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Fort Frye’s historic season comes to an end

Photo by Jordan Holland Fort Frye's Brady Schilling (2) hauls in a pass as Kirtland's Connor Gron (6) defends during a high school football playoff game Friday night at Robert Fife Stadium in Massillon.

MASSILLON — Fort Frye went toe to toe with Kirtland Friday night, giving the Hornets everything they could handle in a state semifinal matchup at Robert Fife Stadium.

In the end, Kirtland came away with a 35-18 victory, but Cadets head coach Eric Huck felt his team proved it belonged on the field with the Division VI powerhouse.

“I’m very proud of our players,” said Huck, whose team finished the season 12-1. “They knew we could come out and win this football game and we came close.”

The first half was a shootout as the Cadets put up more points on Kirtland than any team had all season.

Joey Torok got the Hornets (14-0) on the board first with a 22-yard rushing touchdown to make it 7-0 at the 10:32 mark in the first quarter.

Fort Frye answered, driving 56 yards on 10 plays and chewing 5 minutes, 6 seconds off the clock and scoring on Tate Engle’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Zane Greenleaf. The two-point rush attempt was stuffed to make it 7-6, Kirtland, at the 5:17 mark. The Cadets went 0 for 3 on two-point tries in the game.

The Hornets went back to work and quickly stretched their lead to eight, 14-6, on Tommy Powers’ 34-yard TD run with 2:36 left in the first.

Powers, Torok and Jake Neibecker did the bulk of the damage for Kirtland. Neibecker rushed 21 times for 154 yards, Torok added 85 yards on 11 attempts and Powers rushed for 121 yards on seven carries while completing 5 of 7 pass attempts for 62 yards.

Kirtland totaled 441 yards of offense to Fort Frye’s 273.

The Cadets came right back at the Hornets, though. A 15-yard run by Evan Schob and a 19-yard reception by Brady Schilling set up Fort Frye deep in Kirtland’s territory. The Cadets made it 14-12 on Brian Adkins’ 15-yard TD catch from Engle with 11:14 left in the second quarter.

Kirtland went up two scores on its ensuing possession, running Neibecker to the tune of 35 yards on five carries and a 1-yard TD rush with 8:12 remaining in the first half to make it 21-12.

Needing a score before the half, Fort Frye faced 3rd-and-9 on Kirtland’s 45-yard line when Engle connected with Tyler Fisher on a 27-yard pass play to get to the Hornets’ 18. Four plays later, Engle threw an 8-yard TD pass to Brenden Huck to cut it to 21-18.

The Cadets got a big defensive stop to end the half when Kirtland kicker Mario Rodin missed a 35-yard field goal try as time expired.

“We played well in the first half,” Huck said. “We moved the ball in the second half but just couldn’t get it in the end zone. That’s what (Kirtland’s) done all season is make big plays on defense and stop people.”

Fort Frye’s defense forced a punt and a turnover on downs on Kirtland’s first two drives of the second half, but could not capitalize with points on the offensive end.

Facing a 3rd-and-14 from their own 21, Engle was picked off by Connor Gron to set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Neibecker to make it 28-18 with 10:26 left in the game.

“I got a little too cute with the play-calling,” Huck said. “We were running the ball just fine and I decided to throw the ball a couple times and it cost us. Should’ve just kept doing what we were doing. That was a moment we would like to have back there starting the fourth quarter, down three, with a chance to drive down the field and take the lead.”

Fort Frye was still in it, though, and moved the ball all the way to Kirtland’s 8-yard line on its next drive. Greenleaf had a 12-yard carry and Fisher netted 15 yards on a run on the possession, but Kirtland came up with the stop on 4th-and-goal to get the ball back. Starting at their own 4, Torok rushed for 22 yards followed by Neibecker’s 20-yard rush to get the ball to midfield. Four plays later on 4th-and-5, Torok rushed for seven yards to pick up a first down and essentially seal the deal for the Hornets as Fort Frye was out of timeouts. Powers ran it the rest of the way for a 51-yard touchdown to make it 35-18 with 1:48 left on the clock, ending the season and careers for Fort Frye’s all-time winningest senior class.

“I can’t say enough about these guys,” Huck said. “Senior-led, but we’ve got a lot of good football players all the way down through. Every single one of these kids are great kids and great football players, too.”

Fort Frye was led in rushing by Fisher’s 83 yards on 12 carries. As a team, they finished with 185 yards on 42 rushes.

“We knew we weren’t going to be able to run the ball inside a lot,” said Huck, noting Kirtland’s size advantage up front. “We just kept hitting the edges then came inside a couple times. At the beginning of the game we were running our trap really well. They started stunting the tackles to stop it so we ran on the edge. That’s what we’ve done all year. It’s worked for us. Just didn’t quite get it done tonight.”

Engle, who finished 44-5 in his career as Fort Frye’s starting quarterback, completed 10 of 16 pass attempts for 88 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Fisher also threw an interception to Dominic Capretta on his only attempt on the game’s opening drive.

“(Engle) played very well,” Huck said. “He was kicking himself after that interception at the start of the fourth quarter. He’s a heck of a football player. I’m going to miss him. He came out and threw the ball very well and made some plays that got us in scoring position and got us to score. Tate threw the ball very well, especially in the first half.”

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