By Don Bachman
The Piqua Catholic’s
Cavaliers used three Minster fumbles and a blocked punt as stepping
stones to the Tri-County league championship as they topped the Wildcats
26-0 before a large shivering Homecoming crowd here Friday night.
The victory gave
the Blue and Gold a 4-0-0 league record and clinched their first league crown.
The Cavaliers’
vaunted offense which averaged 34 points per game, was overshadowed by a
hard-hitting defensive unit that held Minster to a total of 96 yards rushing,
and never let the Cats deeper than the 44-yard line.
The visitors quickly
took advantage of every Minster misplay as they recovered all four of the Cat
fumbles. Mike Moffitt was the biggest
thorn in Minster’s side as he picked up a pair of bobbles and personally
anchored down the left side of the Piqua line.
Minster was having
one of its poorer nights, part of which can be attributed to the spirited play
of the visitors who now have won six games against a 25-12 loss to Covington.
The Cavaliers got
their first break when Moffitt recovered Hausfeld’s
bobble on the Minster 27 early in the game.
An eight yard run by Walker and a nine yard
quarterback sneak by Kiefer were the big plays as Piqua drove for a first down
on the four. It took three plays before Sipple punched over left guard from the one
foot line. Hammer’s placement
attempt was blocked by Joe Bornhorst.
Jim Castonguay
broke through to block Horstman’s punt on the Minster 48 to set up the second
tally. Walker picked up 15 yards over
tackle, Keifer and Hammer advanced to the 20 and Sipple sped to the two.
Walker drove over the left side to score and Hammer converted to make it
13-0 as the first quarter ended.
The second stanza
was scoreless with Sipple and Horstman both punting
well.
Another Cat fumble,
this one by Hogenkamp, was recovered by Moffitt on
the Minster 29 late in the third period.
A 14-yard jaunt by Sipple was sandwiched
between a pair of four yard smashes by Hammer to put
the pigskin on the seven. Sipple cut over right tackle, broke away from a trio of
tacklers and romped into the end zone. An
attempted run following a poor center pass spoiled the conversion attempt.
An attempted
lateral following a completed pass went astray and Holtheide
recovered on the Minster 30 to pave the way for the victors’ last score. The Cavaliers fought down to the one-foot
line and Sipple scored with only 20 seconds left in
the contest. Hammer’s kick made the
final score 26-0.
Scoring by
quarters:
Piqua Catholic 13 0
6 7 — 26
Minster 0 0
0 0 — 0
Team
statistics MIN PC
First
downs 6 15
Passing
yards 4 0
Comp
- att - int 1-5-1 0-1-1
Punts
- average 6-29.1 4-36.2
Fumbles
- lost 4-4 3-1
Penalty
yards 5 35