Minster Beats Anna 27-23 In Final Seconds

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — The Minster Wildcats had a late 20-16 lead with only four minutes remaining against the Anna Rockets, and their defense had been riding high. Two passes later, Anna had a first down at the Minster three-yard line and the game appeared to be coming down to a final goal line stand.

Anna quarterback Travis Meyer ran up the middle on first down and was stuffed for no gain. The hearts of Rocket fans briefly stopped when there was a fumble on second down, but Anna recovered on the two-yard line. On third down, the Wildcat defense dropped Aiden Endsley for a two-yard loss, setting up a four yard fourth down. With the game in the balance, Anna went to the air, and Meyer found Trey Cates in the end zone to give the Rockets a 23-20 lead.

However, Minster coach Geron Stokes had been calling timeouts in case Anna scored, and though the Wildcats could no longer stop the clock, they had 1:33 left to try to drive 75 yards for the victory.

Minster would manage to run fifteen plays in that final minute and a half. Quarterback Jared Huelsman completed a short pass to Bryce Schmiesing, then ran twice before a holding penalty brought the Wildcats back to their own thirty. Three more completions to Jonathan Niemeyer and Isaac Schmiesing brought Minster to the Anna 37-yard line with 41 seconds remaining. One more completion and a pass interference call in the next five plays brought the Wildcats to the 13-yard line with only 12 seconds left on the clock.

Huelsman threw once to the corner of the end zone to Niemeyer with no success, then to the other corner to Bryce Schmiesing with the same result. The third time was a charm as this time Schmiesing outfought his defender for the winning score as the scoreboard showed only four seconds left. The extra point sealed an unlikely 27-23 victory.

“The percentages of us converting on that drive were really small,” admitted Minster coach Geron Stokes. “But our quarterback is so composed and poised that we trust our stuff. The kids just went out and made plays. They were comfortable and weren’t rattled.”

“We like those guys,” added Stokes of his two receivers. “We feel good about those two. We felt like they were going to make a play, and they did. All our kids are phenomenal. As long as they keep developing toughness, they can go take over the world.”

The offenses had difficulties early in the game, as each team stopped themselves with untimely penalties (Minster would end the game with seven penalties for 57 yards, while Anna was flagged eight times for 84 yards).

The Wildcats opened the scoring on their second drive, mostly behind the rushing of Huelsman, who finished the night with 108 yards on 26 carries. Huelsman eventually scored from three yards out to give Minster the early 6-0 lead.

Anna would put up the next three scores, as Aiden Endsley kicked a 36-yard field goal early in the second quarter, then ran for 50 yards right through the heart of the Wildcat defense to give the Rockets a 10-6 halftime lead.

Anna received the opening kickoff and methodically pushed the Minster defense back until Meyer was able to complete the drive with a one-yard scoring plunge. A failed kick left the Rocket advantage at 16-6.

Minster immediate seized back the momentum. Huelsman and Schmiesing took turns shredding the Anna defense behind a newly inspired offensive line, and nine plays late Schmiesing scored from 14 yards out.

After the Wildcat defense forced the Rockets to punt after losing six yards in three plays, Minster was back in business in Anna territory. After a twelve-yard pass to Niemeyer, Schmiesing ran three straight times for 26 yards, scoring from eleven yards out to set up the late game fireworks.

“We tell Bryce all the time that this is the time of the year for dudes to be dudes, and he’s our dude,” added a grinning Stokes. “He was a dude tonight.”

Minster completes the regular season with a 6-4 mark and next Saturday will host 7-3 Lehman in their first-round playoff game. Anna finishes their season at 5-5.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 6 0 7 14 27

Anna 0 10 6 7 23

First Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 3 yd run (kick failed), 2:20

Second Quarter:

ANN – Aidan Endsley 36 yd field goal, 8:42

ANN – Aidan Endsley 50 yd run (Aidan Endsley kick), 6:33

Third Quarter:

ANN – Travis Meyer 1 yd run (kick failed), 6:33

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 14 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 2:02

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 11 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 10:53

ANN – Trey Cates 4 yd pass from Travis Meyer (Aidan Endsley kick), 1:37

MIN – Bryce Schmiesing 13 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 0:04

Team statistics MIN ANN

First downs 23 12

Rushes - yards 41-186 30-127

Passing yards 186 165

Comp - att - int 17-32-1 13-20-0

Total yards 373 292

Punts - average 5-35.0 5-35.0

Fumbles - lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties - yards 7-57 8-84

Time of possession 27:13 20:47

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Huelsman 26-109, B Schmiesing 14-75, Niemeyer 1-2; Anna, Endsley 22-130, Huelskamp 2-6, Meyer 5-0, Kauffman 1-(-9)

Passing: Minster, Huelsman 17-31-1-186, Team 0-1-0-0; Anna, Meyer 13-20-0-165

Receiving: Minster, B Schmiesing 8-75, Niemeyer 7-93, I Schmiesing 1-13, Frericks 1-5; Anna, Wuebker 6-124, Cates 3-22, Lininger 3-20, Endsley 1-(-1)