Minster Defense Stifles St. Henry, 34-7

By Bruce Monnin

ST. HENRY — The St. Henry Redskins and the Minster Wildcats played a tight MAC contest for most of the first half Friday night. However, Minster broke the game open with two touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half and never looked back, rolling up a 34-7 road victory. It was the first time Minster had won at St. Henry since 1994, when they earned a 21-19 victory over the then #1 ranked Redskins.

The Wildcats were led by a stifling defensive effort, allowing the Redskins only 23 rushing yards on the night. St. Henry did compile 134 yards through the air but could only use that for one scoring drive on the night.

“The defense put together another good one tonight. We really hit hard,” stated a pleased Minster coach Nate Moore. “We played very well on defense except for one drive where we had three defensive penalties.”

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Korey Schultz earned 52 of his 151 rushing yards on the night with a play which brought Minster deep into St. Henry territory. Quarterback Adam Niemeyer finished off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.

The Redskins responded with a 16 play, 65-yard drive to tie the game at 7-7. St. Henry converted three fourth-down plays en route to the end zone, one courtesy of a Minster defensive holding penalty and another thanks to a pass interference call. Jeff Paul completed the 7:51 Redskin possession with a ten-yard scoring strike to Trey Rutschilling.

Minster again drove deep into St. Henry territory later in the second quarter, but when Jordan Bender intercepted a Wildcat pass inside the 20-yard line, it appeared the threat had been stopped.

Minster, however, had other ideas. After the defense did not allow a Redskin first down, Devon Poeppelman returned the ensuing punt to the St. Henry 29-yard line. Four plays later, Niemeyer threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Poeppelman to make their lead 14-7 with 2:30 remaining in the half.

The Wildcats were not yet done for the half. A booming Poeppelman kickoff into the end zone followed by another defensive stand set up the Minster offense at midfield with 1:18 remaining in the half. A 33-yard pass to Daniel Gusching and an eight-yard completion to Ethan Wolf brought the Wildcats inside the 10-yard line. Niemeyer punched the ball into the end zone on a one-yard run to give Minster a 21-7 halftime lead.

St. Henry made a spirited effort to narrow the lead at the start of the second half. A 32-yard halfback pass from Steven Luttmer to Kent Stammen took the Redskins to the Minster 23-yard line. However, the Wildcat defense again stiffened, stopping St. Henry from advancing further than the 19-yard line.

Shortly afterwards, Minster put the game away. A 54-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter was capped by a one-yard touchdown pass from Niemeyer to Poeppelman on a fourth-down play. The last score of the game came in the fourth quarter, when Schultz broke through the Redskin defense for a 78-yard scoring run.

The Minster offense gained 376 total yards for the game, 227 of which came on the ground. Minster receiver Daniel Gusching caught 5 passes on the night, giving him a record setting 80 for his career. Gusching passed former Minster record holder Greg Heitkamp, who had 75 career receptions in the early 1980’s.

Minster’s record improves to 5-2 and they host the 5-2 Versailles Tigers next week. With the loss, St. Henry falls to 1-6, and next week travel to play the 4-3 Anna Rockets.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 14 7 6 34

St. Henry 0 7 0 0 7