Fort Loramie Edges Minster, 14-12

By Bruce Monnin

FORT LORAMIE — There is an old coaching adage is that you need to put away a team when you have them down. If you let them hang around, they will beat you in the end. This held true for the Minster Wildcats in new head coach Nate Moore’s debut, as the Fort Loramie Redskins survived Minster’s first half onslaught to earn a come from behind 14-12 win.

“I thought we played a good, hard football game,” commented Moore. “It becomes a rivalry when towns are this close. You want to play hard, tough, physical and with class.”

The Wildcats outgained the Redskins 232-73 in first half yardage, but missed opportunities, turnovers and special team play limited Minster to just a 12-7 halftime lead.

Minster was the first team to threaten to score as they drove to the Fort Loramie 30-yard line midway through the first quarter. A big Redskin sack forced the Wildcats out of four down territory and forced a punt.

Minster soon had the ball again and this time drove 72 yards for the opening score. The touchdown came when Chase Paxson threw to Adam Kaiser who worked his way down the sidelines for a 36-yard score. In what would turn out to be a critical play of the game, the extra point was missed, and the Wildcats led 6-0.

Fort Loramie responded on their next possession with a 54-yard drive of their own when Ryan Humpries threw to Cory Brandewie for a 25-yard touchdown. Kyle Miracle kicked the extra point to give the Redskins a 7-6 lead.

Minster immediately reclaimed the lead. On their next possession, Paxson hit Derek Collins on a deep sideline route for a 58-yard score. The two-point attempt fell incomplete and Minster led again, 12-7.

The Wildcats drove into Fort Loramie territory twice more in the first half without scoring. They reached the Redskin 33-yard line before a fumble ended their first drive, then later drove to the Redskin four-yard line with 44 seconds remaining before intermission. Minster switched from the one back formation they had been using to a formation with a defensive lineman as a blocking fullback. On the next play confusion in the backfield led to a fumble which Fort Loramie recovered at the one-yard line.

The last and deciding score of the game came midway through the third quarter when Humphries threw a screen pass to Brandewie who ran 46 yards for the winning tally. Another extra point made the score 14-12 in favor of the Redskins.

“Minster was very aggressive with what they did tonight,” explained Fort Loramie coach Matt Burgbacher. “We thought we could take advantage of that with the screen.”

Minster methodically worked their way to the Redskin 18-yard line early in the fourth quarter, but a Wildcat holding penalty and another Redskin sack stalled the drive. Later in the final stanza the Wildcats reached the 38-yard line and chose to punt on fourth down with five yards to go. Fort Loramie made them regret that decision, as they ran the final 4:42 off the clock to seal the victory.

The loss ruined a good statistical game for Minster quarterback Paxson, who completed 17 of 26 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Troy Kaufman led the Wildcat rushing attack, compiling 72 hard earned yards on 19 carries.

Next week Friday Minster hosts 0-1 Sidney Lehman in a renewal of a series which Minster led 6-4 during its most recent stretch between 1991 and 2000. Fort Loramie will be traveling to play the 0-1 New Bremen Cardinals.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Fort Loramie 0 7 7 0 — 14

Minster 6 6 0 0 — 12