St. Henry Defense Dominates Minster in 30-7 Victory

By Bruce Monnin

ST. HENRY — The game between the St. Henry Redskins and the Minster Wildcats was almost a repeat of the previous year’s matchup. That was fortunate for St. Henry, as Ryan Luttmer again dominated the scoring with three rushing touchdowns, a field goal and three extra points during a 30-7 Redskin victory.

Luttmer ended the night with 82 yards rushing and 30 yards receiving to go with the 24 points he put on the board. “I’m proud of our guys, proud of their effort, and proud of Ryan Luttmer and the game he put together,” summarized St. Henry coach Brad Luthman.

It was Minster who scored first in the game. Late in the first quarter, Jared Huelsman carried the ball four straight times, earning 15, 9 and 17 yards before finishing the drive with a six-yard scoring run to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

“I thought Minster came out with some real physicality in the first quarter that we weren’t used to,” added Luthman, “and once we settled down, we started playing as we’ve seen all year.”

The Redskins responded on their next possession, converting two third downs during a nine play, 79-yard drive capped off by a four-yard Luttmer run. A Parker Link interception and 20-yard return again set up St. Henry deep in Minster territory, and the Redskins converted with a five-yard scoring pass from Daylon Lange to Jaren Fishbaugh to give St. Henry a 13-7 lead.

The Wildcats drove to the Redskin 36-yard line twice late in the half, but the St. Henry defense rose to the occasion both times. First, they successfully defended a fourth down deep pass, and the following series Sam Lefeld grabbed a drive ending interception.

Minster’s Jared Huelsman gained 98 yards on 12 carries in the first half but would gain only five more yards the rest of the game. The Redskin defense harassed him both on the ground and when he tried to throw after intermission. “We’ve been hanging our hat on our defense all year,” added Luthman.

While the defense was shutting down Minster, the St. Henry offense continued to build the lead. The Redskins came out of the locker room and drove 65 yards, including two big 29-yard completions to Ryan Bruening and Tyler Schlarman. Luttmer finished the effort with a one-yard scoring plunge to increase the advantage to 20-7.

While the Wildcats held St. Henry to only a little over two yards per rushing attempt, Lange was able to connect with his receivers for 221 yards on the evening. “There is some senior skill talent that has been playing for a couple of years together on the varsity field for us now. We’ve been aggressive with the pass, more so than in the past, and they’re making us look good doing it.”

The Redskins would drive to the Minster 11-yard line to start the fourth quarter, setting up Luttmer for a 27-yard field goal. In the final two minutes, Luttmer would break free for a 33-yard score against the Wildcat reserve defenders for the final score of 30-7.

“We knew this was coming. It was as clear as day,” lamented Wildcat coach Geron Stokes. “We’re going to continue to get beat until we change. These are the games that force you to become a team.”

St. Henry’s record improves to 5-1, and their home stand continues against the 5-1 Anna Rockets. Minster’s record falls to 3-3, and the Wildcats remain on the road next week to face the 4-2 Coldwater Cavaliers.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

St. Henry 0 13 7 10 30

Minster 7 0 0 0 7

First Quarter:

MIN – Jared Huelsman 6 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 1:30

Second Quarter:

SH – Ryan Luttmer 4 yd run (Ryan Luttmer kick), 9:45

SH – Jaren Fishbaugh 5 yd pass from Daylon Lange (kick failed), 6:57

Third Quarter:

SH – Ryan Luttmer 1 yd run (Ryan Luttmer kick), 8:19

Fourth Quarter:

SH – Ryan Luttmer 27 yd FG, 6:49

SH – Ryan Luttmer 33 yd run (Ryan Luttmer kick), 1:50

Team statistics SH MIN

First downs 15 10

Rushes – yards 44-97 28-126

Passing yards 221 63

Comp - att – int 15-19-0 8-21-2

Total yards 318 189

Punts – average 4-27.5 4-31.5

Fumbles – lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties – yards 8-89 4-39

Time of possession 28:42 19:18

Individual statistics

Rushing: St. Henry, Luttmer 25-82, Fishbaugh 7-9, Bruggeman 1-4, Lange 7-2, Jacobs 3-1; Minster, Huelsman 16-103, Schmiesing 9-32, Schmitmeyer 3-(-9)

Passing: St. Henry, Lange 15-19-0-221; Minster, Huelsman 8-21-2-63

Receiving: St. Henry, Schlarman 5-66, Niekamp 4-70, Bruening 2-39, Luttmer 2-30, Fishbaugh 2-16; Minster, Frericks 2-20, Brown 2-17, Lehmkuhl 2-16, Boehnlein 2-10