Tied until half

FORT RECOVERY — The Tribe showed some life against the Cavaliers in week No. 3, but couldn’t get the win.

When the fifth-ranked team made the eight mile drive across Ohio 119, there were similar results.

The Fort Recovery High School football team hung with Division VII No. 5 St. Henry, keeping the game tied at halftime, but ultimately fell 33-13 Friday.

St. Henry (3-1, 1-1 Midwest Athletic Conference) struck first as quarterback Charlie Werling completed an eight-play drive with a 7-yard carry with 4 minutes 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The ball changed hands a couple of times before the Indians (2-2, 0-2 MAC) struck back. After receiving the ball at their own 20-yard line, Reece Wendel, the team’s leading rusher with 87 yards, ripped off a 79-yard carry before getting stopped at the one. Breaker Jutte got the ball for the 1-yard touchdown to tie the game 6-6.

The game went downhill for Fort Recovery in the final six minutes of the third quarter. The first score of the period came at the 5:59 mark as Werling connected with Will Speck for an 11-yard touchdown.

The next time SHHS got the ball back, Werling took the pigskin himself, traveling the full 91 yards to the end zone to go up 19-6.

The Tribe got some relief as it scored on a trick play where Jutte threw a 21-yard touchdown to Brody Barga to cap off an 11-play, 75-yard drive.

Things again turned south for FRHS as St. Henry managed two more scores to ice the game away. The first was a 3-yard keeper by Werling, while the second was a Jak Huelsman pick six.

The Indians got beat on the ground as St. Henry totaled 287 rushing yards on 36 attempts to their 28 attempts that amounted to 163. Werling worked exceptionally well out of the backfield, gaining 201 of the team’s yards, while Speck followed with 79.

Along with Wendel’s 87 yards, Alex Garke added 48 and Jutte had 28.

Neither team did much in the air as Werling passed for 59 yards and one touchdown while going 5-of-11 with an interception and Gaerke went 3-for-14 for 32 yards and two balls that got picked off.