First Half Explosion Leads Minster Past Parkway, 35-20

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — The Minster Wildcats offense had a slow first series against the Parkway Panther defense during Senior Night at Memorial Stadium. However, their next five series resulted in touchdowns as Minster took a 35-0 halftime lead en route to a final winning score of 35-20.

Minster opened up its passing game starting with their second series, and quarterback Josh Nixon responded by completing 17 out of 27 first half passes for 258 yards four touchdowns. The familiar duo of Jacob Dues (7 catches for 100 yards) and Bryce Schmiesing (4 catches for 90 yards) did most of the receiving damage.

The second time the Wildcats received the ball, Nixon connected with Schmiesing three times to move the ball through the Parkway defense. Nixon found Dues in the end zone for a six-yard completion for the first touchdown of the game.

Less than two minutes later, Minster struck again. A few plays after a Jacob Stechschulte interception, Nixon connected with Schmiesing on a 45-yard-deep scoring strike to make the score 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Minster increased the lead to 21-0. This time it was Evan Huelsman doing the honors, gaining two of his 53 rushing yards on the evening on the touchdown run.

Jared Huelsman ended the next Panther drive with an interception of his own. The ensuing drive was capped with the third different Wildcat receiver to score a touchdown, as Peter Ranly caught a shovel pass and rumbled 16 yards through the middle of the Parkway defense for the score.

A short punt game Minster the ball back inside Panther territory. Nixon found Dues again for a 27-yard touchdown, giving Minster a 35-0 halftime lead and setting the running clock in motion to start the second half.

The second half saw Minster send its underclassmen on the field. Parkway took advantage, scoring three times to narrow the final score to 35-20.

On their first possession of the second half, the Panthers marched 61 yards on eleven plays, with Peyton Hamrick running for the score from one yard out to make the score 35-7 and to stop the running clock late in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw more of the same, as Parkway’s next drive took eight plays to cover the 48 yards need for a second touchdown. Sage Dugan did the honors from four yards out.

The final score of the night came with 3:51 remaining in the game. A 51-yard punt return by Caden May gave the Panthers the ball at the Wildcat 19-yard line. Two plays later Hamrick scored again, this time from eight yards out for the final 35-20 margin.

“It was a cool night for our seniors,” summed up Minster coach Geron Stokes. “We have 19 seniors who have done things the right way. They owned our leadership aspect all winter, spring, summer and throughout the regular season.”

“I’d like to give props to Minster. They have a really nice football team,” added Parkway coach Dan Cairns. “I was really impressed with their quarterback. He had an outstanding game and did a great job picking us apart.”

The win gives Minster a final regular season record of 8-2 (6-2 in the MAC). That is the Wildcat’s best regular season since 1996 and lets them host a first-round playoff game next Friday with a rematch against 6-4 Fort Loramie.

“It is awesome for our program,” reflected Stokes. “It’s a credit to the people who have invested so much time and effort. Getting a playoff atmosphere at home is awesome.”

Parkway ends their season with a 2-8 overall record, 2-6 in the MAC.

“It’s always sad at the end of a football season,” concluded Cairns. “You grow close to the kids you are coaching, and I think we came a long way, winning two games in a row. We were hoping to make it three this week, but it just wasn’t in the cards. But that’s life in the MAC, there are no off weeks.”

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 14 21 0 0 35

Parkway 0 0 7 13 20

First Quarter:

MIN – Jacob Dues 6 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jacob Schultz kick), 2:21

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 45 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jacob Schultz kick), 0:15

Second Quarter:

MIN – Evan Huelsman 2 yd run (Jason Schultz kick), 10:08

MIN – Peter Ranly 16 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jacob Schultz kick), 7:52

MIN – Jacob Dues 27 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jacob Schultz kick), 4:33

Third Quarter:

PW – Peyton Hamrick 1 yd run (Cody Sill kick), 1:08

Fourth Quarter:

PW – Sage Dugan 4 yd run (Cody Sill kick), 7:07

PW – Peyton Hamrick 8 yd run (kick failed), 3:51

Team statistics MIN PW

First downs 13 17

Rushes - yards 23-56 37-189

Passing yards 261 122

Comp - att - int 18-28-0 10-20-2

Total yards 317 311

Punts - average 4-38.0 5-23.2

Fumbles - lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties - yards 4-31 2-25

Time of possession 20:12 27:48

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, E Huelsman 10-53, Heitbrink 7-11, J Huelsman 2-1, Miller 3-(minus 2), Nixon 1-(minus 7); Parkway, Hamrick 11-60, Dugan 9-47, May 4-44, Barna 12-33, Huffan 1-5

Passing: Minster, Nixon 17-27-0-258, Hoying 1-1-0-3; Parkway, Barna 9-18-2-85, Huff 1-2-0-37

Receiving: Minster, Dues 7-100, Schmiesing 4-90, Poeppelman 2-22, Ranly 2-20, E Huelsman 1-17, Niemeyer 1-9, Lehmkuhl 1-3; Parkway, Rodriguez 4-32, May 2-63, Hamrick 2-5, Schoenleben 1-19, Ramsey 1-3