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12A THE DAILY STANDARD, Celina, OhioThursday evening, September 25, 2014

By COLIN FOSTERcfoster@dailystandard.com

WhenthelopsidedscoreoftheFortRecovery-Delphos St. John’s game wasannounced over the loud speakers atCavalierStadiuminColdwaterlastFri-day,itsentashockwavethroughoutthebleachers. Indeed, the Indians’ 39-7 win overDelphos St. John’s — a perennial foot-ballpowerhouserankedsixthlastweekin the Division VII state poll — cameas a surprise to some people, perhapseven the Fort Recovery faithful. ButthatvictoryandwhattheIndianshaveaccomplishedtothispointhavebeennofluke — the numbers and results don’tlie. “Goingintothe(St.John’s)game,wereally felt like we had a good chancetobeatthem,basedonwhatwefeltwecould do and what they’ve looked likethis year,” said Fort Recovery coachBrentNiekampon thedayhis IndianswererankedeighthintheDivisionVIIstate poll. “But we knew they wouldplayreallyhardandtheywouldbeverywellcoached,whichtheywere.Wealsofigureditwouldbeafight. “I think, tobehonest,wesurprisedourselvesalittlebit.That’slikeanotherrevelation to ourselves that, you know,we’vegotachancetobeprettygoodifwekeepourfocusandkeepgettingbet-tereveryweek.” Thisweek,Niekamp’sbunch travels

toplayMidwestAthleticConferencefoeParkway (0-4, 0-2) at Panther Stadiumandwilltrytoavengea43-14lossatthehandsofthePanthersfromlastseason. “They have some athletes who aredefinitelycapableofcausingsometrou-ble,” Niekamp said. “One thing that’shardtogaugewithParkwayistheyhavefourlossesbutofalltheteamsthatbeatthem, there’s only two losses betweenthose teams. That means they’ve beenplayingsomeprettygoodteams.Ithinkthey’re a little bit better than theirrecordshows.” “We’ve played a tough schedule,”Parkway coach Dan Cairns said. “Onething that I know we really have toimprove on is just fundamental stuff,blocking,catching, throwing,and tack-ling,too.Thosearethethingsthathavebeenhurtingusinthefirstfourgames—fundamentalstuff.” FortRecovery,aschoolthathasnev-erreachedtheplayoffs,hasroaredoutto a 3-1 start this year and is rankedatoptheDivisionVII,Region26playoffstandings.Rightbehind the Indians isreigningMACchampionMarionLocal,whomtheywillhostinWeek8.TheForthas outscored opponents 113-60 in thefirst four weeks and has posted winsagainstNorthUnion(26-19),JayCounty(28-0)andSt.John’s.TheIndians’ loneloss came against Anna in Week 3, a34-20setbackontheroad. “Ithinkourkids,week-by-week,arefeeling a little more confident in their

ability and what we’re able to do andhopefullywhatwe’llbeable toaccom-plishthroughoutthecourseofthesea-son,” Niekamp said. “I think we werekind of hopeful at the start, and witheach win or achievement, I think westart to understand a little bit betterthat our ceiling could be pretty high.That’sexcitingforeverybody.” A balanced and diverse offensiveattack has been a key to the Indianssuccess.FortRecovery’srushingattackhas been paced by Cole Hull, who hasrackedup67attemptsfor523yardsandsix touchdowns.KyleSchroerhasalsobeen a lethal threat in the backfield,amassing 252 yards and scoring twotouchdowns. Quarterback Caleb Mar-tin has passed for 567 yards and fivetouchdowns compared with four inter-ceptions. The leading receiver is WesWenning, who has 16 catches for 235yardsandthreetouchdowns,includinga98-yardscoringcatchagainsttheBlueJays. “They’re very versatile in terms ofrunning and throwing the ball. Theycandoboth,”Cairnssaid.“They’reverymulti-formational, which can cause alot of problems for you as a defense,

becauseyouhavetopreparefor,Idon’tknow, I can’t even tell you how manyformationswecameupwith. “That’sanissuebecausetheyforma-tion you to death. They can run justabout any of their base plays out ofeachformationand,likeIsaid,they’reprettyadeptatthrowingjustaswellasrunningandthey’vegotsomeniceskillplayers.” The Parkway offense has produced18pointsoveritslastthreegames.ThePanthershave lost fourgames toopentheseasonagainstopponentswhohavea 14-2 record (Crestview, Arlington,St. Henry and Anna). The road won’tgetanyeasierfor thePanthers,either.AfterplayingtheIndians,theytraveltotake on Coldwater (4-0) and Versailles(3-1)beforehostingSt.John’sinWeek8. HaydenAbromavichandJustinBar-nahavebeencompetingforthestartingquarterback job. Abromavich playedmuchofthesecondhalfinalosstoSt.HenryduringWeek3andledtheteamon a touchdown drive. Thus far, Abro-mavichis15-of-32passingfor171yardswithatouchdownandaninterception.Barna, the opening night starter, has

GOAL LINEThe Weekly Area High School Football Preview Section

Indians look to continue hot start against PanthersIMPACT GAME OF THE WEEK

Fort Recovery’s Tyler Acheson, 78, had an interception as he started for the injured Seth Reigle at linebacker in last Friday’s win over St. John’s. The state-ranked Indians will look for their fourth win of the season this week.

Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard File Photo

Panthers Stadium, Rockford, 7:30 p.m.

Vs.Parkway

(0-4, 0-2 MAC)

Fort Recovery(3-1, 1-1 MAC)

Hayden Abromavich, 3, will look to help Parkway pick up its first win of the season as the Panthers host Fort Recovery on Friday night.

Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard

See RECOVERY, page 11A

THEDAILYSTANDARD,Celina,Ohio 11AThursday evening, September 25, 2014

CertifiedService

Service Hours:Mon. 8 am-7 pm;

Tues., Wed., Thurs. & Fri. 8 am-5 pm; Saturday & Sunday CLOSED

218 S. Walnut St., Celina, OH1-800-686-2234 • 1-800-98-CHEVY • 419-586-2385

www.kernschevyolds.com

Good luck bulldogs!

passed for 232 yards and one touchdown. Cairns said they are still trying to figure out who can deliver the spark they need at the position. “Hayden and Justin both bring a different set of skills to the table,” Cairns said. “One’s weakness is the other one’s strength. Honestly, we’re look-ing for somebody to get hot and someone to ignite us a little bit. Our plan this week is to again let those two battle it out.” Leading the team in rushing are Barna (33 carries, 117 yards), Sage Dugan (26, 110 yards) and Cody Coffman (21, 101 yards). Coffman is also leading the team in all-purpose yards with 314. The top pass catcher for the team is Kevin Flaugher, who has eight receptions for 131 yards

and a touchdown. Flaugher leads the defense with 29 tackles — two of them for a loss. Dugan has contributed 21 1⁄2 tackles and has four tackles for loss. “It’s hard to get a good feel for them offensively,” Niekamp said. “They do a lot of different things. I think they’re looking for what they’re going to be able to do well. They had the Barna kid starting out the year for them. Now they have (Abromavich) and he’s a nice looking athlete. He looks a little more mobile may-be. He’s a senior and he’s prob-ably going to be able to play with some grit and determination. I think that’s what we’re going to have to be ready for.” Parkway has won the last three out of four games in the series, including a 36-35 over-time victory in 2011 on the road.

(Continued from page 12A)

Recovery

Wapakoneta vs. CelinaCelina Stadium

Last Season: Wapakoneta, 29-26. Zach Schmerge’s one-run TD run with 44 seconds left in the game spoiled Celina’s rally after being down 15-6 at the half. Caleb Hoyng passed for 242 yards and Louden Limon rushed for 100 yards and scored twice. About the Redskins: First-year coach Tra-vis Moyer’s squad has played strong defense to start the season, allowing an average of 6.5 points per contest — best in scoring defense in the WBL. ... RB Keaton Metz rushed for 87 yards in the Week 3 win over Bath and has 257 yards and four TDs on the season. ... QB Kodi Morgan has thrown for 345 yards and rushed for 243 yards. About the Bulldogs: Celina rebounded from its first loss of the season in Week 3 to beat Defiance 35-7. ... Hoyng threw for 133 yards and a touchdown and ran for 99 yards and a score. ... Celina ranks second in the WBL in scoring defense (8.8 ppg.).

Coldwater vs. AnnaBooster Field

Last Season: Coldwater, 43-7. Brody Hoying rushed for 76 yards and four touchdowns and the Cavaliers took advantage of six turnovers by the Rockets, who were missing RB Christiaan Williams. About the Cavaliers: S/QB Hoying returned after missing nearly two games with a knee injury. Primarily focused on defense, Hoying had two touchdown runs against St. Henry. ... QB Jack Hemmelgarn had another solid game, completing 13-of-26 for 173 passes with no inter-ceptions. ... The Cavalier defense recorded its second safety of the season, one more than in all of last season. . About the Rockets: Anna had a 391-93 advan-tage in total offense against Parkway in Week 4. ... QB Ryan Counts was 11-of-16 for 142 yards and two touchdowns. ... Williams carried the ball 16 times for 80 yards and a score.

Versailles vs. MinsterMemorial Field

Last Season: Minster, 28-21 (2OT). Current University of Tennessee TE Ethan Wolf’s 15-yard touchdown reception gave the Wildcats the win over the Tigers. About the Tigers: After losing the opener

to Celina, Versailles has won three straight, averaging 30.7 points in the three wins after scoring just a field goal against Celina. ... RB Colin Peters rushed for 138 yards and a touch-down, raising his season total to 534 yards. ... QB Jared Niekamp was 3-of-6 passing with all three completions resulting in touchdowns. About the Wildcats: The Wildcats endured a tough stretch of games the past two weeks in facing defending state champs Coldwater and Marion Local back-to-back. ... WR Eli Wolf recorded all four Minster TDs in the loss to Marion Local. Eli Wolf needs 18 yards to pass older broth-er Ethan for second place on the all-time receiving yards list. The record is 1,401 set by Greg Heitkamp from 1981-83. ... Evan Huelsman had 12 tackles against Marion.

Marion Local vs. St. HenryWally Post Athletic Complex

Last Season: Marion Local, 35-7. Dustin Reth-man, making his first start at quarterback in place of the injured Adam Bertke, threw for 147 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score as Aaron Nietfeld had 73 yards rushing and two touchdowns. About the Flyers: The Marion machine kept rolling, scoring 56 points against Minster, put-ting their season average at 46.5 points per game. ... Rethman had as many completions and attempts (13-of-19) as he had had in the first three games of the season and more than doubled his passing yards with his 338 yards and four touchdowns. Nearly half of his comple-tions have gone for touchdowns this season (26 completions, 12 touchdowns, 46.2 percent). ... WR Hunter Wilker had four touchdown catches, raising his season total to 10 total touchdowns — second-most in the area. About the Redskins: RB Jessie Niekamp, the area’s top rusher and scorer, was held to 53 yards and no touchdowns against Coldwater. ... The Redskins dropped from third in the Divi-sion VI state poll to 10th after the loss to the Cavs. ... Following this week, St. Henry plays at Versailles (3-1) and at New Bremen (0-4) and then hosts Minster (2-2).

Delphos St. John’s vs. New BremenCardinals Stadium

Last Season: St. John’s, 48-12. Luke MacLen-nan rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns and Tyler Jettinghoff rushed for three touch-downs as the Blue Jays outrushed the Cardinals 338-242 About the Blue Jays: Delphos opened the year with impressive wins against Elida (40-34 in double OT) and Lima Central Catholic

(20-14). ... Since then, Delphos has lost to Versailles (20-7) and Fort Recovery (39-7). ... The Blue Jays are still ranked fifth in Division VII, Region 24 playoff standings. ... QB Nick Martz rushed for 73 yards on 17 carries, but 41 yards came on one run as the Indians put defensive pressure on the Blue Jays. About the Cardinals: New Bremen is coming off a 41-14 loss to Versailles. ... The Cardinals are averaging 15.25 points per game and are giving up 47. ... QB Trey Naylor had two passing touch-

downs in last week’s loss to Versailles. ... He has thrown for 542 yards and four touchdowns this season. .... WR Nick Gusching had four catches for 117 yards and added a touchdown last week. ... Braden Elshoff leads the team in tackles with 17.

St. Marys vs. BathBath Stadium

Last Season: Bath, 27-21. The Wildcats led 21-7 at the half but needed a Cameron Jenkins 26-yard touchdown pass to Colin Gossard with four minutes to go in the game to hold off a late Roughrider charge. About the Roughriders: St. Marys used the “Lonesome Polecat” formation to set up Dustin Howell’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Fitzgerald with 22 seconds left in regulation to go to overtime with Elida. Howell’s touchdown run in overtime and backup kicker Zac Nelson’s PAT proved to be the difference in a 47-46 win. ... Fitzgerald, thanks to a 240-yard effort, leads the Grand Lake area in rushing with 638 yards and has scored 11 touchdowns. About the Wildcats: A Dylan Burkholder touchdown with 43 seconds remaining kept Bath from being shut out in a 38-6 loss to Wapa-koneta at Harmon Field. ... Jenkins was held to 4-of-14 passing for 70 yards with an interception, which was returned by Cameron Lauck for a 97-yard touchdown. Jenkins has thrown for 642 yards with six touchdowns and six intercep-tions. ... Bath’s 32.8 points allowed per game ranks ninth in the WBL in scoring defense. Only Defiance’s 42.0 points allowed per game ranks worse.

Two Minute

Drill

Area Preview Capsules

Players of the Week

Isaac Fitzgerald, RBSt. Marys

———43 carries for 240 yards and four rushing touchdowns, two catch-es for 50 yards and a receiving touchdown in the Roughriders’ 47-46 overtime win over Elida.

OFFENSE DEFENSE

Alex Schoen, LB Fort Recovery

———11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, fumble recovery in end zone for touchdown in the Indians’ 39-7 win over Delphos St. John’s.

MACStandings

MAC OverallColdwater 2-0 4-0Marion Local 2-0 4-0Anna 2-0 3-1Versailles 2-0 3-1St. Henry 1-1 3-1Fort Recovery 1-1 3-1Minster 0-2 2-2St. John’s 0-2 2-2New Bremen 0-2 0-4Parkway 0-2 0-4

NextFriday’sGames Coldwater at Anna Marion Local at St. Henry Versailles at Minster Fort Recovery at Parkway St. John’s at New Bremen

WBLStandings

WBLOverallOttawa-Glandorf 3-0 4-0Wapakoneta 3-0 4-0Celina 2-1 3-1Kenton 2-1 2-2Shawnee 2-1 2-2St. Marys 1-2 2-2Elida 1-2 1-3Bath 1-2 1-3Van Wert 1-2 1-3Defiance 0-3 0-4

NextFriday’sGames Wapakoneta at Celina St. Marys at Bath Ottawa-Glandorf at Defiance Elida at Van Wert Kenton at Shawnee

Local Football LeaderboardSCORINGPlayer TD C XP FG TPIsaac Fitzgerald, SM 11 0 0 0 66Jesse Niekamp, SH 11 0 0 0 66Hunter Wilker, ML 10 0 0 0 60Christiaan Williams, A 8 1 0 0 50Cole Hull, FR 8 1 0 0 50Jacy Goettemoeller, ML 7 0 0 0 42Eli Wolf, MIN 7 0 0 0 42Brody Hoying, CW 6 1 0 0 38Several with 5 0 0 0 30

RUSHINGPlayer Car. Yds. Avg. TDIsaac Fitzgerald, SM 112 638 5.7 10Jesse Niekamp, SH 59 598 10.1 10Colin Peters, V 95 536 5.6 3Cole Hull, FR 67 519 7.7 6Christiaan Williams, A 75 491 6.8 6Eric Spicer, SM 53 468 8.8 3Nick Martz, DSJ 83 402 4.8 5Jacy Goettemoeller, ML 29 352 12.1 3Garett Winget, CEL 51 324 6.4 5Matthew Bruce, A 35 311 8.9 2

RECEIVINGPlayer Rec. Yds. Avg. TDEli Wolf, MIN 25 457 18.3 6Grant Glover, A 19 372 19.6 2Hunter Wilker, ML 12 366 30.5 5Kraig Schoenherr, CW 12 236 19.7 2Wes Wenning, FR 16 235 14.7 3Sean Kirk, CEL 20 235 11.8 0Nick Gusching, NB 10 219 21.9 2Greg Parker, NB 11 218 19.8 1Jacob Stolly, CEL 11 217 19.7 2Jacob Dues, MIN 9 188 20.9 3

TACKLESPlayer TTC.J. Seibert, CW 49

Frank Townsend, CEL 47Evan Schoen, FR 42Jake Schmidt, CW 41Mitch Fullenkamp, CW 40Nate Langenkamp, SH 39Alex Schoen, FR 36Wes Showalter, A 36Evan Huelsman, MIN 35Brandon Kunk, CW 34

SACKSPlayer SacksFrank Townsend, CEL 6Zach Marks, CEL 5.5Mitch Fullenkamp, CW 5Nick Clune, CW 5Mitch Clune, CW 4Peter Ranly, MIN 3Dillon Lininger, SM 3Blake Benton, ML 3Evan Huelsman, MIN 2.5

INTERCEPTIONSPlayer Int.Sean Kirk, CEL 3

Carter Huelskamp, A 3Kris Gangwer, P 2Evan Hays, DSJ 2Mitch Stammen, FR 2Jace Barga, V 2

FUMBLERECOVERYPlayer FRNick Gusching, NB 2Spencer Chilcoat, CEL 2

PUNTSPlayer Att. Avg.Isaac Fitzgerald, SM 7 39.7Zach Steinbrunner, V 19 38.9Mitchel Stammen, SH 8 38.3Caleb Hoyng, CEL 18 36.2Peter Ranly, MIN 17 34.6Dustin Rethman, ML 1 33.0Darien Sheffer, FR 14 32.9Deven Haggard, DSJ 21 32.3Kyle McKibben, CW 17 31.8Luke Albers, A 6 31.3Nick Gusching, NB 15 30.9Cody Coffman, P 13 28.2

TDSQUARTERBACKEFFICIENCYPlayer Comp. Att. Pct. Yds. TD/Int. Efficiency*Dustin Rethman, Marion Local 26 37 70.3 659 12/1 321.50Ryan Counts, Anna 33 59 55.9 514 6/3 152.50Mitchel Stammen, St. Henry 42 68 61.8 463 7/1 149.99Jack Hemmelgarn, Coldwater 40 66 60.6 496 5/0 148.73Brody Hoying, Coldwater 9 15 60.0 156 0/0 147.36Dustin Howell, St. Marys 35 49 71.4 402 2/2 145.65Jared Niekamp, Versailles 13 32 40.6 255 5/3 140.38Josh Nixon, Minster 63 126 50.0 878 12/3 135.20Caleb Hoyng, Celina 48 77 62.3 642 3/4 134.84Trey Naylor, New Bremen 30 61 49.2 542 4/4 132.34Caleb Martin, Fort Recovery 48 80 60.0 567 5/4 130.16Hayden Abromavich, Parkway 15 32 46.9 171 1/1 95.83Nick Martz, Delphos St. John’s 32 76 42.1 372 3/2 90.98Justin Barna, Parkway 28 63 44.4 232 1/5 64.74