Offensive Explosion Leads Minster over Parkway, 62-35

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — The Parkway Panthers arrived in Minster hot off last week’s 21-7 victory over Versailles. They played even with the Wildcats in the first half, taking a 21-21 tie into intermission. But Minster came out on fire in the second half, putting six touchdowns on the board while running up a 62-35 victory.

Besides the 97 points, the teams combined for over 900 yards on the night.

“Not very much defense,” summed up Minster coach Geron Stokes. “We have some guys in question right now. We aren’t executing what we are supposed to do, and people are trying to overcompensate for them.”

Both teams scored three times in their four first half possessions. Parkway scored on 8 yard and two-yard runs by Eli Rich and a one-yard run by Nick Hawk. However, much of the offensive damage was done on soft passes by Rich between the first and second levels of the Wildcat defense, with Caleb Kinney catching five balls for 92 yards.

Similarly, Minster scored on four- and eight-yard runs by Jacob Niemeyer and a two-yard effort by Broc Miller. Niemeyer added 107 passing yards on only six attempts.

The Wildcat defense came into the game with nine interceptions, more than double any other MAC team. This ability would key their second half run, as they stole three Parkway passes.

Minster started the second half with a two-play scoring drive, capped by a 45-yard Niemeyer run. On the second play of the ensuing Panther drive, Mike Ketner secured his fifth interception of the season near midfield. Niemeyer finished off this drive with a 24-yard run, and the Wildcats achieved the first real separation of the night, 35-21.

Late in the quarter, Austin Brown intercepted a pass, and on the first play of the fourth period Niemeyer threw a seven-yard strike to August Boehnlein to increase the lead to 21 points. Another Brown pick set up a fourth straight Minster score, this time on a Miller 15-yard run.

Both teams added two more scores before the end of the game. Rich found Jason Luth for a 10-yard touchdown pass and ran 10 yards for the final Parkway score. Miller ran for two more Wildcat touchdowns, one of 13 yards and a final scamper of 98 yards around the right end, breaking the old Minster record for longest touchdown run of 94 yards, which had been set by Tony Brown in 1975.

“That’s just a fast kid being fast,” described Stokes.

With leading rusher Alex Schmitmeyer and one of their leading receivers, Trent Roetgerman, inactive for the game, the Wildcats found production from different sources. Miller led the team with 189 rushing yards on 13 carries, while Brown and Ketner each compiled over 80 yards receiving during the game.

“I think that is a credit to every senior group that we’ve had up to this point,” added Stokes. “The expectation is that when your number is called, you are expected to go in there and play. No egos. There is nobody that is fighting for more playing time. Our kids just go to work every week in practice and when their number is called, they play.”

The win improves Minster’s record to 4-1 (2-1 in the MAC). The Wildcats visit 1-5 Delphos St. John’s next week. The 1-4 Panthers (1-2 in the MAC) return home to Rockford to host 2-3 Fort Recovery.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 14 14 27 62

Parkway 7 14 0 14 35

First Quarter:

PW – Eli Rich 8 yd run (Corey Walls kick), 8:46

MIN – Jacob Niemeyer 4 yd run (Bryan Falk kick), 3:46

Second Quarter:

PW – Eli Rich 2 yd run (Corey Walls kick), 9:04

MIN – Broc Miller 2 yd run (Bryan Falk kick), 6:31

MIN – Jacob Niemeyer 9 yd run (Bryan Falk kick), 3:40

PW – Nick Hawk 1 yd run (Corey Walls kick), 0:12

Third Quarter:

MIN – Jacob Niemeyer 45 yd run (Bryan Falk kick), 11:22

MIN – Jacob Niemeyer 24 yd run (Bryan Falk kick), 7:47

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – August Boehnlein 7 yd pass from Jacob Niemeyer (Bryan Falk kick), 11:55

MIN – Broc Miller 15 yd run (Bryan Falk kick), 8:49

PW – Jason Luth 4 yd pass from Eli Rich (Cody Sill kick), 5:53

MIN – Broc Miller 13 yd run (kick failed), 3:40

PW – Eli Rich 10 yd run (Corey Walls kick), 1:54

MIN – Broc Miller 98 yd run (Bryan Falk kick), 0:53

Team statistics MIN PW

First downs 23 17

Rushes - yards 31-363 42-200

Passing yards 201 147

Comp - att - int 15-20-0 13-23-3

Total yards 564 347

Punts - average 0-0.0 2-35.5

Fumbles - lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties - yards 3-29 4-35

Time of possession 20:20 27:40

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Miller 13-189, Niemeyer 9-112, Heitbrink 8-37, Ketner 1-25; Parkway, Rich 16-69, Hawk 8-69, Luth 15-49, Stober 1-11, Baltzell 2-2

Passing: Minster, Niemeyer 15-20-0-201; Parkway, Rich 13-22-3-147, Stober 0-1-0-0

Receiving: Minster, Brown 7-82, Ketner 4-87, Heitbrink 1-11, Frericks 1-8, Boehnlein 1-7, Enneking 1-6; Parkway, Kinney 5-92, Stober 3-25, Hawk 3-6, Luth 2-24