Minster Advances to State Championship by Beating McComb

By Colin Foster

WAPAKONETA — In 2014, Minster earned the nickname “Cardiac Cats” with some heart-stopping, dramatic victories on their journey to the program’s first state title in 25 years.

Not much has changed in two years.

This year’s Wildcats, with an almost entirely new cast of characters, are beginning to look more and more like their predecessors as they inch closer to a second title in three years.

Saturday night bore proof to that look.

Jared Huelsman accounted for four total touchdowns, including the game-deciding scoring drive late in the fourth quarter, to send the Wildcats back to Columbus with a 27-23 victory over McComb in the Division VII state semifinal at Harmon Field.

“It’s a great feeling,” Huelsman admitted. “We had (state) in mind at the beginning of the season. It was a little rough in the middle, but we battled back. I’m so happy — couldn’t be any happier.”

Minster (10-4) advances to meet Warren John F. Kennedy (13-1) at 10 a.m. this Saturday at Ohio Stadium. JFK advanced to the game with a 48-7 win over Harvest Prep.

The Wildcats built a 21-0 lead within the first 18 minutes of the game. The Panthers, however, went on to score 23 unanswered points to take their first lead with 1:56 left in the third quarter.

Minster had three straight three-and-outs to open the second half but responded in crunch time. A critical, first-down-preventing tackle by Jeremy Kauffman, an 11-play, 84-yard drive and an interception by Alex Lehmkuhl eventually ensured a Minster victory.

Early in the fourth, McComb, looking to put the game away with a 23-21 lead, drove to the Minster 21-yard line before facing a fourth-and-four. Panther quarterback Malachi Abbott scrambled and was heading for a first down when Kauffman made a tackle and denied him one-yard short to give Minster back the ball with 8:38 to play.

What followed was the game-winning, 84-yard touchdown drive. Bryce Schmiesing had a 23-yard run on the first play. The Wildcats were ready to punt on a fourth-and-five from the 50 when McComb was penalized for having 12 men on the field, which gave Minster a first down. Bryce Schmiesing added a 23-yard reception to set up Huelsman’s three-yard scoring run with 4:02 remaining.

“We knew the game wasn’t over until the clock hit zero,” Huelsman said. “We knew we had to keep fighting, knew we had to keep battling until it did hit zero. That is exactly what we did, and it paid off.”

Following an incompletion and a negative three-yard pass play, McComb faced a third-and-13 at its own 38 with 3:13 left. Abbott launched a deep attempt down field that was intercepted by Lehmkuhl to set up Minster at its own 37. Two straight Bryce Schmiesing runs and another by Huelsman gave the Wildcats a first down and then Minster took the victory formation.

Nearly two years after edging Tinora 14-13 in the state semis on the same field, Minster and coach Geron Stokes, wearing his famed November shorts, celebrated again after another huge win.

“I love our kids, man,” Stokes said. “We came out on fire, and we knew they were going to battle back because they’re a good team. Our kids were on the ropes a little bit there. But they responded, just like you want tough kids to respond. They weren’t perfect, but we fought. We’re going back to the ’Shoe!”

McComb had six total yards of offense on three possessions in the first quarter and also fumbled three times (all recovered) and had one interception.

Minster took over at its own 46 after the second McComb punt and went 54 yards on 12 plays. Huelsman used his arm to convert a pair of third downs. On a third-and-nine from near midfield, Huelsman hooked up with Bryce Schmiesing for a gain of 11 and later, he found Jon Niemeyer for a pickup of 10 yards on fourth-and-two from the 24. That set up a 14-yard touchdown run by Huelsman with 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

Exactly 19 seconds later, Huelsman put the Wildcats on the scoreboard again.

Huelsman jumped in front of an Abbott pass attempt, broke two tackles and headed down the sideline for a 37-yard pick-6 to make it 14-0 at the end of the first.

The Wildcats struck again after another McComb three-and-out. Taking over at its own 21 after a long punt, Minster covered 79 yards in 13 plays. An 11-yard pass play from Huelsman to Niemeyer kept the drive alive with the Wildcats still in their own territory. Two plays later, a 14-yard pass play to Isaac Schmiesing moved the ball across midfield. Minster had a fourth-and-9 from the 19 when Huelsman lofted a pass to the end zone for Niemeyer, who adjusted to an under-thrown ball and outleaped a McComb defender for a touchdown with 6:13 to go in the half.

The next portion of the game belonged McComb.

Abbot had three rushes for 51 yards on the next series to put McComb inside the red zone for the first time. Caden Schroeder finished it off with a two-yard TD run near the two-minute mark, but a bad snap on an extra point led to a failed run and left the score at 21-6.

With Minster trying to make something happen in the two-minute drill, Jared Case intercepted Huelsman and returned the ball to McComb in its own territory. A 39-yard screen pass from Abbott to Jake Crouse led to Tanner Schroeder’s 24-yard field goal with two seconds to go in the half, making the score 21-9.

Following a three-and-out by Minster to open the second half, Abbott found a wide-open Grahm LaRue for a 56-yard score with 8:42 left in the third. A two-point pass from Abbott to Schroder made the score 21-17.

The Panthers took their first lead late in the third on Schroder’s five-yard touchdown run, which concluded a 12-play, 77-yard drive.

But for the second straight season in the state semis, McComb’s run was ultimately ended by a team from the Midwest Athletic Conference. The Panthers lost to last year’s eventual state champion Fort Recovery. This time, they were defeated by a group from Minster that few thought could make the state final after a 2-4 start.

“Everyone’s looked at us as an underdog,” Huelsman said. “We just had a fuel and it ended up working, I guess.”

Abbott had 17 carries for 111 yards and two scores for McComb.

Huelsman had 18 carries for 69 yards and threw for 123 yards. Bryce Schmiesing had 13 rushes for 56 yards and six catches for 40. His 11-yard catch in the first quarter vaulted him to second on the OHSAA all-time receptions streak list at 42 straight games. He can tie Ada’s Kyle Baker for first with a reception in next week’s game.

The Cardiac Cats version 2.0 will try to duplicate the 2014 team’s run this weekend in Columbus.

“I think they deserve it,” Stokes said. “I’m a big believer in you always get what you deserve. They’ve out-worked people and they’ve forced themselves to grow when other people are too soft to grow. They’ve done a heckuva job as far as leadership goes, as far as work ethic goes and toughness. I’m really proud of our kids.”

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 14 7 0 6 27

McComb 0 9 14 0 23

First Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 14 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 0:21

MIN – Jared Huelsman 38 yd interception return (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 0:02

Second Quarter:

MIN – Jonathan Niemeyer 19 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac. Schmiesing kick), 6:13

MCCOMB – Caden Schroeder 2 yd run (Run failed), 2:40

MCCOMB - Tanner Schroeder 24 yd field goal, 0:02

Third Quarter:

MCCOMB – Grahm LaRue 56 yd pass from Malachi Abbott (Caden Schroeder pass from Malachi Abbott), 8:42

MCCOMB – Caden Schroeder 5 yd run (Kick failed), 1:56

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 3 yd run (Pass failed), 4:02

Team statistics MIN McCOMB

First downs 16 15

Rushes - yards 32-125 43-174

Passing yards 123 160

Comp - att - int 14-25-1 8-15-2

Total yards 248 334

Punts - average 4-32.5 3-38.3

Fumbles - lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties - yards 4-22 3-25

Time of possession 25:05 22:55

Rushing: Minster, Huelsman 17-64, B Schmiesing 14-61, Team 1-0; McComb, Abbott 17-111, Crouse 13-46, Schroeder 7-18, Loe 4-7, Swisher 1-(-1), Team 1-(-7)

Passing: Minster, Huelsman 14-25-1-123; McComb, Abbott 8-15-2-160

Receiving: Minster, B Schmiesing 6-40, Niemeyer 4-55, I Schmiesing 3-20, Lehmkuhl 1-8; McComb, Schroeder 3-42, Morris 2-17, LaRue 1-56, Crouse 1-39, Case 1-6