St. Henry Takes Control Early in 34-14 Victory over Minster

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — The St. Henry Redskins looked like a team who knew its season was on the line against the Minster Wildcats. St. Henry seized the momentum from the opening kickoff and, with one slight hiccup, maintained it throughout the first half as they build a 34-7 halftime lead, then held on for a 34-14 win.

“They put in a lot of preparation the last two weeks, a lot of film,” explained St. Henry coach Brad Luthman. “They really got after the mental game. I think it showed in the first half. Obviously, we are hanging our heads a bit about getting beaten in the second half but thank God we came out on fire in the first.”

The Redskins dominated on both sides of the ball, compiling 336 yards of first half offense, while holding the Wildcats to just 71 yards. Especially effective was the passing game, as at one-point Daylon Lange completed 13-14 passes for 224 yards.

“The interesting thing is the problems the offense for Minster presents in terms of being in that single wing and having a pretty good receiver, Schmiesing, who has burnt us more than a few times over the years,” added Luthman. “It was a bad math problem for us but luckily our kids came out and did the game plan.”

The opposing coach, of course, was not as happy with the contest. “We’re just not executing, not competing,” lamented Geron Stokes. “Until we do that as a program, we are going to continue to get drilled.”

St. Henry received the opening kickoff and used thirteen plays to get to the Minster five-yard line. A field goal was attempted and missed, but Minster was penalized for running into the kicker (one of three times it would happen in the game). With another chance at the two-yard line, Blake Hoyng attempted to rush for a touchdown but was stopped by the Minster defense. It would be the only one of the Redskins’ seven first half drives not to result in points.

After the Wildcats lost a yard in three plays, the ball was returned to St. Henry on a punt. This time the Redskins completed the drive with a one-yard Hoyng scoring run for the early 7-0 lead.

The opening period would end with that score, but early in the second quarter Ryan Luttmer would expand the lead to 10-0 with a 21-yard field goal. A few minutes later Luttmer would run for a four-yard touchdown to make the lead 17-0. The rout appeared to be on.

Minster responded with their only effective offensive play of the half. On the first play after the kickoff, Jared Huelsman found Jonathan Niemeyer deep for a 61-yard touchdown catch, reducing the Wildcat deficit to 17-7.

But St. Henry would not let that play slow down their offense. Lange uncorked a long pass of his own, a 30-yard strike to Luttmer to bring the lead back up to 17 points. Luttmer would add another two-yard scoring run and a 39-yard field goal before half to give the Redskins their commanding 34-7 advantage at the break.

The second half would be more of a defensive struggle. The only score came late in the third quarter when the Huelsman to Niemeyer combination struck for a seven-yard touchdown to make the final score 34-14.

St. Henry’s record improves to 4-2, and their two-game road trip continues against the 4-2 Anna Rockets. Minster’s record falls to 2-4, and the Wildcats remain at home next week to face the 6-0 Coldwater Cavaliers.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

St. Henry 7 27 0 0 34

Minster 0 7 7 0 14

First Quarter:

SH – Blake Hoyng 1 yd run (Ryan Luttmer kick), 3:57

Second Quarter:

SH – Ryan Luttmer 21 yd FG, 11:09

SH – Ryan Luttmer 4 yd run (Ryan Luttmer kick), 7:05

MIN – Jonathan Niemeyer 61 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 6:54

SH – Ryan Luttmer 30 yd pass from Daylon Lange (Ryan Luttmer kick), 4:31

SH – Ryan Luttmer 2 yd run (Ryan Luttmer kick), 1:31

SH – Ryan Luttmer 39 yd FG, 0:00

Third Quarter:

MIN – Jonathan Niemeyer 7 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 1:59

Team statistics SH MIN

First downs 19 7

Rushes – yards 45-161 24-40

Passing yards 241 140

Comp - att – int 16-22-1 10-25-0

Total yards 402 180

Punts – average 3-32.3 5-31.8

Fumbles – lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties – yards 6-59 8-44

Time of possession 31:02 16:58

Individual statistics

Rushing: St. Henry, Luttmer 20-77, Lange 13-63, Hoyng 5-13, Fishbaugh 7-8; Minster, Huelsman 20-49, B Schmiesing 3-1, Team 1-(-10)

Passing: St. Henry, Lange 16-21-0-241, Lefeld 0-1-1-0; Minster, Huelsman 10-25-0-140

Receiving: St. Henry, Fischbaugh 5-57, Schlarman 4-90, Mescher 3-23, Luttmer 2-46, Hoyng 1-22; Minster, Niemeyer 6-107, B Schmiesing 2-16, I Schmiesing 1-13, Lehmkuhl 1-4