Defense Keys Minster 27-7 Victory over New Bremen

By Bruce Monnin

NEW BREMEN — Both teams came into Friday night’s rivalry game desperately needing a win. The New Bremen Cardinals were hoping to earn their first victory of the year, while the Minster Wildcats wanted to bounce back from a two-game losing streak and remain in playoff contention.

Minster used one touchdown in each of the four quarters to secure a 27-7 win. It was not an offensive showdown, as the Wildcats gained a total of 299 yards while giving up only 188 yards to the New Bremen. However, they earned another important 110 yards on three interception returns by their defensive backs. The defensive line also did its part, pressuring Cardinal quarterback Elliott Westerbeck all night long and sacking him five times.

“Our defensive backs had a tough match-up against their two tall receivers,” stated Minster Coach Nate Moore, “but they played aggressive and made good plays.”

The Wildcats’ defensive backfield asserted itself on New Bremen’s first series. Troy Kaufman intercepted a pass at midfield and returned it 39 yards to the Cardinal 11-yard line. Two runs by Korey Schultz resulted in a Minster touchdown and early 7-0 lead.

It was Jay Eilerman’s turn to grab a pick on New Bremen’s next possession, returning it 25 yards to the Cardinal 36-yard line. The New Bremen defense allowed no Minster gains until the Wildcats ran a fake punt on fourth down, when punter Devon Poeppelman completed a 13-yard pass for a first down to Daniel Gusching. The Cardinal defense again refused to budge, forcing Minster to try and miss a 25-yard field goal attempt.

New Bremen drove deep into Minster territory early in the second quarter after a 37 yard halfback pass from Alec Frideger to Troy Williams. After reaching the Wildcat 18-yard line, it was the Minster defense’s turn to stiffen, taking over on downs after holding the Cardinals to no yardage on three consecutive plays.

Minster went to the air late in the half for their next score. Their 62-yard drive included five completed passes to three different receivers, capped off by a seven-yard throw from Adam Niemeyer to Daniel Gushing for the 14-0 halftime lead.

Niemeyer’s 14 completions on the night give him 149 for his career, which makes him second on the all-time Minster list behind the 201 completions compiled by last year’s Wildcat quarterback, Chase Paxson. Gushing’s eight receptions on the night gives him 71 for his career, just four short of the 28-year-old Minster career record of 75 receptions held by Greg Heitkamp.

New Bremen cut their deficit to 14-7 on their first possession of the second half. A 44-yard run by Aaron Clune took the Cardinals deep into Wildcat territory before Westerbeck ran it in from two yards out to make it a one score game.

Minster immediately responded. Three passes from Niemeyer to Gusching keyed the 52-yard drive which ended in a two-yard Kaufman touchdown run and to a 20-7 lead. The Wildcats had a chance to extend the lead further, driving to the Cardinal 20-yard line on their next possession, but a Cody Wendel interception returned the ball to the New Bremen offense.

“I thought we had some opportunities to put them away,” added Moore, “but the New Bremen kids fought their tails off. I’m just happy our kids were playing and hitting hard.”

The final score of the night was set up by the third Minster interception. Eilerman was again the culprit, not only getting the takeaway but also returning it 46 yards to the Cardinal nine-yard line. Niemeyer threw a touchdown pass to Devon Poeppelman on the next play for the final 27-7 score.

The victory gives Minster a 31-9-1 edge in the series, which has been played continuously since the 1972 season.

Next week Friday, the 3-2 Wildcats return home for an Oktoberfest weekend clash with a fellow region 24 contender, the 3-2 Fort Recovery Indians. The 0-5 Cardinals will head east to challenge the 2-3 Anna Rockets.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 7 6 7 27

New Bremen 0 0 7 0 7