Versailles Comeback
Yields 26-20 Win Over Minster
By
Bruce Monnin
MINSTER — When Versailles played their first ever game
in the MAC back in 2001, they were defeated by the Wildcats. Minster had not repeated that performance in
the five games since, but they looked ready to do so when they led the
Versailles Tigers 20-6 early in the third quarter. Versailles proceeded to outscore the Wildcats
20-0 the rest of the way and held off a late Wildcat drive to hold on to the
26-20 victory.
Versailles opened the game by punting after
just three plays. Minster’s offense got
in gear early, driving to the Tiger 18-yard line, where on a fourth down and
two play they came up inches short and gave the ball back to Versailles on
downs.
Minster forced another Tiger punt on the next
possession, and this time took just five plays to score the opening touchdown
of the night on a 3-yard Brian Mueller run, one play after the Wildcats
converted on a fourth down and one.
Versailles responded quickly, with quarterback Jon Richard breaking
loose on a 31-yard touchdown run to even the score at 6-6.
Minster’s first drive of the second quarter saw
them again drive into Versailles territory, this time reaching the Tiger
34-yard line before being stopped on another fourth-down play. After a stop by the defense, Minster again
drove to paydirt, covering
Minster received the opening kickoff and widened
the lead to 20-6 five plays later.
Mueller had a 35-yard run around the end in the middle of the drive and capped
it off with a 7-yard plunge.
“We came out and our kids did exactly what we
asked them to do,” stated Minster coach Eric Belcher. “We came out in the second half and scored
the first drive.”
Just when the game seemed to be going all Minster’s
way, the momentum shifted. Richard got
the ball rolling with a 64-yard touchdown run to bring the deficit down to
20-12. A failed two-point conversion
kept the Wildcat lead at 8 points.
On Minster’s next possession they fumbled the
ball at midfield for the first turnover of the game. Ten plays later, and most of them power
rushing plays, the Ethan Oliver bulled over the goal to tighten the score at
20-18. Another failed two-point
conversion allowed Minster to take their two-point lead into the fourth quarter.
By this time, the Versailles line had taken
over the game. Minster was unable to
make any headway on offense, and when the Tigers got the ball back, they ran 12
consecutive times until Shawn Winner scored the go-ahead touchdown. Another running play by Winner was good for
the extra two points and Versailles had their first lead, 26-20.
“I thought we were doing a lot of spectating (in the first half), and not too much getting off blocks and making plays,” commented Versailles coach Jason Schondelmeyer. “We loosened up our ends a little bit in the second half because Mueller was hurting us with those boots around the outside. Offensively, we didn’t really change a whole bunch, just told the guys to come off the ball.” Minster had one last chance at the end of the game. Starting from their own one-yard line with 2:41 remaining, the Wildcats first three plays gained no yardage. On fourth down, Mueller threw to Keith Nerderman for 28 yards to keep the Wildcats’ hopes alive. A Versailles pass interference penalty and a 17-yard screen pass to Ty Whitford helped get Minster to the Versailles 30-yard line, but a third failed fourth down conversion in Tiger territory on the night sealed the Versailles win. “We moved the ball 70 some yards but couldn’t put it in,” lamented Belcher, who was however pleased with the team’s overall performance. “Everyone played a heck of a game, and I know that they are going to continue to do that day in and day out now. They know the difference between what can happen when they play all together as opposed to how we played last week.” While Versailles outgained Minster 334-284 yards on the night, they lost that advantage by giving away 84 yards in penalties compared to just 11 for Minster. “It seemed like we got hammered pretty hard tonight,” admitted Schondelmeyer. “There was a lot of them (penalties) on our side and not too many on theirs.”
Next week Friday Versailles, now 1-1, hosts the
2-0 Anna Rockets. Minster (0-2) will
travel to Fort Recovery to play the 1-1 Indians.
SCORE BY QUARTERSVersailles 0 6 12 8 — 26
Minster 6 7 7 0 — 20