Fort Loramie’s Ray Hoying runs as Spencerville’s Carder Orr attempts to tackle him during a Northwest Conference game on Friday at Redskin Stadium.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
FORT LORAMIE — Fort Loramie set a season-high in points in a 42-21 win over Spencerville in a Northwest Conference matchup on Friday.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” Loramie head coach Spencer Wells said. “We finally felt like we got out of our own way a little bit. We’ve played some really good football at times, we just haven’t done it consistently. We found a way to do that in the first half.”
Loramie (3-3, 2-1) got the scoring started with a short rushing touchdown from Ray Hoying with seven minutes to play in the first following Spencerville’s unsuccessful drive to open the game.
Fort Loramie’s defense allowed one first down but forced a punt that left Loramie on their 17-yard line to start its drive.
On the first play from scrimmage after the punt, Loramie quarterback Gabe Hart found Maxwell Maurer for an 83-yard touchdown reception that put Fort Loramie up 14-0 with four minutes to play in the first quarter.
On Loramie’s next drive, it looked to be primed to score with the ball in the red zone, but Hart found the hands of a Spencerville defender for an interception.
A few drives later, Hoying found the end zone again on a 52-yard run to extend the Loramie lead to 21-0 with just under four minutes to play in the half.
“I’m really proud of Ray Hoying and how he ran the football,” Wells said. “He showed tonight why we have so much confidence in his ability to be a powerful runner.”
Spencerville took control of the ball but gave it right back on its first play from scrimmage on a Fort Loramie interception.
Hart capitalized on the turnover, taking the ball into the end zone on a short run to extend his team’s lead to 28-0 with under three minutes to play in the second quarter.
Loramie was able to add a fifth touchdown in the half when Hart found Maurer for a one-yard reception to make the score 35-0 at the half.
After an unsuccessful Loramie drive to start the third quarter, Spencerville marched down the field and found the end zone for the first time cutting Fort Loramie’s lead to 35-6 and stopping the running clock.
Loramie got the ball back but lost possession before breaking the 50-yard line on a fumble that was recovered by Spencerville.
Spencerville followed the turnover up with a 20-yard reception and then a touchdown and two-point conversion to make the score 35-14 late in the third.
Fort Loramie got a touchdown back early in the fourth quarter when Hart found Maurer again for a 15-yard reception, extending the lead to 42-14 in the process.
Spencerville kept fighting back, getting its third touchdown of the half on a long pass to cut the lead to 42-21 with just under eight minutes to play.
“You can tell that we haven’t had too many running clock leads at halftime,” Wells said. “We’ll learn from that. But I thought our guys battled hard.”
Spencerville kept the momentum on its side, recovering its onside kick after the touchdown and starting another drive on Loramie’s 42-yard line.
Louis Hart put the ball back in Loramie’s hands with a sack on fourth down with Spencerville nearing the red zone.
Off the back of the defensive stop, Fort Loramie was able to enter victory formation, take a knee and run out the clock.
“There were a lot of good things that we can build on going into these next two weeks with Grove and Bluffton,” Wells said. “If we can play like that, we’re going to be a tough out for anybody.”
Fort Loramie’s next game is against NWC frontrunners Columbus Grove at Columbus Grove on Friday.
Reach assistant editor/sports writer Ryan Harless at 937-538-4651 or follow @RyanHarless_ on X (formerly Twitter).
