Early Scores Gives Minster 16-14 Win Over Covington

By Bruce Monnin

COVINGTON — For the final game of the season, the Minster Wildcat seniors traded in their uniforms for coaching jobs, in order to mentor the underclassman as preparation for the 2021 season. The first quarter was home to all of the Minster scoring on the night, then the defense stepped up in the remainder of the game to defeat the Covington Buccaneers 16-14.

After Covington returned the opening kickoff to their own 45-yard line, the Wildcat defense only allowed the Buccaneers to reach the Minster 38-yard line before stopping them on a fourth down pass. The Wildcats responded with a steady 10-play scoring drive capped off by a five-yard Austin Wellman touchdown run. The two-point conversion pass from Johnny Nixon to Brady Wolf gave Minster the early 8-0 lead.

It did not take long for Covington to respond. On a fourth down and one to go play from their own 41-yard line, Bryce Staudt appeared to be stuffed at the line of scrimmage, but he bounced outside and scampered for a 59-yard score. A pass from Jason Wagoner to Tyler Owens tied the score at 8-8.

Minster answered in three plays. Nixon connected with Chase Couse for a 53-yard deep strike, then ran the ball in on the two point conversion to double up the Buccaneers 16-8 by the end of the opening quarter.

In the middle of the second period, Covington had the ball at midfield when Wagoner struck deep, completing a pass to Jakob Hamilton. Before he could score, Wellman stripped him of the ball and Couse recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

Undaunted, the Buccaneer defense shut down the Wildcat offense and took advantage of a three-yard Minster punt. A six-play drive was capped off by a five-yard run by 325-pound Grant Babylon. When Babylon attempted to run for the two-point conversion, he was halted short by an initial hit by Nixon and a swarming rest of the Wildcat defense.

Covington would reach Minster territory on all four drives in the second half but would fail to put points on the board every time. The Buccaneers were stopped on downs at the Wildcat 44 early in the third quarter and stopped by a Couse interception at the Minster 39-yard line later.

On the last play of the third stanza, Wagoner broke off a 70-yard run before being caught from behind by Wellman. A holding penalty and a sack by James Boehnlein and Wolf drove Covington back where they were halted on downs at the 22-yard line.

The Buccaneers final drive started just on the Wildcat half of the field, but another holding penalty and three incomplete passes led to a punt. Ten straight Minster running plays ate up the final 5:47 to secure the 16-14 win.

Wellman ended the night rushing for 112 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, while Nixon tacked on another 67 yards on 17 attempts. Wagoner was the Covington workhorse, rushing for 107 yards on 12 attempts and completing 15-27 passes for another 152 yards.

Minster ends their season with a 5-6 record. Covington has a 5-5 mark.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 16 0 0 0 16

Covington 8 6 0 0 14

First Quarter:

MIN – Austin Wellman 5 yd run (Brady Wolf pass from Johnny Nixon), 4:08

COV – Bryce Staudt 59 yd run (Tyler Owens pass from Jensen Wagoner), 2:08

MIN – Chase Couse 53 yd pass from Johnny Nixon (Johnny Nixon run), 0:48

Second Quarter:

COV – Grant Babylon 5 yd run (run failed), 0:36

Team statistics MIN COV

First downs 10 10

Rushes - yards 42-179 23-181

Passing yards 72 152

Comp - att - int 3-8-1 15-27-1

Total yards 251 333

Punts - average 4-23.0 2-33.0

Fumbles - lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties - yards 5-56 6-59

Time of possession 26:40 21:20

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Wellman 25-112, Nixon 17-76; Covington, Wagoner 12-107, Staudt 3-58, Shields 6-9, Babylon 1-5, Swank 1-2

Passing: Minster, Nixon 3-8-1-72; Covington, Wagoner 15-27-1-152

Receiving: Minster, Couse 1-53, Wellman 1-12, Wolf 1-7; Covington, Hamilton 8-89, Owens 4-26, Koffer 1-20, Swank 1-10, Shields 1-7