By Don Bachman
MINSTER – Marion
high school quarterback Jim Goecke turned the last
six minutes of a tight defensive battle into a nightmare for Minster as he
threw two fourth-down touchdown passes and went for another after intercepting
a pass, to lead his mates to a 18-0 in over the Wildcats here last Friday
night.
The Flyers’
victory, witnesses by a huge Dad’s Night crowd, gave them a 4-2 edge in the six-game
series between the two clubs.
Marion’s first
touchdown came on a bitterly contested pass play that broke the backs of the
stout-hearted Cats. With fourth down and
seven to go on the 36, Goecke ran to his left looking
for a pass receiver downfield. Finding
everyone covered he began to run, and apparent to everyone but the head
linesman, crossed the line of scrimmage.
When Minster’s halfbacks rushed up to stop the play, he passed to Virg Bergman who was alone in the end zone. Even the Marion timekeeper admitted Goecke had crossed the scrimmage line, and had the play
been called back Minster would have taken over on the 41 and had a chance to score
or at least gain a scoreless tie. But
the Minster protest went for naught and the Wildcats, who had fought so
bitterly, trailed 6-0.
After taking the
kickoff the Wildcats fumbled on the second play and the Flyers recovered on the
31. Again on
fourth down, this time with five yards to go, Goecke
rolled out to his left and hit Imwalle in the end
zone for the score. Clune’s placement
was blocked by Jerry Huelsman.
Then with two
minutes left and the Cats striving desperately to score, Goecke
picked off a Minster pass on the 30 and ran it back for six points. Clune’s placement was wide.
The Orange and
Black missed its only scoring chance late in the first quarter. After Dave Wetzel returned a punt 16 yards to
the Marion 49 the locals rolled to a first down on the eleven, the big play
being an 18-yard end run by Frericks. Daulinghaus drove
to the eight and Hogenkamp to the four before an
offsides penalty pushed them back to the eleven. Frericks was thrown
for a two-yard loss on an attempted end run as the quarter ended. With fourth and 12 on the 13 Frericks shot a pass to Jon Hogenkamp
in the end zone but Broerman
batted it down as the Flyers took over.
The Cats did not threaten seriously after that.
In the dressing
room after the game Minster Coach Paul Maltinsky,
although bitter about the first scoring play that killed the locals, had
nothing but praise for his boys. He
singled out the defensive play of Bob Clune, Don Luthman
and Don Bowerman as outstanding and praised the running of Dave Wetzel, who
took up slack left by leg injuries to Hogankamp, Frericks and Seger.
The Minster mentor
called the last two games the Cats played their best showings and was
optimistic of their chances of finishing with a 4-4 record which would
necessitate wins in their final two games.
On the victor’s
side, the Marion defensive play was strong as they racked up their third
shutout of the season. Halfback Fred Broerman was the workhorse on offense, but as far as the Wildcats
were concerned there was one too many of Jim Goecke
on the field Friday night.
Scoring by quarters:
Marion Township 0
0 0 18 — 18
Minster 0
0 0 0 — 0
Team
statistics MAR MIN
First
downs 9 7
Rushing
yards 115 122
Passing
yards 62 14
Comp
- att - int 2-4-0 2-11-1
Punts
- average 4-38 6-21
Fumbles
- lost 4-3 3-2
Penalty
yards 50 20