Minster Survives 14-12 Defensive Struggle against Fort Recovery

by Bruce Monnin

FORT RECOVERY — It was expected to be a matchup of two potent offenses as the undefeated Fort Recovery Indians played host to their potential future playoff opponent in division seven, the 4-2 Minster Wildcats. Instead, in a low scoring game the difference was a placekicker with a broken jaw. Minster’s Jason Schultz was forced to avoid contact after all his kicks, but he converted both PATs to provide the two points needed for a 14-12 Wildcat victory.

Fort Recovery was obviously hyped up for the game, as they played the first quarter like a house on fire. After receiving the opening kickoff, the Indians needed only seven plays to march 56 yards for the opening score. The drive was a nice mixture of Caleb Martin passing and rushing by Kyle Schroer and Will Homan. A two-yard plunge by Schroer gave the Indians an early 6-0 lead, though the extra point kick went wide right.

Minster tried to respond on the following series, driving all the way to the Fort Recovery 21-yard line. But the Indian defense shut down the Wildcats on a fourth down run to regain possession. Fort Recovery again needed only seven plays, six of them on the ground, to move 76 yards for their second touchdown. Homan did the honors from nine yards out, and the lead grew to 12-0 after the pass for the two-point try failed.

The pumped-up Indian defense shut Minster down on three plays and Fort Recovery was smelling blood in the water. The Indians marched almost uncontested to the Wildcat 18-yard line, before Minster’s battered defense suddenly toughened and stopped Martin two yards short on a fourth down run at the 10-yard line.

“We were rattled right off the get go. We finally just settled in, got our composure and played like a senior led team,” explained Minster coach Geron Stokes of the defensive stand. “They were jacked up. They played well. Credit Fort Recovery, they are really good.”

After being granted the reprieve, the Wildcats launched their best drive of the half. Starting from their own 10-yard line, Josh Nixon soon found Jacob Dues down the right sideline for a 40-yard gain. It was one of Dues’ five catches for 102 yards in the game, most of which were made while being closely covered by an Indian defender.

“Dues is a good player for us. He has to win those matchups,” added Stokes. “That was just players going out and making plays.”

For most of the rest of the drive Minster turned to running back Evan Huelsman. He toted the pigskin seven times for 55 yards, including the three-yard scoring run. Schultz booted the extra point to trim the Fort Recovery lead to 12-7.

The Indians would pierce Wildcat territory two more times in the first half, but a fumble and a fourth down stop by the Minster defense kept the score from changing before halftime.

“We were really clicking early offensively, but we just weren’t able to find that back” lamented Fort Recovery coach Brent Niekamp. “They adjusted and were just a little bit faster getting off blocks and a little bit better tackling.”

The Wildcats received the second half kickoff and posted what would turn out to be the final score of the game. A 13-yard run by Nixon and a pass interference penalty brought the ball into Indian territory, setting up a 22-yard scoring throw from Nixon to Dues. Another successful PAT gave Minster its first and final lead, 14-12.

With momentum on their side, the Wildcats forced a three and out. After a 66-yard Darien Sheffer punt, Minster marched 77 yards to the Fort Recovery 18-yard line. Just when it looked like the Wildcats might pull away with a score, Kyle Schroer deflected a Nixon pass into the waiting arms of Wes Wenning at the five-yard line. His 28-yard return brought the Indians out of the shadow of their own end zone.

Fort Recovery now had the energy on their side and used a 28-yard Schroer run to reach the Minster 26-yard line. The Wildcat defense would allow the Indians to get no closer, allowing Minster to survive Fort Recovery’s last foray into Wildcat territory.

The Indians would have two fourth quarter chances to drive for the winning score, but the first ended in a punt and the last in a Jared Thobe interception to seal the Wildcat victory.

“We’re just a team that is developing an identity that works, and we’re just trying to get better,” summarized Stokes. “We’re starting to have really, really good practices defensively. That’s what a senior owned team should be doing.”

The win pushes Minster’s record to 5-2, gives them a 3-2 mark in MAC play and likely locks up a playoff berth. Next week the Wildcats return home for a battle with the 5-2 St. Henry Redskins. 6-1 Fort Recovery takes to the road to face the 6-1 Marion Local Flyers, who also suffered their first loss of the season in close fashion.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 0 7 7 0 14

Fort Recovery 12 0 0 0 12

First Quarter:

FR – Kyle Schroer 2 yd run (kick failed), 8:37

FR – Will Homan 9 yd run (pass failed), 3:12

Second Quarter:

MIN – Evan Huelsman 3 yd run (Jason Schultz kick), 4:38

Third Quarter:

MIN – Jacob Dues 22 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 9:47

Team statistics MIN FR

First downs 19 18

Rushes - yards 35-222 35-184

Passing yards 152 112

Comp - att - int 13-29-1 18-24-1

Total yards 374 296

Punts - average 3-33.7 2-43.0

Fumbles - lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties - yards 6-38 3-40

Time of possession 24:44 23:16

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Huelsman 19-113, Nixon 11-60, Schmiesing 5-49; Fort Recovery, Homan 11-76, Schroer 16-67, Martin 8-41

Passing: Minster, Nixon 13-29-1-152; Fort Recovery, Martin 18-24-1-112

Receiving: Minster, Schmiesing 7-41, Dues 5-102, Stechschulte 1-9; Fort Recovery, Wenning 8-66, Schroer 4-19, Homan 1-13, Koch 1-6, Sheffer 1-6, LeFevre 1-3, Roessner 1-0, Schoen 1-(-1)