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Defense leads Cadets to regional final

By Jordan Holland 6 min read

BEVERLY -- On a night where the Fort Frye offense struggled to get going, the defense picked up the slack.

The Cadets forced four turnovers and held Columbus Academy scoreless for three-and-a-half quarters en route to a 19-7 win in Friday's Division 5, Region 19 semifinals.

"It was our defense that kept us in it," said FFHS head coach Eric Huck. "Our offense was driving but couldn't seem to get the ball in the end zone. Our defense played lights out the whole game. When our offense finally got in the end zone it really opened things up. Our defense really won us the game."

Fort Frye improved to 11-1 on the year and will take on top-seeded Ironton at 7 p.m. next Friday at Jackson with the regional championship on the line.

The Cadets got the ball first and drove to the Vikings' 16-yard line. A carry by Sam Bricker resulted in a fumble that Columbus Academy fell on, but Bricker made up for it on the other end of the field. With the Vikings at Fort Frye's 18, Columbus Academy quarterback Michael Tishkoff rolled to his right and was strip-sacked by Bricker. Zavier Springer recovered the fumble.

Tishkoff completed 17 of 34 pass attempts for 140 yards. His 4-yard touchdown to Benji Gusty with 5:28 left in the fourth finally got the Vikings on the board. He intercepted twice -- once apiece by Aydric Wynn and Kylor Beardsley. Wynn also intercepted Gusty on a fake punt attempt early in the fourth.

"I was man on the tight end," said Wynn, a sophomore. "He just ran across the field. I was supposed to stay with him and I just jumped the pass. We were pretty prepared for that. They had to do something. They were running out of time."

At that point, Columbus Academy was down 7-0 and faced fourth-and-9 at midfield.

"We were yelling it from the sideline, with them in the midfield like that," Huck said. "We practice it all week long. We practice everything, all the special teams. We try to be as disciplined as possible. We know those plays can win or lose a game, so we were ready for that."

Wynn's pick led to the first of two touchdown runs by Tytan Waller in the span of 32 game seconds. He ran in from 17 yards out to make it 13-0 with 7:55 remaining.

Then, one play after Beardsley's interception put the ball at the Vikings' 10, Waller found paydirt again to stretch the lead to 19-0 with 7:22 on the clock.

"Props to the line always," said Waller, a senior who finished with 47 yards on 12 carries. "They work their butts off on both sides of the football. Felt great to punch a couple into the end zone. Defense gave us some great field position. Overall, a great feeling."

Huck added, "We ran that same play twice, both scores on that same play. He's been a leader and such a big part of our wins. Excited he was able to get in the end zone twice in his last game on this field."

After a scoreless first quarter, Fort Frye took a 7-0 lead on Gavin Rauch's 1-yard touchdown run at the 5:52 mark in the second. Wyatt Erb's 19-yard run set up the score by Rauch, who finished with 88 yards on 19 carries and also caught two passes for 56 yards.

The Vikings got the ball to start the second half and went three-and-out, but the punt was dropped and recovered by Columbus Academy at the Cadets' 25. After gaining one yard on two plays, Tishkoff heaved a desperation pass on third down that Wynn was waiting for. It was a sequence that could have flipped momentum in the Vikings' favor, but Fort Frye's defense rose to the occasion.

"We talk all the time about how you need to respond in those situations," Huck said. "It's never going to be perfect, but you got to respond the right way, and our defense really did, all night long."

FFHS quarterback Grady Hesson completed 3 of 6 pass attempts for 75 yards. He was intercepted once by Gusty. Hesson also ran six times for 29 yards while Bricker added 27 yards on five attempts. Erb chipped in 29 yards on five totes as the Cadets accumulated 219 yards on 48 carries to control the clock.

"We're a tough team," Huck said. "I felt like our guys were playing hard and hitting. They really wanted this. I've been doing this a while, and this is one of the toughest football teams I've coached."

Wynn now has three career interceptions in the regional semifinal round. Last year in a 34-32 loss to West Jefferson, Wynn intercepted an Austin Buescher pass. That type of big-game performance is exactly what the Cadets will need from their guys next week against the Tigers.

"We work really hard in practice every day and try to be elite," Wynn said. "That's our goal every time. We're a brotherhood here. It takes a whole team to get a big win like that."

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.

Division 5, Region 19 Semifinals

No. 2 Fort Frye 19, No. 3 Columbus Academy 7

C (8-4) 0 0 0 7 -- 7

F (11-1) 0 7 0 12 -- 19

F: Gavin Rauch 1 run, Tytan Waller kick, 5:52 2nd

F: Waller 17 run, kick failed, 7:55 4th

F: Waller 10 run, run failed, 7:22 4th

C: Benji Gusty 4 pass from Michael Tishkoff, Mark Masek kick, 5:28 4th

Team stats

Columbus Academy: First downs: 11; Rushes-yards: 18-46; Passing yards: 140; Total yards: 186; Passing: 17-35-3; Fumbles-lost: 1-1; Penalties-yards: 0-0; Punts-average: 3-26.7

Fort Frye: First downs: 17; Rushes-yards: 48-219; Passing yards: 74; Total yards: 293; Passing: 3-6-1; Fumbles-lost: 2-2; Penalties-yards: 3-10; Punts-average: 0-0

Individual stats

Columbus Academy: Rushing: Benji Gusty 7-24; Baron Dye 5-14; Michael Tishkoff 6-8; Passing: Tishkoff 17-34-2, 140 yards, TD; Brady Cripps 0-1-1, 0 yards; Receiving: Charles Pizzotti 6-49; Gusty 3-25, TD; Cripps 2-24; Dye 2-21; Billy Griffith 3-21

Fort Frye: Rushing: Gavin Rauch 19-88, TD; Tytan Waller 12-47, 2 TDs; Wyatt Erb 5-29; Grady Hesson 6-29; Sam Bricker 5-27; TEAM 1-(-1); Passing: Hesson 3-6-1, 74 yards; Receiving: Rauch 2-56; Ethan Wagner 1-18

Next game: Fort Frye vs. Ironton, 7 p.m. Friday at Jackson (Regional Final)

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