Saturday, October 26th, 2013
St. Henry knocks off Fort Recovery
By Mark Ruschau
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Jesse Niekamp, left, celebrates a touchdown run with teammate Mitchel A. Stammen during the Redskins' 28-14 win over Fort Recovery on Friday night at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
ST. HENRY - The St. Henry football team sent out their nine seniors in grand fashion in their final home game as they defeated county rival Fort Recovery 28-14 in Midwest Athletic Conference action on Friday night at the Wally Post Athletic Conference.
St. Henry (3-6, 3-4 MAC) got on the scoreboard during their first possession of the game as the Redskins marched 63 yards in 12 plays while taking over five minutes off the clock with sophomore running back Jesse Niekamp scoring the first of his four touchdowns on a four-yard sweep.
After gaining 16 yards on 12 plays during its first three possessions of the first quarter, Fort Recovery used a trick play to score. On first down from their own 20-yard line, Indians' quarterback Darien Sheffer handed the ball to tailback Kyle Timmerman who two took steps and then flipped the ball back to Sheffer who connected with a streaking Kyle Schroer, who outraced St. Henry's secondary for an 80-yard score.
St. Henry's special teams, in the form of Adam Reichert, came up big as he blocked Sheffer's PAT kick to keep the score at 7-6 with 2:06 left in the first half.
St. Henry made great use of the final 2:30 as it drove 70 yards in 12 plays to answer the Indians' score. With the ball at midfield, Mitchel A. Stammen completed passes to Tyler Schwieterman and A. J. Niekamp to move the ball to Fort Recovery's 26-yard line.
After an incomplete pass, Mitchel A. Stammen hooked up with Schwieterman again for a 24-yard play to move the ball to the one-yard line, with one second left in the half. After a timeout, the Redskins went to Niekamp again, who responded with a one-yard touchdown plunge as the clock ran out.
"There at the end of the first half, Stammen made some very nice plays. St. Henry made some very nice plays," said Fort Recovery coach Brent Niekamp. "They threw some jump balls and their receivers did some nice things."
St. Henry took control of the game as it got the ball to start the second half and immediately went on a 65-yard, nine-play drive that over four minutes off the clock. Niekamp capped the drive by bursting 25 yards around the right end to make the score 21-7. On the drive, Niekamp carried the ball six times for 52 yards.
"Those two series, to end the first half and at the start of the second half were huge, because we started off the game and then we hit a lull. When they scored we could of went into the locker room on a real downer but that score late in the was huge," said St. Henry coach Brad Luthman. "I was really proud of the effort tonight. We got caught looking into the backfield on that flea-flicker but other than that mistake, I thought we pitched a pretty good game."
Niekamp carried the ball 39 times for 139 yards.
On the other side of the ball, St. Henry's defense was solid as they allowed the Indians just 154 yards, including just seven yards on 25 running plays.
"The start of the second half was just a blur, I really don't know what happened," said Niekamp. "St. Henry dominated the line of scrimmage offensively and they gave us all kinds of problems and it took us a while to get on track offensively. Give them credit, they played well."
St. Henry closes out the season next Friday, traveling to Versailles. Fort Recovery ends the season at home against Coldwater.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's A.J. Niekamp goes up between two Fort Recovery defenders to make a catch during Friday's MAC matchup. St. Henry defeated Fort Recovery 28-14.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
St. Henry quarterback Mitchel A. Stammen threw for 155 yards as the Redskins picked up their third win of the season for first-year coach Brad Luthman in a 28-14 decision over Fort Recovery at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Fort Recovery's Darien Sheffer, 12, looks to get rid of the ball as St. Henry's Nate Langenkamp, 33, comes in for the sack. Sheffer threw for 112 yards and one touchdown in the Indians' 28-14 loss to the Redskins at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
