St. Henry Dominates Minster in All Phases of 41-0 Game

By Bruce Monnin

ST. HENRY — The St. Henry Redskins dominated the Minster Wildcats by a final score of 41-0, and they did it in all facets of the game. The Redskins defense forced five Minster fumbles and recovered three of them, while also grabbing an interception. The special teams also got in on the act, blocking a Wildcat punt and forcing a fumble on a kickoff return. Meanwhile Jon Clune booted two kickoffs into the end zone and Mitch Niekamp averaged 43 yards on his three punts.

When the defense or the special teams handed the ball over to the offense, Andy Puthoff put on another impressive show, averaging 7.3 yards per carry while compiling 153 yards rushing and scoring three touchdowns. Toss in quarterback Doug Griesdorn’s two scoring throws, and everyone seemed to be contributing for the Redskins.

“It was a little unexpected to win 41-0,” admitted St. Henry coach Jeff Starkey, “but when you turn the ball over sometimes things kind of snowball.”

The St. Henry defense began the game by forcing Minster to punt on their first two series without gaining a first down. The Redskin offense responded with 49- and 50-yard scoring drives, capped off by a Puthoff one yard touchdown run and a Griesdorn six-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Lefeld to give St. Henry the 14-0 first quarter lead.

Minster headed into the second quarter with one of their patented, long, grinding drives. They gained 50 yards on 12 plays but were halted by the St. Henry defense on a fourth down and four play at the Redskin 30-yard line. The Minster defense then forced St. Henry to punt on their next two possessions, but the Wildcat offense could not capitalize against the Redskin defenders.

Just when it appeared it might be a tight game, the Minster flurry of turnovers began. After a Wildcat fumble, the Minster defense again stopped the Redskins, but on their next possession Minster had its punt blocked by Tony Stahl. This time St. Henry’s offense responded, driving the 23 yards for a touchdown with 11 seconds remaining in the half. Griesdorn’s scoring pass to Ryan Hartke increased the Redskin lead to 21-0.

Minster received more bad news in the first half when two-way starter Zac Boeke was knocked out of the game with what appears to be a broken collarbone.

St. Henry put the game away at the start of the third quarter. They received the opening kickoff and needed just 4 plays to cover the 57 yards for the score, with Puthoff hitting paydirt on an 11-yard run. A Minster fumble gave the ball back to the Redskins and they again drove for another Puthoff scoring run, this time from four yards out.

Minster then proceeded to fumble the ensuing kickoff which St. Henry recovered on the 16-yard line. The reserves got into the action and didn’t miss a beat. adding to the Redskin lead in just three plays when Christopher Reichert ran six yards for the final score of the game.

“That’s a good group,” complimented Starkey. “They’ve had a very successful JV season, and we expect them to run our offense and defense to finish the game, and they did that.”

Next week Friday St. Henry, now 7-1, travels to the 4-4 Versailles Tigers. Minster (3-5) returns home for the rest of the season, facing 2-6 Parkway.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

St. Henry 14 7 20 0 — 41

Minster 7 0 0 0 — 0