Minster Earns Solid Win Over Fort Recovery 35-13

by Bruce Monnin

FORT RECOVERY — The Minster Wildcats turned in a solid road performance to defeat the Fort Recovery Indians 35-13 at Bruggeman Field. Minster scored first and slowly grew their lead throughout the contest, outgaining the Indians 404-128 in yardage for the game.

The Wildcats started the scoring midway through the first quarter. Quarterback Josh Nixon went to his top receiving targets on consecutive plays. First, he connected with Ethan Wolf for a 22-yard gain, then completed the drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Eli Wolf. Jason Schultz was successful on the first of his five extra points on the night, and Minster led 7-0.

Fort Recovery answered the Wildcat challenge with a 12 play, 55-yard scoring drive to end the quarter. A few completions by quarterback Darien Sheffer combined with hard running by Kyle Timmerman set up a Timmerman one yard scoring plunge, tying the score at 7-7.

The second quarter belonged to Minster. The Wildcats strung together an eleven-play drive of their own, punctuated by a 25-yard touchdown toss from Nixon to A.J. Huelsman by retake the lead, 14-7.

The ensuing Minster kickoff bounced off one of the Fort Recovery up men and Chad Stoner recovered for the Wildcats. A 38-yard run by Nixon brought Minster near the Indian goal line, allowing Jacob Stechschulte to carry the ball for a three-yard touchdown.

Minster coach Geron Stokes admitted after the game that it had not been an intentional onside kick. “It was just a squib kick,” said Stokes. “We are not a trick play type of team.”

A late Fort Recovery drive was stopped when Paul Dues intercepted a pass at the Minster eleven-yard line, allowing the Wildcats to retain a 21-7 lead at the half.

Fort Recovery took the second half kickoff and again slowly gained field position. After twelve plays, they were forced to punt from the Minster 39-yard line. Fortune smiled on the Indians as the Wildcats fumbled the punt for their only turnover on the night. Evan Schoen recovered the loose ball at the Minster four-yard line, and four plays later Alex Wenning banged over from one yard out. The deficit remained 21-13 when Prater Otting blocked the extra point.

Minster put the game away by scoring on their next two drives. The first came through the air as Nixon found Ethan Wolf for a 25-yard touchdown strike. The final score came from Sam Dues, who finished off the drive with runs of five, four and five yards for the final 35-13 score.

The big play on the final drive was a third down conversion with 22 yards to go. Nixon found Eli Wolf over the middle for 25 yards and the critical first down. It was one of Eli’s seven catches for 88 yards on the night. This gives Wolf 796 yards receiving for the season, setting a new Minster single season record which had previously been established last season by Devon Poeppelman.

Sam Dues was the leading rusher on the night, earning 86 yards on 22 carriers. Nixon tacked on another 250 yards through the air, completing 18 of 23 passes for three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Stokes was a little disappointed that the Wildcats returned to their habit of getting a slow start to the game. “We still have a lot of work to do,” added Stokes. “We have to toughen up our culture.”

The win pushes Minster’s record to 5-3 and gives them a 5-1 mark in MAC play for the first time since 1992. Next week the Wildcats return home for a crucial battle with the 3-5 Versailles Tigers. 3-5 Fort Recovery goes on the road to face the 2-6 St. Henry Redskins.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 14 7 7 35

Fort Recovery 7 0 6 0 13

First Quarter:

MIN – Eli Wolf 21 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 5:35

FR – Kyle Timmerman 1 yd run (Darien Sheffer kick), 0:00

Second Quarter:

MIN – A.J. Huelsman 25 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 8:23

MIN – Jacob Stechschulte 3 yd run (Jason Schultz kick), 5:34

Third Quarter:

FR – Alex Wenning 1 yd run, 3:10

MIN – Ethan Wolf 25 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 0:34

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Sam Dues 5 yd run (Jason Schultz kick), 9:18

Team statistics MIN FR

First downs 18 11

Rushes - yards 34-154 29-55

Passing yards 250 73

Comp - att - int 18-23-0 9-21-1

Total yardage 404 128

Return yards 24 72

Punts - average 2-29.0 5-35.2

Fumbles - lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties - yards 5-45 2-20

Time of possession 25:43 22:17

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, S Dues 22-86, Nixon 5-51, Stechschulte 4-10, E Huelsman 3-7; Fort Recovery, Timmerman 15-49, Sheffer 11-4, Wenning 2-2, Schroer 1-0

Passing: Minster, Nixon 18-23-0-250; Fort Recovery, Sheffer 9-21-1-73

Receiving: Minster, Eli Wolf 7-88, Ethan Wolf 4-65, A.J. Huelsman 3-59, J Dues 3-27, S Dues 1-11; Fort Recovery, Stammen 4-32, Schoen 2-17, Timmerman 1-10, Schroer 1-7, Hull 1-7