Defense Keys Minster 15-12 Win Over Versailles

By Bruce Monnin

VERSAILLES — The defense of the Minster Wildcats struggled mightily as the start of MAC conference play, giving up an average of 39 points and 387 yards per game during those first four league games. But they put on their best performance of the season against the Versailles Tigers, holding their opponent to just 157 yards in a 15-12 victory.

“I love our fight right now, I love our effort,” enthused Minster coach Geron Stokes. “Our seniors have done a very good job of driving the culture of our team. It is really good to see it pay off on Friday nights.”

“I am kind of at a loss for words,” added Versailles coach Adam Miller. “The kids played very hard, but we came up just short. That’s happened too many times this year. I don’t know if we crossed the fifty in the first half, we just couldn’t get going.”

The Tigers did indeed reach Wildcat territory on their opening drive of the game, getting to the Minster 44-yard line before being forced to punt. Versailles would not see the Wildcat side of the field again until after intermission, as they were held to just 49 yards of first half offense.

Minster’s offense, on the other hand, compiled 165 yards and reached Tiger territory five times in the opening two quarters. However, they came up short all five times, leading to scoreless tie at the half.

The scoring picked up in the second half as four of the first five drives resulted in touchdowns. Bryce Schmiesing returned the opening kickoff to the 41-yard line, then the Wildcats capped off a methodical eleven play, 59-yard drive with a three-yard scoring run by Jared Huelsman. The extra point by Isaac Schmiesing gave Minster a 7-0 lead.

After starting the season converting only four of their first twelve extra point kicks, the Wildcats have now made 13 of their last 17 attempts. “I honestly believe it comes back to the work ethic and the buy in of these guys,” theorized Stokes. “We struggled and looked at ourselves in the mirror and said that in order to be good, this is what needs to be fixed.”

Versailles responded with their own seven play, 66-yard drive. The Tigers finished it off with a four-yard pass from Alex Wendel to Sam Barga, but the extra point kick was blocked, and Minster retained a 7-6 lead.

After a Wildcat punt, Versailles only needed to cover 47 yards for another score. A seven-yard pass from Wendel to Aaron Mangen gave the Tigers a 12-7 lead, but a pass attempt for the two-point conversion was broken up by the Minster defense.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats went to their ground game for twelve of the next fourteen plays. Aided by a Versailles unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Minster took over six minutes off the clock before Huelsman scrambled for a 14-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats a 13-12 lead. Minster kept the ball in Huelsman’s hands as he ran for the two-point conversion to make the lead 15-12.

The Wildcat defense had not stopped the Tigers in the second half, and Versailles soon reached the Minster side of the field. However, August Boehnlein stopped a run for no gain, then Alex Lehmkuhl made a great play to break up a deep pass at the last second. On third down, Alex Oldiges bullrushed his blocker straight back into the quarterback for a seven-yard sack that forced the Tigers to punt with 2:46 to go in the game.

The Wildcats decided to put the game in the hands of their quarterback, and Huelsman responded by running the ball seven straight times for 65 yards to run out the clock and seal the victory. Huelsman would end up with 189 yards rushing on 30 carries for the evening.

Minster has now won the last six games in this series, though Versailles still leads overall 26-14. Next week Friday, the 5-4 Wildcats, who have locked up a playoff berth, will return home to face 5-4 Anna. The 4-5 Tigers will go on the road to take on 2-7 New Bremen.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 0 0 7 8 15

Versailles 0 0 6 6 12

Third Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 3 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 8:27

VER – Sam Barga 4 yd pass from Alex Wendel (kick blocked), 4:45

Fourth Quarter:

VER – Aaron Mangen 7 yd pass from Alex Wendel (pass failed), 11:22

MIN – Jared Huelsman 14 yd run (Jared Huelsman run), 5:22

Team statistics MIN VER

First downs 21 10

Rushes - yards 51-238 28-73

Passing yards 107 84

Comp - att - int 9-21-0 7-11-0

Total yards 345 157

Punts - average 3-32.3 5-33.0

Fumbles - lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties - yards 6-74 1-15

Time of possession 29:10 18:50

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Huelsman 31-181, B Schmiesing 20-57; Versailles, Thompson 11-47, Subler 7-27, Barga 2-9, Mangen 2-(-3), Wendel 6-(-7)

Passing: Minster, Huelsman 9-21-0-107; Versailles, Wendel 7-11-0-84

Receiving: Minster, Niemeyer 5-50, Frericks 1-26, I Schmiesing 1-18, Boehnlein 1-15, B Schmiesing 1-(-2); Versailles, Mangen 3-58, Barga 3-24, McEldowney 1-2