping CCPA away from the end zone, the Tribe defense forced five turnovers, including four interceptions.