Delphos St. Johns Continues Domination Over Minster, 35-7

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER  —  Coming into Friday night’s contest, the Minster Wildcats had lost fourteen straight games to the Delphos St. Johns Blue Jays by an average of over 28 points. While the 35-7 final score reflected a continuation of this negative trend for the Wildcats, the game was far more competitive and interesting than the final score indicated.

The game could be summarized as a Delphos St. Johns team with experience at winning was able to get the big plays and the points they needed, while a Minster squad trying to learn how to win failed to capitalize on its opportunities.

After stuffing the Wildcats on their opening possession, the Blue Jays used a 47-yard pass from Jordan Leininger to Ty Bergfeld to set up a two-yard Evan Burgei touchdown run. That one pass accounted for over half of St. Johns’ 75 yards of passing on the night. The quarter ended with the Blue Jays ahead 7-0.

Minster started the second quarter with a 16 play, 8:07 drive which stalled at the St. Johns’ five-yard line. The Wildcats attempted a field goal which was blocked. This resulted in a change in momentum as evidenced two plays later when Leininger broke multiple tackles on an 83-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-0 before intermission.

The Blue Jays came out to start the second half by pounding the ball on the ground against the Wildcats. On the 11th play of the drive, Leininger again took to the air on fourth down from the four-yard line and connected with Bergfeld for a huge touchdown to extend the lead to 21-0.

The Minster offense responded, this time driving to the St. Johns six-yard line. But once again they failed to strike paydirt, as Tanner Calvelage intercepted a Wildcat pass in the end zone to thwart another scoring opportunity.

The Blue Jays put the game away early in the fourth quarter by intercepting two more Minster passes and scoring two more touchdowns. The first score came on a Chris Pohlman 35-yard run and the second on a nine-yard jaunt by Burgei.

The Wildcats switched to a hurry up offense late. Two Adam Kaiser runs and five completions by quarterback Chase Paxson resulted in a two-yard touchdown catch by Derek Collins for the only Minster tally on the night, and the final 35-7 score.

Leininger and Burgei did the majority of damage for St. Johns, with 145 and 114 yards rushing, respectively. Minster was paced by Adam Kaiser, who compiled 106 rushing yards while the rest of the Wildcat squad was held to -2 yards. Each team lost one fumble, but Minster’s four interceptions were part of their undoing on the night.

Next week Delphos returns home with their 3-0 record to face the 3-0 Anna Rockets. 0-3 Minster hits the road to renew their series with the 3-0 Marion Local Flyers.

Score by quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Delphos St. Johns	7	7	7	14	35
Minster	0	0	0	7	7