Wapakoneta St. Joseph 45 – Minster 0

Coach Paul Maltinsky has witnessed some pretty miserable football exhibitions in his five years as head of Minster’s grid squads, but Saturday night’s 45-0 loss to the Wapakoneta St. Joseph Knights surely must have reached a new peak in football futility.

The Wildcats were “mildcats” in Saturday’s contest and could do nothing right. After St. Joe grabbed a three touchdown lead the locals added insult to injury by committing the unpardonable competitive sin of “giving up” and simply went through the motions the rest of the way.

Two leading factors, other than Minster’s poor play, that accounted for the lopsided score, were the Wapak St. Joe was badly underestimated, and the loss of quarterback John Froning.

To say that St. Joe was underestimated is evident by the final score. After dropping the opening game to a Piqua Catholic team that showed little in the preview, the Knights were impressive, possibly the best the Cats have faced to date. Their blocking and ball handling proved they were well coached. Madigan and Woehler, halfbacks, were fast and elusive, and the line play was spirited if not exceptionally strong.

It is difficult to believe loss of one-man cold hamper an athletic squad as much as Johnny Froning’s absence did. This can be traced to the fact the Minster squad numbers about 23 players of whom seven or eight are undersized freshmen. That gives Maltinsky about 15 boys physically capable of playing high school football. These facts back up Maltinsky’s plea for more football candidates that seems to be shouted in vain every year.

Kenny Gudorf, who handled the quarterbacking chores, did a nice job, but simply lacked the experience and polish which is understandable since he is only a freshman. Certainly, no blame for this humiliating loss can be hurled in the direction of this untried freshman, but can be placed at the feet of some of the more experienced players who know better but seemed to lack the desire to put their knowledge to use.

The first quarter was scoreless with each team losing the ball once on fumbles. The Cats got a big break when Joe Elliott’s 29-yard run to the Minster 10 was called back on a holding penalty.

Ballweg punted out of bounds on the Minster 5 late in the first period to pave the way for the first score. Three line plays failed to gain the first down and Pat Madigan returned Seger’s punt to the Minster 35. Elliott brought the ball to the 22 but an offside penalty nullified the gain. Madigan raced to the 29 as the quarter ended.

Madigan moved to the 19 in the first two plays of the second session. Hanke Woehler drove to the 9 and Elliott raced around end to score. Tom Roth’s kick made it 7-0.

Meier recovered Hausfeld’s fumble on the Minster 23 to set up the second score. Wohler went to the 10 and Madigan to the one foot line and then drove over to make it 13-0. Roth’s kick for the extra point went wide.

Wente raced 25 yards to the Wapak 29 two plays after the kickoff, and the Wildcats looked like they were on the move. Gudorf passed to Brown to the 25 but Madigan intercepted an attempted pass on the next play and raced 80 yards to score. Roth’s kick was good and Wapak led 20-0. Woehler ended the first half scoring with a 38-yard jaunt around end. Roth converted and St. Joe led at the half 27-0.

The Wildcats kicked off to start the second half and recovered a St. Joe fumble on their own 18 after Madigan had run the kickoff back 60 yards. The Cats were held on downs and Seger punted to the Wapak 40. Madigan ran to the 31 and then caught a Harrison pass on the Minster 9. Woehler smashed off tackle for the score. Roth’s kick was blocked by Prenger.

Gudorf fumbled on the St. Joe 45 late in the third period. A pass was incomplete on the first play and Harrison was stopped for a nine yard loss as the quarter ended. Madigan got a first down to the Minster 45 and a pass from Harrison to Woehler put the ball on the 19. Madigan sprinted around end to score. Roth’s kick was blocked by Prenger. St. Joe led 39-0.

Minster moved to the Knights’ 36 but St. Joe held and Seger punted out on the Wapak 11. Three plays later Woehler raced around end on a reverse and ran through the entire Minster team to end the scoring at 45-0. Roth’s kick was wide. Minster, thanks to the hard driving of Wente, Davis and Brown, and minus any blocking, moved to the Wapak three but time ran out.

Dave Seger came out of the contest with a broken nose, and it is doubtful if he will see any action in Friday’s game.

Next week the locals entertain a powerful Coldwater eleven in a Dad’s Night encounter.

Scoring by quarters:

Wapakoneta St. Joseph 0 27 6 12 — 45

Minster 0 0 0 0 — 0