Marion Local Shuts Out Minster 28-0

by Bruce Monnin

MINSTER — In a game where neither offense showed the consistent ability to finish off drives, the Marion Local Flyers made fewer mistakes and converted when necessary to earn a 28-0 win over the Minster Wildcats.

“It’s just a struggle,” admitted Flyer coach Tim Goodwin. “Actually, Minster’s offense did more things against us than several teams have. I don’t know how Geron (Stokes) sleeps at night. Every game they’re moving the ball and they make a mistake.”

Marion Local dominated the first half field position, reaching Minster territory five times, while keeping the Wildcats from reaching any deeper than the Flyer 49-yard line. However, Marion Local only converted two of those drives into scores.

Things looked good initially for the Flyers as they received the opening kickoff and marched 79 yards in ten plays. Grant Meier carried the ball over the goal line from one yard out to earn the quick 7-0 lead.

Marion Local reached the Wildcat 30-yard line on their next drive, before the Minster defense stopped a fourth down and two yards to go pass attempt.

After forcing a Wildcat fumble, the Flyers went straight for the dagger to the heart. Carson Griesdorn threw a 35-yard pass into the end zone where Charles Huelsman was double covered. He outworked both defenders and came down with the touchdown, making the score 14-0 at the end of the first period.

“We have two of the better receivers in the league,” complimented Goodwin. “That always helps.”

Marion Local would enter Minster territory twice in the second quarter, but the drives ended on a missed 28-yard field goal and an interception in the end zone by the Wildcat’s Devan Wuebker.

Minster came out of halftime looking to overcome their deficit. Their opening drive featured a 48-yard completion from Johnny Nixon to Jack Kohne to the Flyer three-yard line, but a fumble on the next play turned the ball over to Marion Local.

On the Wildcat’s next drive, Nixon completed a 33-yard touchdown pass to Wuebker. However, there was a flag on the field, and after a long conference the officials called the play back due to an illegal receiver downfield. Minster fans might long for instant replay, as the film showed no such infraction occurred.

With game time running short, the Wildcats tried to convert fourth-down plays on each of their next two drives. The Flyer defense stopped them both times, then the Marion Local offense converted the opportunities.

On the first possession Marion Local drove 38 yards for the score, while on the next they only needed to go 30 yards. Dylan Fleck scored each time on runs of one and two yards, respectively, to grow the lead to 28-0.

Minster’s offense had one last drive in them, reaching the Flyer ten-yard line before Darren Meier ended the threat with an interception.

Marion Local outgained the Wildcats by just 41 yards, 272 to 231. One major difference was the Flyers only turned the ball over once compared to four Minster giveaways. Another was the Marion Local defense holding Minster to just one out of eleven third down conversions.

“We haven’t gone against a bad defense yet, and our offense is not good enough to just score at will,” opined Goodwin. “The offense is doing its best. They’re working hard and I am optimistic that it will pay off.”

"We’re getting better. We’ve had good practices," added Minster coach Geron Stokes. "We just have to stop turning the ball over."

Quarterback stats were fairly even with Griesdorn completing 7 of 14 passes for 117 yards, while Nixon connected on 9 of 22 throws for 110 yards. The Marion Local running game was spread out over eight rushers, with Dylan Fleck leading the way with 43 yards. Austin Wellman was Minster’s leading rusher with 70 yards on 18 carries.

Marion Local remains undefeated (5-0) and now returns home to face 1-4 Delphos St. John’s. 1-4 Minster will travel next Friday to take on 0-5 Parkway.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Marion Local 14 0 0 14 28

Minster 0 0 0 0 0

First Quarter:

ML – Grant Meier 1 yd run (Kevin Partington kick), 7:06

ML – Charles Huelsman 35 yd pass from Carson Griesdorn (Kevin Partington kick), 1:12

Fourth Quarter:

ML – Dylan Fleck 1 yd run (Kevin Partington kick), 11:16

ML – Dylan Fleck 2 yd run (Kevin Partington kick), 8:41

Team statistics ML MIN

First downs 12 9

Rushes - yards 35-155 31-121

Passing yards 117 110

Comp - att - int 7-14-1 9-22-2

Total yards 272 231

Punts - average 3-31.7 3-35.0

Fumbles - lost 2-0 2-2

Penalties - yards 3-25 4-44

Time of possession 23:29 24:31

Individual statistics

Rushing: Marion Local, Fleck 7-43, Meier 7-36, Seitz 9-32, K Otte 3-26, Co. Griesdorn 2-10, Ca. Griesdorn 4-10, P Otte 3-(minus 2); Minster, Wellman 18-70, Nixon 13-51

Passing: Marion Local, Ca. Griesdorn 7-14-1-117; Minster, Nixon 9-22-2-110

Receiving: Marion Local, P Otte 5-72, Huelsman 2-45; Minster, Kohne 3-62, Ketner 2-20, Wellman 2-20, Trzaska 2-8