Minster Survives 35-32 Shootout Against Convoy Crestview

By Bruce Monnin

LIMA — During Friday night’s regional semifinal game against the Crestview Knights, the Minster Wildcats ran into a force in quarterback Drew Kline. The junior ran for 233 yards and two touchdowns, passed for 159 yards and two more scores as he at times shredded the Minster defense.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, they have a pretty good quarterback of their own. Jared Huelsman ran for 148 yards and three touchdowns, while throwing for 213 yards and two more scores, plus running in a crucial late two-point conversion in Minster’s 35-32 victory.

“What an unbelievable high school football game! Neither team was going to lose,” proclaimed Minster coach Geron Stokes. “That team (Crestview) is unbelievable. They are full of athletes and made us play in space. I thought they were one of the best teams in the state of Ohio. #10 (Klein) on turf, man, I don’t think too many teams are going to tackle him.”

What was expected to be an offensive shootout got off to a slow start as neither team scored in the first quarter and a half, until an interception by Wade Sheets allowed Crestview to start a drive at the Wildcat 48-yard line. Eight plays later, Kline connected with Sheets for a 13-yard score and the 7-0 lead.

Once the floodgates were opened, nine of the next eleven drives would result in touchdowns. Huelsman got the Wildcats going with two passes of 20 plus yards to August Boehnlein and Issac Schmiesing, then scored on a two-yard run. A missed extra point left Minster behind 7-6.

The Knights took their turn to score again with 25 seconds remaining in the half, this time on a three-yard pass from Klein to Charles Stefanek. The extra point was blocked by Schmiesing to leave the score 13-6 at the break.

The Wildcat offense came out of the locker room ready to score. Runs of 12 and 9 yards were followed by a 47-yard touchdown pass to Alex Lehmkuhl, tying the game at 13 apiece. Crestview, however, scored almost as fast, using a four-play drive was capped by a Klein 55-yard ramble through the Minster defense to retake a 20-13 lead.

Disaster struck when the Wildcats tried to answer, as Stefanek intercepted a pass and returned it 32 yards for another Knight score. The extra point was missed, and the Crestview lead grew to 26-13.

Down two scores, Huelsman put the team on his shoulders for the following drive, completing all four passes he attempted and running the ball three times, including a 12-yard touchdown, getting Minster back within six points, 26-20.

As the game entered the fourth quarter, the Knights methodically worked their way down the field for fourteen time-consuming plays. The Wildcat defense bent, but stopped Crestview on a fourth-down play at the 31 yard line and handed the ball back to their offense. Lehmkuhl was the big player again, making both a 34-yard catch of a deep pass and a fantastic fingertip grab of a nine-yard scoring toss to give Minster its first lead of the night, 27-26, with 6:29 remaining.

“Coach says big time players make big time plays in big time situations,” said Alex Lehmkuhl, who caught four passes for 110 yards and two scores. “In the cold, those big-time players come out.”

“We call them ‘legends of the cold’,” added Stokes about the big plays made by several players. “Over the last five years we’ve had really good kids step up when it gets cold out this time of year.”

The Knights tried to take the lead back on their next play, heaving a deep pass along the sideline. Minster fans erupted as Austin Brown seemingly came down with the big interception, but after a conference among the referees, they declared a dual possession catch and awarded Crestview the 38-yard gain. Klein ran the ball the next four plays, with his 25-yard scramble putting the Knights up 32-27. An attempt at the two-point conversion was intercepted by Brown.

With four minutes remaining, the game felt like it would belong to whoever had the ball last. Minster’s offensive line rose to this challenge, as the Wildcats needed just six running plays to cover the 61 yards needed to score. Huelsman scored on an eight-yard run, then also ran in for the critical two-point conversion to give Minster a 35-32 lead. The bad news for the Wildcats was they left 1:39 remaining on the clock.

The Minster defense decided to rush just three defenders and play eight men in zone pass coverage. Klein repeatedly went back to throw, scrambling and searching for receivers who were not open. On their sixth play, Klein found Sheets open for a 27-yard catch at the Wildcat 22-yard line with just 11 seconds remaining. Klein next rushed for 15 yards to the Minster seven, and the final timeout was called with three seconds remaining.

Crestview decided to eschew the game tying field goal attempt and went for the win. Klein again dropped back to pass and was chased out of the pocket by Cody Frericks and Jack Heitbrink. As the sideline approached, he heaved a desperation throw into the end zone, but it just overshot the outstretched arms of his receiver to give the Wildcats the 35-32 win.

“The toughness of our team was unreal tonight,” concluded Stokes. “We got down, then bounced back. Down again, then bounced back. Our seniors refused to let us get beat. Awesome effort.”

Next week 8-4 Minster will play 8-4 Delphos St. John’s in a rematch of week three’s 41-14 Wildcat victory. The Knights end their season with a 10-2 mark.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 0 6 14 15 35

Crestview 0 13 13 6 32

Second Quarter:

CRE – Wade Sheets 13 yd pass from Drew Kline (Dylan Hicks kick), 4:40

MIN – Jared Huelsman 2 yd run (kick failed), 1:58

CRE – Charles Stefanek 3 yd pass from Drew Kline (kick blocked by Isaac Schmiesing), 0:25

Third Quarter:

MIN – Alex Lehmkuhl 47 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 10:40

CRE – Drew Kline 55 yd run (Dylan Hicks kick), 9:01

CRE – Charles Stefanek 32 yd interception return (kick failed), 7:49

MIN – Jared Huelsman 12 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 4:38

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Alex Lehmkuhl 9 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (Isaac Schmiesing kick), 6:29

CRE – Drew Kline 25 yd run (pass intercepted by Austin Brown), 4:00

MIN – Jared Huelsman 8 yd run (Jared Huelsman run), 1:39

Team statistics MIN CRE

First downs 20 23

Rushes - yards 33-190 42-281

Passing yards 213 159

Comp - att - int 11-16-2 15-24-1

Total yards 403 440

Punts - average 0-0.0 1-16.0

Fumbles - lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties - yards 4-38 5-46

Time of possession 19:28 28:32

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Huelsman 24-149, Schmiesing 9-41; Crestview, Klein 33-233, Gibson 7-38, Stefanek 2-10

Passing: Minster, Huelsman 11-16-2-213; Crestview, Klein 15-23-1-159

Receiving: Minster, Lehmkuhl 4-110, Brown 3-37, Boehnlein 2-40; Schmiesing 2-26; Crestview, Sheets 8-82, Stefanek 5-69, Gibson 2-8