Minster Grinds Out 28-16 Win Over Parkway

By Bruce Monnin

ROCKFORD — The Minster Wildcats’ passing game struggled to find its rhythm all night against the Parkway Panthers’ defense, so they turned to their running game for the offense needed to earn a much needed 28-16 win. Minster racked up 233 rushing yards on the night, while holding Parkway to negative 51 yards on the ground.

“It was a hard-fought game against a physical Parkway team,” summarized Minster coach Nate Moore. “Eddie Bruns summed it up when he said we got the W tonight. Six wins makes this a winning regular season (Minster’s first since 2003). No one can take that away from the seniors.”

Early on, the game looked like it was going to be a shootout. Minster’s Korey Schultz received the opening kickoff and returned it 81 yards to make the score 6-0 before many fans had settled into their seats.

Parkway responded with Riley Bransteter returning the ensuing kickoff to near midfield. On the Panthers’ first play from scrimmage, quarterback Austin Dennison threw a backwards pass to Bransteter, who then fired the ball deep to Caleb Rodriguez at the nine-yard line. Five plays and three penalties later, Gabriel Von Gaisberg kicked a 22-yard field goal to reduce the Panther deficit to 6-3.

The teams spent the rest of the first quarter trading possession of the ball, drives often stopped by a combination of penalties and quarterback sacks. At the start of the second quarter, Minster was able to put together a 14-play drive scoring drive capped by a two-yard Adam Niemeyer run. The 49-yard drive was keyed by a critical 25-yard pass from Niemeyer to Daniel Gusching on a fourth down and 22 to go play.

Parkway wasted no time in responding. On their next drive, Dennison completed a short pass to Brandon Moorman, who worked his way through the Minster defense for a 72-yard touchdown. The extra point made the halftime score 14-10 in favor of the Wildcats.

The offenses continued to sputter in the third quarter. Parkway had one drive stopped by an Austin Knapke interception. The Panthers were also forced to punt twice, with sacks being critical in both defensive stops. Minster’s first two possessions were ended by Parkway interceptions, one by Sean Mendez and the other by Cody Schmitt.

Minster turned to the running game in the fourth quarter, using runs Troy Kauffman and Niemeyer to march the ball down the field. A five-yard touchdown run by Kauffman gave the Wildcats their first breathing room of the night with a 21-10 lead.

Minster put the game on ice on their next possession, using running back Schultz as the workhorse on this drive. A 13-yard pass from Niemeyer to Gushing, the Wildcats’ second huge fourth down conversion on the night, made the lead 28-10 with just 5:36 remaining.

Parkway refused to quit and proceeded to drive to the Minster 28-yard line. The threat was ended by an interception by Paul Dues, who made his presence known all night on defense.

“Paul started the year playing JV on Saturday mornings,” said Moore. “He has been getting better every week.”

The Panthers still were not done, stopping the Wildcat offense and then needing just four plays for Dennison to hook up with Caleb Rodriguez on a ten-yard touchdown pass which made the score 28-16. Minster was able to recover the onside kick which followed and ran out the clock for the win.

Minster spread their rushing yards around, with Schultz earning 79 yards, Kauffman 61, Niemeyer 59 and Gusching 34. Parkway was led by the 243 yards passing from Dennison, who threw for 76 yards to Moorman, 72 to Bransteter, 64 to Bryce Bedwell and 63 to Rodriguez.

6-3 Minster (4-3 in the MAC) heads home to face 7-2 Coldwater next Friday for a big battle with playoff implications for both teams while 3-6 Parkway (2-5 in the MAC) travels to 5-4 Anna in the regular-season finale.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 6 8 0 14 28

Parkway 3 7 0 6 16