Minster Runs over New Bremen in Second Half, 40-23

By Bruce Monnin

NEW BREMEN — The rivalry game between the Minster Wildcats and the New Bremen Cardinals had been on a two year hiatus, but it was renewed with a vengeance. New Bremen controlled much of the first half, taking a 10-7 lead into intermission. Minster then exploded out of the halftime locker room, putting up 27 third quarter points en route to a 40-23 victory.

The catalyst for the Minster offense was Bryce Schmiesing, who rushed for all six Wildcat touchdowns, tying a school record with 36 points scored in the game. After only gaining 13 yards on eight first half carries, Schmiesing diced the Cardinal defense for 244 second half yards and five touchdowns in only ten rushes.

“They were a group that wanted to win,” was how Minster Coach Geron Stokes described his team in the second half. “We were just flat to start the game, and New Bremen was hungry. We’re not good enough to get away with playing like that. We told are kids at halftime to play better. That was our only adjustment.”

“I know our kids were ready to play,” added Cardinal coach Chris Schmidt. “They knew that we would be the underdog. Obviously, it was a rivalry game that we hadn’t played in a few years, so they were ready to go.”

New Bremen received the opening kickoff and methodically drove down the field, using twelve plays and over six minutes before Avery Powers completed the drive with a one-yard scoring run for the early 7-0 lead.

The Wildcats responded in kind, using ten plays and most of the remainder of the first quarter before posting their own one-yard scoring run from Schmiesing to tie the game after the first quarter.

The Cardinals again moved the ball on the Minster defense, but their drive stalled on the Wildcat seven-yard line. Spencer Alig converted the 23-yard field goal to give New Bremen a 10-7 lead that would last until halftime.

Minster received the second half kickoff and needed only one play to retake the lead. Schmiesing received the handoff, found a hole in the right side of the line, and outran the Cardinal secondary for a 68-yard score. Bryce would also score on runs of 24, 20, 77 and 33 yards using the exact same play on the Wildcats’ next four possessions. Schmiesing also had one reception, which is the 36th consecutive game he has done so, placing him fifth in the state record book in that statistic.

The New Bremen offense did not give up, however. Late in the third quarter the Cardinals had another long drive, going 77 yards in twelve plays. When Nolan Bornhorst found Brandon Heitkamp for a 17-yard touchdown, the Minster advantage was down to 27-17, but the Wildcats responded in just one play with Schmiesing to reopen a 34-17 lead going into the final quarter.

After Minster’s final score, New Bremen added one more tally of their own when Bornhorst connected with Avery Powers on a 30-yard touchdown pass for the final 40-23 score.

Next week the 4-4 Wildcats remain on the road as they take on the 4-4 Versailles Tigers. The 2-6 Cardinals will also have a road game against the 5-3 Fort Recovery Indians.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 0 27 6 40

New Bremen 7 3 7 6 20

First Quarter:

NB – Avery Powers 1 yd run (Spencer Alig kick), 5:42

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 1 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 0:39

Second Quarter:

NB – Spencer Alig 23 yd field goal, 7:35

Third Quarter:

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 68 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 11:43

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 24 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 8:04

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 20 yd run (kick blocked), 5:13

NB – Brandon Heitkamp 17 yd pass from Nolan Bornhorst (Spencer Alig kick), 0:08

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 77 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 0:00

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 33 yd run (kick failed), 8:04

NB – Avery Powers 30 yd pass from Nolan Bornhorst (bad snap), 3:51

Team statistics MIN NB

First downs 15 21

Rushes - yards 31-303 41-169

Passing yards 171 133

Comp - att - int 7-13-0 13-22-1

Total yards 474 302

Punts - average 2-39.0 4-27.5

Fumbles - lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties - yards 10-90 8-67

Time of possession 19:27 28:33

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, B Schmiesing 18-257, Miller 5-34, Huelsman 4-7, Heitbrink 3-5; New Bremen, Hemmelgarn 11-63, Bornhorst 15-48, Clem 6-32, Powers 8-24, Flaute 1-2

Passing: Minster, Huelsman 7-12-0-171, Ketner 0-1-0-0; New Bremen, Bornhorst 13-21-1-133, Powers 0-1-0-0

Receiving: Minster, Niemeyer 3-86, I Schmiesing 2-65, B Schmiesing 1-13, Frericks 1-7; New Bremen, Blickle 3-39, Powers 2-32, Hemmelgarn 2-25, Clem 2-8, Alig 2-6, Heitkamp 1-17, Flaute 1-6