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Fort Recovery's Reece Wendel (26) tries to avoid Parkway's Parker Lyons during Friday's MAC football game at Barrenbrugge Park. Fort Recovery defeated Parkway to snap a six-game losing streak.
FORT RECOVERY - After watching a 14-point halftime lead slip away early in the third quarter, Fort Recovery responded with a 67-yard, nine-play drive to regain the momentum and the lead.
The Indians added another score and went on to post a 36-24 homecoming win over Parkway Friday night a Barrenbrugge Park.
The victory snapped a six-game losing streak and allowed the Tribe (1-5, 2-6) to escape the cellar in the Midwest Athletic Conference.
"Parkway made some plays early, and we battled back," Fort Recovery coach Brent Niekamp said. "After the half, they made some plays again and we battled back. Our guys just kept fighting and kept believing, and I'm really proud of them."
The game looked like it was going to be a shootout early on. The Indians' Reece Wendel broke a couple tackles in the secondary and scored on a 58-yard run on the game's third play from scrimmage. Wendel then ran for the two-point conversion.
Parkway's Luke Booher (3) runs past Fort Recovery's Brodie Hart during Friday's game.
Two and a-half minutes later, Parkway's Luke Booher scored on a 28-yard run. The Panthers settled for a Jacoby Triplett PAT kick and trailed 8-7 with 7:05 left in the first quarter.
Parkway (0-6, 1-7) would take the lead later in the first quarter on a 40-yard field goal by freshman Trey Anderson, whose kick just grazed over the crossbar.
Defense prevailed for much of the second quarter until Fort Recovery sophomore Breaker Jutte put on his big play hat. Jutte hauled in a 22-yard reception from Caden Grisez to get the Indians into the red zone.
From there, the drive stalled but on fourth-and-seven Grisez scrambled backward to avoid a blitz and floated a pass into the corner of the endzone. Jutte used all of his 6-4 frame to go up and take the ball away from three Parkway defenders for the score.
Wendel again ran for the two-point conversion for a 16-10 Fort Recovery lead with 2:23 left in the half.
Fort Recovery's Breaker Jutte (18) grabs the hand of Parkway's Jacoby Triplett during Friday's game at Barrenbrugge Park.
Jutte wasn't done. He intercepted a pass by Parkway quarterback Brayden Bruns at the Panther 31 yard line.
Two plays later it was Wendel tossing a 24-yard completion to Jutte at the Panther 5 yard line. With the clock running down to zeros, Wendel covered the final five yards on a run. And just to cap things off, Jutte caught a pass from Grisez for the two-point conversion and a 24-10 lead.
The Panthers quickly grabbed the momentum after the break. Landon Hamerick broke tackles and scored on a 9-yard touchdown run.
Parkway's Jaden Green then intercepted a Grisez pass and returned it to the Fort Recovery 10. Four plays later, Bruns hit Collin Langekamp on a slant in the endzone to tie the score with 4:26 left in the third.
"Our kids kept battling. Being down 14 and coming all the way back is a testament to our guys and how they didn't give up," Parkway coach Brian Schmidt said.
Parkway's Landon Hamrick celebrates a big play during Friday's game.
Parkway's momentum was short lived. The Indians answered with a long drive that Wendel capped with a 10-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The ensuing kick-off was one of the stranger plays of the night. Gavin Evers had been squibbing kicks all night, and this time he appeared to almost whiff. The ball bounded ahead a few yards, but was not destined to go 10 yards. Despite that, a Parkway player came up and tried to make a play on the ball, instead fumbling with the Tribe recovering at midfield.
Grisez took over from there, picking up 10-yard chunks on student body left sweeps, working the ball and the clock until he found the endzone with 5:44 left in the game.
Jutte came up with his second interception of the night on the Panthers next drive, allowing Fort Recovery to eat more clock and put the game on ice.
"Kids just constantly came up with big plays throughout the game," Niekamp said. "Breaker Jutte with those interceptions, some of those big catches, and he went up and got that one in the endzone. He had a fantastic game. Gavin Evers with the big catch on fourth down that allowed us to keep winding that clock down in the fourth quarter."
Wendel (112) and Grisez (101) both rushed for more than 100 yards. Bruns threw for 161 yards for the Panthers.
"We talk about it. Some of those weeks it's hard to see progress," Niekamp added. "So we got to keep after it, keep working hard, keep getting better, so when we have our opportunities we can take advantage of it, and I'm glad our players did that tonight."
Fort Recovery will look to stay on the winning track next week with a home game against Anna. Parkway will be playing host to Delphos St. John's.
