Marion Local Rolls 41-6 Over Minster

By Bruce Monnin

MARIA STEIN — The Marion Local Flyers used superior line play on both sides of the ball, the hard running of Niles Keller and the accurate throwing of Ryan Mescher to defeat the Minster Wildcats in a renewal of this rivalry which had been on a two year hiatus. They scored touchdowns on all five of their first half possessions, three on Mescher passes and two on Keller runs.

“Ryan Mescher had a great game tonight,” complimented Flyer coach Tim Goodwin on his quarterback’s 12-14 performance for 172 yards and four touchdowns. “Combined with our running game, if we are efficient in the passing game we are that much better.”

On the other side of the ball, the Wildcats were held to 61 yards rushing in 27 attempts on the night. Quarterback Chase Paxson completed 9-16 passes for 92 yards but was sacked three times and forced to scramble from the Marion Local pass rush much of the night.

The Flyers first drive took ten plays, six of which featured running back Keller. They earned points when Mescher hooked up with Greg Schwieterman for a 21-yard touchdown, their first of three such scoring connections between the two on the night. Mitch Bergman missed the only one of his seven extra point attempts on the night to make the Marion Local lead 6-0.

The other Flyer score of the first quarter took only two plays, a 17-yard run by Alex Post and a 15-yard touchdown pass from Mescher to Kellen Goettemoeller.

Marion Local added three more touchdowns in the second quarter. The first came on an eleven-yard pass from Mescher to Schwieterman, the second on a three-yard run by Keller, and the third with 12 seconds remaining in the half on a 22-yard Mescher to Schwieterman strike.

On the other side of the ball, the Flyers held Minster without a first down for the first 20 minutes of the game. The furthest they allowed the Wildcats to move the ball in the first half was to the Marion Local 45-yard line.

The second half saw both teams fail to score on their first three possessions. Then Nate Wendel came up with an interception of a deflected Wildcat pass at the Minster 26-yard line. Four plays later, Mescher again found Schwieterman in the end zone for the Flyers’ sixth and final score of the night.

The Wildcats followed with their only scoring drive on the night. They used nine plays to reached fourth down and goal at the Marion Local five-yard line. Minster lined up for the field goal, but on the fake the holder pitched the ball back to Daniel Gushing. His pass was caught by Mitchel Poeppelman, who just got a toe in bounds for the touchdown, making the final score 41-6.

Next week Marion Local, now 4-0, travels to Anna to play the third ranked team in division five, the 3-0 Anna Rockets, who are in action at Delphos St. Johns Saturday night. Minster (0-4) hosts New Bremen (1-3) in a Homecoming contest.

Score by quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Marion Local	13	21	7	0	41
Minster	0	0	0	6	6