Fast Start Carries Delphos St. Johns Over Minster, 35-20

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER  —  Coming into Friday night’s contest, the Minster Wildcats had lost twelve straight games to the Delphos St. Johns Blue Jays by an average of over 28 points per game. Though a look at the final statistics shows the Wildcats had their chances, history repeated itself, as the Blue Jays used a quick start overcome the Wildcats 35-20.

The post game totals were practically equal for first downs, turnovers and time of possession, while Minster compiled over 100 more yards rushing (including 182 yards from Ty Whitford) and over 50 more yards overall. The difference was that Delphos St. Johns turned their drives into points by succeeding in 8 of their 10 third down conversion attempts, while Minster often sputtered to a stop short of the goal line.

Delphos didn’t waste any time putting the first points on the board. Matt Brinkman returned the opening kickoff 51 yards to the Minster 31-yard line. Six plays later quarterback Wes Ulm capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

The Wildcats tried to respond, driving to the Blue Jay 30-yard line before A.J. Klausing grabbed his first of two interceptions on the night at the 9-yard line. Delphos drove all the way to the Minster 9-yard line where they returned the favor, as a Reid Heitkamp interception stopped the Blue Jays.

Delphos expanded the lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter as Ulm ran for another touchdown, this one 13 yards in length. Minster responded with ten straight running plays capped off by a Whitford 10-yard run to reduce their deficit to 14-7.

Minster hoped for a chance to even the score before halftime, but Delphos completed a 23-yard pass on 3rd down and 13, then on another third-down play Ulm hit Brad Hoffman with a 28-yard touchdown toss to give the Blue Jays a 21-7 halftime advantage.

The Wildcats started the second half with ten more consecutive running plays to reach the Delphos 20-yard line, but they were stymied when a fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete. Minster soon got the ball back at the Blue Jay 36-yard line after a Sam Otting interception, but again failed to convert on a subsequent fourth down pass play.

On the second play of the fourth quarter Ulm appeared to ice the game with a 35-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-7. But the Wildcats quickly responded when Baumer hit Brian Mueller in stride for an 82-yard touchdown strike. Minster then recovered an onside kick and the tension returned to the game.

It took eleven plays and one fourth down conversion, but the Wildcats scored with 6:13 remaining in the game on a 15-yard Whitford touchdown sprint. Delphos blocked the extra point attempt and clung to a 28-20 lead.

A fired-up Minster defense forced Delphos to punt after just three plays. But Klausing was the hero one more time, as he intercepted a Wildcat pass and returned it 34 yards for the final score of the game.

When asked about his team’s key to victory, St. Johns coach Todd Schulte cited “Our quick start, obviously. Our wheels fell off in the last quarter and a half and we’re not going to accept that out of our team. They did a good job of answering every time they got a chance. They hurt us in the second half.”

Next week Delphos takes their 3-0 record back home to face 1-2 New Bremen. 2-1 Minster goes back on the road to visit the 2-1 Fort Recovery Indians in a big division six battle.

SCORE BY QUARTERS
Delphos St. Johns   7 14   0    14    — 35

Minster                   0    7     0    13     —     20