Lehman Outguns Minster 33-18

By Bruce Monnin

SIDNEY — The Minster Wildcat and the Sidney Lehman Cavalier offenses each showed the ability to gain a lot of yards in their Friday night matchup, but it was Lehman who best succeeded in turning that yardage into points as they defeated Minster 33-18.

The Wildcats drove the ball inside the Lehman 35-yard line five times on the night where they failed to put points on the board. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, scored every time they reached the Minster 35-yard line with the exception of when they were running out the clock near the end of the game.

The game stated out well for the Wildcats when Josh Nixon connected with Eli Wolf for a 75-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. The duo would combine for a total of six receptions for 204 yards in the half.

Prater Otting forced a Lehman fumble on the next series. Five plays later a Sam Dues one yard scoring plunge would make the Minster lead 12-0. A third Wildcat touchdown was taken away when Minster was called for offensive pass interference and then failed to score on the possession.

Later in the half Dues would also score on a two-yard run, but Lehman would put up three scores of their own. A 10-yard touchdown run by Greg Spearman was followed by a 15-yard scoring pass from Nick Rourke to Andrew Westerheide.

With 1:51 on the clock, Rourke completed a 13-yard pass to Max Schutt. Schutt then lateraled the ball to Greg Spearman, who covered the remaining 33 yards for the final score of the half. Lehman led 20-18, as for the second week in a row the Wildcats failed in all three of their point after touchdown opportunities.

The halftime statistics showed Minster ahead in total offense, 337 yards to 221 for the Cavaliers. Quarterback Josh Nixon completed 14 of 23 first half passes for 309 yards, breaking Tony Hemmelgarn’s 31-year-old record for passing yardage in a game in just the first two quarters.

The Cavaliers won the battle of the halftime adjustments, as Minster completed only 7 of 21 second half passes for 59 yards and two interceptions. Lehman quarterback Rourke improved on his fine first half effort, ending the game completing 30 of 45 attempts for 454 yards.

The game was decided early in the third quarter. On Lehman’s first play of the half, Rourke found Spearman for a 77-yard touchdown which increased the Cavalier lead to 27-18. Minster responded with 17 play drive which reached the Lehman one yard line. On fourth down and goal, the Wildcats fumbled into the end zone which Lehman recovered for a touchback.

The Cavaliers drove 80 yards on the following drive, with the Rourke to Spearman connection going 12 yards for the score this time. Minster was unable to seriously threaten to score again, and Lehman earned the 33-18 win.

The difference between the two teams could also be seen on fourth downs in the game. Minster failed to convert on all four of their fourth down attempts, while Lehman was successful three out of five times, including twice on their initial touchdown drive and once on their second scoring possession.

Some monster statistics were posted for the game. Nixon’s record performance of 368 passing yards was directed mostly to Eli Wolf (6 catches for 204 yards) and Jacob Dues (7 receptions for 105 yards). Rourke’s favorite targets were Spearman (7 catches for 166 yards) and Westerheide (7 receptions for 83 yards).

The referees also earned plenty of yardage in the game, as each team was penalized for over 110 yards on the night.

Next week Saturday Minster (0-2) remains on the road to face their neighbors to the immediate north, the 0-2 New Bremen Cardinals.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Sidney Lehman 7 13 13 0 33

Minster 12 6 0 0 18

First Quarter:

MIN – Eli Wolf 75 yd pass from Josh Nixon (kick failed), 4:20

MIN – Sam Dues 1 yd run (run failed), 2:45

LEH – Greg Spearman 10 yd run (Travis Thorton kick), 0:34

Second Quarter:

LEH – Andrew Westerheide 15 yd pass from Nick Rourke (kick failed), 6:11

MIN – Sam Dues 2 yd run (run failed), 4:17

LEH – Nick Rourke 13 yd pass to Max Schutt, lateral to Greg Spearman for 33 yd run (Travis Thorton kick), 1:51

Third Quarter:

LEH – Greg Spearman 77 yd pass from Nick Rourke (Travis Thorton kick), 11:42

LEH – Greg Spearman 12 yd pass from Nick Rourke (kick failed), 2:32

Team statistics LEH MIN

First downs 24 17

Rushes - yards 34-50 29-78

Passing yards 454 368

Comp - att - int 30-45-2 21-44-3

Total yards 504 446

Return yards 23 0

Punts - average 4-32.5 3-34.3

Fumbles - lost 1-1 3-1

Penalties - yards 12-112 11-120

Time of possession 27:06 20:54

Individual statistics

Rushing: Lehman, Rourke 14-33, Spearman 8-15, Husa 10-5, Hughes 1-(minus 1), Slater 1-(minus 2); Minster, S Dues 16-64, Stechschulte 6-19, Nixon 7-(minus 5)

Passing: Lehman, Rourke 30-45-2-454; Minster, Nixon 21-44-3-368

Receiving: Lehman, Spearman 7-166, Westerheide 7-83, Schutt 4-72, Slater 4-56, Selsor 4-47, Husa 3-24, Lee 1-6; Minster, J Dues 7-105, Eli Wolf 6-204, Ethan Wolf 4-40, Baumer 2-12, Huelsman 1-7, Stechschulte 1-0