Second Half Propels Minster to 37-7 Victory over Fort Loramie

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — During the first week of the regular season, the Minster Wildcats handily defeated the Fort Loramie Redskins by 34 points. After an 0-4 start, Fort Loramie had won their previous six games, improving under new head coach Whit Parks as the season wore on. The question was, had they improved enough to challenge Minster, who owned a six-game winning streak of their own.

There seemed to be little difference between the teams for most of the first half, as the score was tied 7-7 with only a little over two minutes to go before intermission. It was all Minster after that, as they scored the next 30 points for a 37-7 victory.

Neither team was able to reach their opponent’s end zone in the first quarter. Minster came closest, driving to the Fort Loramie 14-yard line, before going backwards on a holding penalty. Three incomplete passes later, the Redskins took back possession.

Near the end of the opening period, Peter Ranly intercepted a Fort Loramie pass to give the Wildcats the ball in enemy territory. A 21-yard pass from Josh Nixon to Bryce Schmiesing brought the ball closer to paydirt, with Evan Huelsman collecting the points on a one-yard scoring run.

After both teams exchanged punts, it was the Redskins’ turn to start a drive in Minster territory. Five rushes brought the ball to the four-yard line, where Drew Wehrman surprised the Wildcat defense by completing a four-yard touchdown pass to Nate Pleiman which evened the score at 7-7.

Only 2:22 remained in the half, but that was plenty of time for the quick strike Minster offense. Completions of over 20 yards apiece to Schmiesing and Jacob Dues moved the ball down the field, and Dues caught an eight-yard strike from Nixon for the go-ahead touchdown. A rare missed extra point gave the Wildcats a 13-7 halftime lead.

“That was big,” remarked Minster coach Geron Stokes of the score before half. “We were sleepwalking, and they were playing. Credit to them and their staff, they kicked our face in during the first half. They wanted to win, big time, and I felt our kids just thought they were going to win.”

The Wildcats received the second half kickoff and their offense looked much sharper than they had before intermission. They drove 72 yards in eight plays but were halted at the three-yard line by the Fort Loramie defense. A 20-yard Jason Schultz field goal gave Minster a two-score lead, 16-7.

The Minster first team defense would only allow the Redskins to gain four yards in their three second half series. The Wildcat offense would capitalize on the resulting good field position to score touchdowns on the three ensuing drives.

The first score would come late in the third quarter, with Nixon connecting with Dues on a 13-yard touchdown pass. Early in the fourth quarter, Huelsman would tack on an eight-yard run around the left end. Finally, with 7:29 remaining in the game, Nixon hit Jack Poeppelman with a nine-yard touchdown pass to make the score 37-7 and set the running clock in motion.

Fort Loramie would drive 56 yards against the Minster second team defense but would get stopped on downs 21 yards short of the end zone.

“We just needed to fix our stuff,” was how Stokes described the changes in his team during the second half. “We needed to get off blocks, strike and get the heck to the football.”

The Minster passing game was a little off their game early but came around in the second half, compiling 203 passing yards and three touchdowns. “We just kept throwing the ball,” added Stokes. “We know Josh is good and our receivers are good, and we know eventually they are going to make those plays. We trust them and they proved us right.”

The workhorse for the Wildcats was running back Evan Huelsman, who carried the ball 29 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Carter Mescher would earn 96 rushing yards for the Redskins, but the Minster defense held Fort Loramie to just one yard passing.

Next week Friday 9-2 Minster will take on 10-1 DeGraff Riverside at a site to be announced Sunday. Fort Loramie ends its season with a 6-5 record.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 0 13 10 14 37

Fort Loramie 0 7 0 0 7

Second Quarter:

MIN – Evan Huelsman 1 yd run (Jason Schultz kick), 11:16

FL – Nate Pleiman 4 yd pass from Drew Wehrman (Josh Siegel kick), 2:22

MIN – Jacob Dues 8 yd pass from Josh Nixon (kick failed), 0:43

Third Quarter:

MIN – Jason Schultz 20 yd FG, 8:30

MIN – Jacob Dues 13 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 2:22

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Evan Huelsman 8 yd run (Jason Schultz kick), 11:15

MIN – Jack Poeppelman 9 yd pass from Josh Nixon (Jason Schultz kick), 7:07

Team statistics FL MIN

First downs 9 23

Rushes - yards 38-149 36-181

Passing yards 1 203

Comp - att - int 2-4-1 15-29-0

Total yards 150 384

Punts - average 5-27.6 1-28.0

Fumbles - lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties - yards 3-39 2-20

Time of possession 26:05 21:55

Individual statistics:

Rushing: Minster, E Huelsman 29-156, Nixon 5-24, J Huelsman 1-2, Schmiesing 1-(minus 1); Fort Loramie, Mescher 21-96, Wehrman 14-42, Meyer 2-9, Pleiman 1-2

Passing: Minster, Nixon 15-29-0-203; Fort Loramie, Wehrman 2-4-1-1

Receiving: Minster, Dues 6-86, Schmiesing 4-83, Poeppelman 2-5, Ranly 1-17, Stoner 1-8, E Huelsman 1-4; Fort Loramie, Pleiman 1-4, Mescher 1-(minus 3)