Minster Dominates Fort Recovery 43-7

by Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — The cheer of “One! Two!” to celebrate their second win in a row was loud and proud in the locker room of the Minster Wildcats after they dominated the Fort Recovery Indians 43-7 in a game of two teams with identical 3-2 records. The Wildcats excelled on both sides of the ball right from the start of the game to lead 36-0 by halftime.

“We finally put four quarters of great football together,” stated a pleased Minster coach Nate Moore. “We played well in all aspects of the game.”

In the first half the Minster running game produced its best effort of the year, averaging 12.7 yards per carry and crossing the goal line four times. Troy Kaufman led the way, piling up 143 yards in the half and scoring three touchdowns.

“We’ve had that capability on offense all year,” added Moore. “This was just the first time we were able to show it without tripping over ourselves.”

The Wildcat defense also did its part, holding a Fort Recovery offense that had scored 33 or more points in all five of its previous games to just 83 yards and no points in the decisive first half.

Minster scored touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions of the game. Kaufman kick-started the Wildcats on their first possession when he scampered 56 yards for his first score of the night. After being stopped on their second series by a Derek Gaerke interception, it was Kaufman scoring on Minster’s last possession of the first quarter, this one from six yards out to make the lead 15-0 after one period.

The Wildcats went to the air for their third score, as Adam Niemeyer threw a six-yard scoring pass to Daniel Gusching. Gusching would have four catches on the night, giving him 75 for his career and tying him for first place on the all-time Minster receptions list.

The defense set up the next score as Korey Schultz made a diving interception near midfield. Kaufman went back to work, this time scoring from 57 yards out. Schultz, the Wildcat’s other featured back, punched in the final score before the half from 18 yards away to make the lead 36-0.

Minster put their last score of the night on the scoreboard to start the second half. This drive featured four completed passes by quarterback Niemeyer before he ran the final 15 yards for the score.

Fort Recovery would also score in the third quarter when Jason Pottkotter completed a pass to Aaron Vagedes, who outran the Minster defense for a 69-yard touchdown. The fourth quarter was contested mostly by the non-starters, leaving the final 43-7 score.

The win pushes Minster’s record to 4-2 and allows them to stay in the top eight in region 24. Next week the Wildcats travel to play the 1-5 St. Henry Redskins. 3-3 Fort Recovery returns home to play the 3-3 Anna Rockets.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 15 21 7 0 43

Fort Recovery 0 0 7 0 7