Huelsman, Wildcats Run Over St. Paul

By Gary Rasberry

LIMA — Fake one way, run the other way. Jared Huelsman used that play so often against Norwalk St. Paul that fans had to be getting a feeling of déjà vu during the second and third quarters.

The Minster quarterback absolutely dominated the St. Paul defense and etched his name high on the Minster all-time rushing list with 278 yards on the ground as the Wildcats advanced to the Division VII state championship game with a 40-7 win over the top-ranked Flyers at Spartan Stadium in Lima on Friday night.

The Wildcats (10-4) now play Cuyahoga Heights on Friday at 10 a.m. at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton for a chance at the program’s third state title and second title in four years. Cuyahoga Heights defeated Danville 38-8 in Orrville.

“I really believe this; When you get a group of people that invests and works as hard as these kids do, good things will happen,” Minster coach Geron Stokes said. “I don’t think this is an accident. This is sixty-some kids really buying in to a workload and time investment to get things right. Because of that, we can go through struggles and handle adversity the right way.”

There was very little time of struggle for Minster on Friday night, due to the fact that the Wildcats dominated the time of possession thanks to long drives. Only one Minster scoring drive lasted fewer than eight plays as the Wildcats methodically consumed nearly 28 minutes of ball possession against a Flyer team that had entered the game averaging nearly 445 yards of total offense per game.

Minster’s first drive took 13 plays and nearly five minutes to travel 72 yards before Huelsman hit Isaac Schmiesing for 13-yard scoring pass with 5:42 left in the first quarter. A missed point-after made the score 6-0.

St. Paul immediately countered as Nick Lukasko found Joey Catalano on the first play from scrimmage for a 65-yard score. Catalano converted his 71st straight PAT of the season to put the Flyers up 7-6 with 5:32 left.

The Wildcats started the ensuing drive at their own 28. Minster converted two third-down plays for first downs and also converted on a fourth-and-five from the St. Paul 28 with an 11-yard reception by Schmiesing. Hueslman punched in the final 13 yards to put Minster back in the lead to stay.

The Minster defense did its part, forcing punts on three of the St. Paul’s final five possessions. The shortest Minster scoring drive lasted five plays with Huelsman calling his own number every play to raise the lead to 20-6.

“That’s a good offense,” Stokes said of the Flyer offense. “Our guys found a way.”

After another St. Paul punt, Minster took all but 16 seconds off the clock with an 11-play, 80-yard drive as Hueslman stymied the Flyers. The calling card play was a look to pass to Schmiesing on the right before finding a seam on the left side of the line. Huelsman finished with 170 yards in the first half after punching in from a yard out with 16 seconds in the half left to make the score 26-7.

“Our offensive line was unreal tonight,” Stokes said. “We called it ‘Getting manly.’ They were getting manly tonight. Real proud of that group. They started as a bad group and really put the time and effort to go and get better.”

Minster picked up where it had left off by getting the ball to begin the third quarter. Eleven plays later, only three of them passing, Huelsman punched in from four yards out to make the score 33-7. Huelsman was picked off on the Wildcats’ next possession but finished up his unbelievable night by carrying the ball seven times on the Wildcats’ next possession, scoring from four yards out with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter to not only make it 40-7 but also trigger the running clock.

Huelsman’s 278 yards ranks only behind Ty Parks’ 302-yard game against New Bremen in 2003 for most yards in a game. Huelsman’s 43 carries also rank second behind Parks, who carried 50 times against Coldwater in 2003. Huelsman did pass Parks for the most rushing yards in a single season. Parks had 1,547 in 2002. Huelsman now stands at 1.616 yards.

“I didn’t know what to do with myself. I had so much space to cut. That’s a good feeling. That’s something you want to see,” Huelsman said. “(The offensive line) puts in more work than anyone. They come in at 7:15 a.m. and watch film. They don’t get enough credit.”

Schmiesing carried the ball eight times for 32 yards and caught eight passes for 69 yards.

The Minster defense limited St. Paul to just 212 yards of offense, 168 coming via the pass. Thane Crabbs, who entered the game with over 1,800 yards rushing, was held to 34 by the Minster defense. Lukasko was 10-of-24 for 168 yards.

Now Minster focuses on Cuyahoga Heights, who lost to Marion Local in the Division VI title game last season. Stokes is maintaining a business approach. “We have to go back to work,” Stokes said. “We’ll get after them (today) in the film room.”

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 6 20 7 7 40

Norwalk St Paul 7 0 0 0 7

First Quarter:

MIN - Isaac Schmiesing 13 yd pass from Jared Huelsman (kick blocked); 5:42

NSP - Joey Catalano 65 yd pass from Nick Lukasko (Joey Catalano kick); 5:32

Second Quarter:

MIN - Jared Huelsman 13 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick); 11:54

MIN - Jared Huelsman 2 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick); 9:14

MIN - Jared Huelsman 1 yd run (kick failed); 0:16

Third Quarter:

MIN - Jared Huelsman 4 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick); 7:20

Fourth Quarter:

MIN - Jared Huelsman 4 yd run (Isaac Schmiesing kick); 9:01

Team statistics MIN NSP

First downs 27 9

Rushes - yards 52-311 15-44

Passing yards 90 168

Comp - att - int 11-16-1 10-24-1

Total yards 401 212

Punts - average 0-0.0 4-31.2

Fumbles - lost 0-0 2-0

Penalties - yards 3-30 11-85

Time of possession 27:58 20:02

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Huelsman 43-278, Schmiesing 9-33; Norwalk St. Paul, Crabbs 9-34, Saldusky 2-7, Caizzo 2-4, Lukasko 2-(-1)

Passing: Minster, Huelsman 11-16-1-90; Norwalk St. Paul, Lukasko 10-24-1-168

Receiving: Minster, Schmiesing 8-69, Lehmkuhl 2-10, Brown 1-11; Norwalk St. Paul, Maxwell 7-89, Sweet 2-14, Catalano 1-65