VERSAILLES – The
Minster Wildcats closed out the 1956 football season by dropping a defensive
struggle to Versailles 7-0. The Wildcats
moved the oval within the 25-yard line three times during the contest, but all
three drives fell short.
Versailles took the
opening kickoff but was halted on its own 45-yard line. The Tigers’ punt was returned to the Minster
45, when Wetzel cut off tackle for a first down on the Versailles 45-yard line. Three line plunges
proved fruitless, and Frericks was forced to
punt. Versailles’ Stroebel
took the ball on his own 15, faked a reverse to Paulus, and then jaunted down
the sideline 85 yards for the score. Stroebel plunged for the extra point, making it 7-0.
The defenses
dominated play for the remainder of the first quarter. In the second stanza an exchange of punts
gave the Wildcats their first scoring opportunity. With the ball on the Minster 47, Frericks and Overman combined to pick up a first down and
move the ball to the Tiger 40. Albers
picked up eight yards in two tries, and Prenger
plunged for another first down to the Versailles 17. Albers picked up three yards and Frericks four, but the defense could not be dented from
there and the Tigers took over and ran out the clock with the halftime score
7-0.
The Cats took the
second half kickoff, but Albers fumbled, and Versailles recovered. Paulus, Kaller and Stroebel advanced the ball to the Minster 20 but here the
Wildcat defense stiffened, and Minster took over on its own 18.
A Versailles punt
with ten minutes left in the game gave the Cats the pigskin on their own
40. Les Albers cut off tackle, picked up
some good blocking and raced to the Versailles 26 before he was pulled down
from behind. Prenger
picked up eight yards and Frericks sneaked for a
first down on the Versailles 14. Three line thrusts and an incomplete pass failed and once more
the Tigers took over.
The Tigers picked
up three first downs, but their offense bogged down, and they were forced to
punt. At the midfield stripe Frericks unleashed an aerial intended for Hogenkamp but the Tiger secondary was alert and Detrick
intercepted.
The visitors kept
possession until the clock showed two minutes left in the contest and
punted. Frericks
returned the punt to the Minster 40 and Albers tried the middle of the line but
was stopped at the line of scrimmage. A pass
interference penalty on Versailles gave the Cats a first down on the Tiger
45. An incomplete pass followed, then Frericks hit Albers with a pass on the 23.
With less than a minute
left Prenger tested the middle of the line for no
gain, and Frericks passed over the outstretched
fingertip of Hogenkamp in the end zone. Frericks was
smothered for a seven-yard loss, and the game ended as he threw an incomplete
pass to Hogenkamp.
The Minster defense
once again turned in a brilliant performance as is evident in the fact that the
Tigers were forced to punt eight times.
Excepting the 85-yard touchdown run, only once did the Tiger offense
move within the Minster 20.
Although the
Wildcats did not cross the goal line, the offense was within striking distance
three times. Les Albers did an
outstanding job in the backfield along with Frericks,
Prenger and Wetzel.
The Maltinskymen finished the season with a 2-5 mark, beating
Waynesfield and Piqua Catholic while bowing to Bradford, Lima Central Catholic,
Marion, Bath and Versailles.
Scoring by quarters:
Versailles 7 0 0 0 — 7
Minster 0 0 0 0 — 0
Team
statistics VER MIN
First
downs 5 11
Rushing
yards 104 180
Passing
yards 0 18
Comp
- att - int 0-3-0 1-8-1
Punts
- average 8-28.5 3-28.7
Fumbles
- lost ?-0 ?-3