Minster Survives in Overtime, 26-20, Against Fort Loramie

By Bruce Monnin

FORT LORAMIE — There was a ninety minute weather delay halfway through the game between the Minster Wildcats and the Fort Loramie Redskins. However, the only lightning that struck the field came in the form of Minster junior quarterback Jared Huelsman, who passed for 130 yards and two touchdowns in his debut. He also carried the ball 30 times for a whopping 211 yards and the Wildcats’ other two scores.

“He (Huelsman) is one of our best players. We had to put him in the best situation possible and let him go play,” remarked Minster coach Geron Stokes. “He’s a gamer. His leadership and toughness and work ethic meant we knew that was coming.”

A late evening went even longer when the game went into overtime. Fort Loramie went first in the extra period but was stopped four yards shy of the goal line. Minster then gave it a shot. After penalties took them back eleven yards to the 31, a ten-yard Huelsman run was followed by a circus catch at the four-yard line by Bryce Schmiesing. Two plays later Huelsman crossed the line on a one-yard quarterback sneak to give Minster the game.

Stokes told his team after the game, “If you guys come out and fight as hard in practice Monday as you did to win this game, we’re going to become a good team.”

“We were awful from a football standpoint,” added Stokes, “but we found a way to win. That was a big-time character win for us.”

The game started out as an offensive showcase, with each team scoring on their first two possessions. Minster ran the ball twelve times on their first turn with the pigskin, eleven of those carries by Huelsman, who also crossed the goal line on a seven-yard run. A bad snap caused the extra point to be missed.

Fort Loramie responded with a nine-play drive of their own, capped by a 31-yard touchdown pass from Austin Siegel to Jake Ward on a fourth-down-and-nine play. Three plays later the Wildcats uncorked their own big play, a 53-yard touchdown pass from Huelsman to Jonathan Niemeyer to retake the lead, 13-7.

The Redskins did not stay behind for long. Four plays later, Ward broke through the middle of the line and outran the Minster defense for a 47-yard touchdown. After this the defenses took over, as the teams traded punts.

The Wildcat offense got back into gear late in the second quarter when Huelsman ran three times for 49 yards before completing a 21-yard touchdown to Niemeyer to retake the lead, 20-14. Minster was driving again before half, reaching the Fort Loramie 29-yard line with 30 seconds remaining when the lightning delay occurred. They could go no further when action resumed, and Minster remained up by six points at the half.

The extended break seemed to take the wind out of the offenses, as the only second half score came with a minute remaining in the game. From the Minster 24-yard line, Siegel found Ward open over the middle, but he fumbled as he was hit just before the goal line. Cody Gasson jumped on the loose ball, and the Redskins had tied the game 20-20. The all-important extra point followed, but Jack Heitbrink broke through the line and blocked the kick to send the game into overtime where the Wildcats earned the win.

The victory gives Minster a 10-4 lead in the series against Fort Loramie.

Next week Friday 1-0 Minster returns home to play 0-1 Sidney Lehman while 0-1 Fort Loramie goes on the road 1-0 Fort Recovery.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 OT Total

Minster 13 7 0 0 6 26

Fort Loramie 14 0 0 6 0 20

First Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 7 yd run (kick failed), 6:17

FL – Jake Ward 31 yd pass from Austin Siegel (C.J. Billing. kick), 2:46

MIN – Jonathan Niemeyer 53 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Broc Miller kick), 1:59

FL – Jake Ward 47 yd run (C.J. Billing kick), 0:03

Second Quarter:

MIN – Jonathan Niemeyer 21 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Broc Miller kick), 3:16

Fourth Quarter:

FL – Cody Gasson 1 yd fumble return (kick blocked), 0:52

Overtime:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 1 yd run

Team statistics MIN FL

First downs 16 18

Rushes - yards 39-237 47-222

Passing yards 130 95

Comp - att - int 6-17-0 6-16-2

Total yards 367 317

Punts - average 4-30.0 3-35.0

Fumbles - lost 1-1 1-0

Penalties - yards 7-76 5-50

Time of possession 22:55 25:05

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Huelsman 30-211, B Schmiesing 6-27, I Schmiesing 1-0, Heitbrink 1-(minus 1); Fort Loramie, Ward 27-124, Siegel 13-51, Gasson 5-36, Mescher 1-11

Passing: Minster, Huelsman 6-16-0-130; Fort Loramie, Siegel 6-16-2-95

Receiving: Minster, B Schmiesing 4-56, Niemeyer 2-74; Fort Loramie, Ward 4-60, Gasson 1-24, Turner 1-11