Coldwater Downs Wildcats 45-7 in Dad’s Night Event

By Don Bachman

Minster High’s football Wildcats dropped their third game in four starts Friday night, bowing to a powerful Coldwater Cavalier eleven 45-7 in a Dad’s Night encounter here.

Whereas the Orange and Black were outscrapped by Wapak St. Joe last week to the tune of 45-0, the locals were simply outclassed by the Cavalier squad.

The only matter of discussion concerning the Coldwater contest is the reason why the Cavaliers appear on the Minster schedule year after year. It seems a shame to send a team like Minster with 25 boys on the roster against a school the size of Coldwater that has about 70 grid candidates yearly, and 50 boys in uniform for every game. Maybe the Wildcats could upset Coldwater once every 10 or 12 years, but it is not worth the price they pay.

Outclassed as they are the Wildcats usually wind up with injuries that cripple them for the rest of the season. Such was the case Friday night, with Dave Seger suffering a badly sprained ankle and Ken Gudorf an arm injury. Some of the other players, although escaping serious hurt, came out of the contest pretty well bruised.

Surely most of the spectators would rather watch a contest between evenly matched teams than wonder just how lopsided the score may be.

Let’s hope those who approve the Wildcat schedule for 1954 have the foresight to keep the Wildcats in their own class, where they will not only win their share of games but will get a little more fun out of the game rather than bumps and bruises in a useless cause.

In the Friday night contest, Coldwater developed a bad case of fumblitis in the first period, losing the ball twice, once on its own 18, but the locals could not get a scoring punch started and lost the ball on downs on the visitors 14. Howard Hastings then raced around left end for 86 yards and the only score of the first period. Dietsch’s kick was wide.

The Cavalier offense began to move in the second canto, racking up 19 points and a 25-0 halftime lead. After Seger punted to the Coldwater 44 early in the second quarter the Cavaliers moved to the Minster 1 in six plays and Ron Spoltman drove over on a quarterback sneak to make it 12-0. Dietsch’s kick was good.

Minster took over but was forced to punt to its own 41. Danny Harris raced around end to the three and Dennis Bonifas slammed over tackle to score. Dietsch’s kick was wide.

The final Cavalier scoring drive of the first half began when Seger punted out of bounds on the Coldwater 7. Harris and Hartings each picked up 20 to the 47. Four plays later, Hartings drove over for a first down to the Minster 41.

After a first-down pass fell incomplete Spoltman hit Harris in the left flat and the speedy Coldwater back outraced the Minster defenders. Dietsch’s kick was wide.

Coldwater recovered a Minster fumble on the 50 to set up its next marker. Schenking ran to the Minster 19 on an end around play and Harris skipped around end to score. Dietsch’s kick was wide again, and Coldwater led 31-0.

After taking over on their own 30 following a long Seger punt the visitors unleashed an aerial attack that took them to the Minster 5 before Hartings raced around end. Dietsch split the uprights to make it 38-0.

A bad pass from Center on a punt attempt set up the final Cavalier six-pointer. After taking over on the Minster 36 the visitors began to drive and Jim Geise smashed off tackle to score. The PAT by Dietsch was good and Coldwater led 45-0.

Minster recovered a fumble on the Coldwater 47 to start a scoring drive. A pass interference play and a holding penalty on the Cavaliers moved the pigskin to the 30. A pass, Davis to Bob Wente, put the ball on the 23. Wente raced off tackle and after juggling the ball a few times sprinted for the score.

John Froning, who is out of action with a broken bone in his hand, came off the bench to kick the point and end the scoring.

Next week the Wildcats travel to Ansonia for a Tri-County League game. Both Gudorf and Seger are doubtful starters. Jon Hogenkamp is expected to handle the quarterbacking with John Boerger replacing Seger.

Scoring by quarters:

Coldwater 6 19 13 7 — 45

Minster 0 0 0 7 — 7