Minster Finishes Off 49-28 Win Over Sidney Lehman

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — The first half between the Minster Wildcat and the Sidney Lehman Cavalier offenses featured a contrast in scoring styles. Minster completed four long touchdown drives of 81, 72, 58 and 76 yards to score their 27 points, while Lehman scored 14 points on an 80-yard touchdown pass and a 60-yard fumble recovery.

Lightning struck with 1:09 remaining in the second quarter just as the Wildcats were lining up to kick an extra point. Minster held a 27-14 lead, with the game scheduled to be continued at 6:00 pm Saturday night.

The statistics reflected the halftime score, as the Wildcats amassed 344 total yards to just 154 for the Cavaliers. Minster’s Josh Nixon completed just over half of his passes, connecting on 16 of his 30 attempts, for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Jacob Dues was his main target, catching six balls for 109 yards and two scores.

The Wildcats stopped Lehman’s opening drive of the game, then responded with 25- and 13-yard runs by Sam Dues and Nixon. Nixon then completed an 18-yard pass to Eli Wolf before finding Jacob Dues for a 24-yard score.

Three plays later, the Cavaliers responded when quarterback Nick Rourke connected with Greg Spearman over the middle. Spearman split two tacklers and outran the Wildcats for the tying score.

Late in the first quarter, Minster went exclusively to the air, throwing ten straight passes. Five of these aerials were completed, each for gains of more than ten yards. Jacob Stechschulte scored on the only run of the drive from one yard out to give the Wildcats a 14-7 advantage.

Early in the second quarter, the Wildcats drove into Lehman territory once again, but the Cavaliers caused a fumble which was picked up by Max Schutt. The Lehman defender had open ground ahead and ran the 60 yards to tie the score at 14-14.

Minster again wasted little time in responding. A big 22-yard pass to Jacob Dues on a fourth-down play kept their drive alive, then the Wildcats turned to the ground game for the next four plays to pick up the final 18 yards. Evan Huelsman carried the ball over from five yards out to put Minster back in front, 21-14.

With time running down in the half and the Cavalier defense showing signs of fatigue, the Wildcats fought to increase their lead. Critical third down completions to Wolf and Bryce Schmiesing brought the ball into Lehman territory, and on a fourth-down play Huelsman broke several tackles to barely pick up the needed four yards to keep possession. Just before lightning was spotted, Nixon found Jacob Dues for a 21-yard touchdown to make the score 27-14 as the game was suspended.

In the next three and a half minutes after play resumed on Saturday, the teams combined for three more touchdowns. The Wildcats scored two of those to increase their lead to 42-21, then held on to win by a final count of 49-28.

After Minster kicked an extra point to restart the game, an obviously refreshed Lehman squad needed just four passes to cover 65 yards and score. An 18-yard pass from Nick Rourke to Greg Spearman reduced the Cavalier deficit to 28-21 at the half.

“It is a different atmosphere,” commented Wildcat coach Geron Stokes about the restart of the game. “Mature teams come out ready to play because they’ve worked, and they care. I don’t think our kids came out focused or sharp, and that’s my fault.”

The Wildcats used the start of the second half to rebuild their lead. On their second play, Josh Nixon found Eli Wolf open down the left sideline. His pass dropped over the receiver’s shoulder, allowing Wolf to remain in stride and avoid two tacklers en route to a 60-yard touchdown.

Minster’s defense stopped Lehman on their next possession, forcing a punt. A slow lofted snap helped Wolf not only block the punt, but also scoop up the ball for a 21-yard touchdown return. The quick score allowed the Wildcats to double the Cavaliers’ score at 42-21.

Each team tacked on one last touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was Nixon to Wolf again for Minster, this time on a one-yard pass. Lehman’s score came in the final minutes of the game when Rourke hit Mitch Slater with an 82-yard touchdown strike to make the final score 49-28.

The Wildcats amassed 567 total yards in the game, a fairly balanced 338 through the air and 229 on the ground. Wolf rolled up the most statistics, catching nine passes for 174 yards and scoring three touchdowns. Sam Dues added 93 yards rushing on 11 carries.

On the other hand, the Cavaliers were completely one dimensional, throwing for 456 yards while compiling a negative 16 yards on the ground.

Next week Friday Minster (2-0) remains at home to host the 2-0 Coldwater Cavaliers. “Those are the type of teams you want to play,” added Stokes. 0-2 Lehman stays on the road to play 1-1 Graham Local.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 14 14 14 7 49

Sidney Lehman 7 14 0 7 28

First Quarter:

MIN – Jacob Dues 24 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 8:53

LEH – Greg Spearman 80 yd pass from Nick Rourke (Ian Smith kick), 7:44

MIN – Jacob Stechschulte 1 yd run (Jason Schultz kick), 0:33

Second Quarter:

LEH – Max Schutt 62 yd fumble return (Ian Smith kick), 10:29

MIN – Evan Huelsman 5 yd run (Jason Schultz kick), 7:48

MIN – Jacob Dues 22 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 1:09

LEH – Greg Spearman 18 yd pass from Nick Rourke (Ian Smith kick), 0:33

Third Quarter:

MIN – Eli Wolf 60 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 11:10

MIN – Eli Wolf 21 yd return of blocked punt (Jason Schultz kick), 9:46

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Eli Wolf 1 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 11:44

LEH – Mitch Slater 82 yd pass from Nick Rourke (Ian Smith kick), 2:06

Team statistics MIN LEH

First downs 30 17

Rushes - yards 45-229 18-(-16)

Passing yards 338 456

Comp - att - int 23-43-0 23-43-0

Total yards 567 440

Punts - average 2-41.0 6-23.5

Fumbles - lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties - yards 9-70 2-10

Time of possession 31:47 16:13

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, S Dues 11-93, E Huelsman 15-65, Stechschulte 9-60, Schmiesing 1-9, Nixon 3-9, J Huelsman 5-2, Hogenkamp 1-(-9); Sidney Lehman, Monnin 6-9, Spearman 2-4, Brown 2-2, Rourke 8-(-31)

Passing: Minster, Nixon 23-43-338-4; Sidney Lehman, Rourke 23-43-456-3

Receiving: Minster, Wolf 9-174, J Dues 6-110, Schmiesing 6-36, Schultz 2-18; Sidney Lehman, Slater 8-192, Spearman 4-131, Brown 4-47, Schutt 2-39, Selsor 2-31, Monnin 2-10, Arnold 1-6