Minster Overcomes Columbus Crusaders 25-7

By Bruce Monnin

WESTERVILLE  -  This was the first ever meeting between the Minster Wildcats and the Columbus Crusaders, a non-OHSAA club program which has played OHSAA teams during their 25-year career.  It resulted in the first victory in coach Seth Whiting’s career as the Wildcat coach.

The Minster defense came out strong, holding the Crusaders without a first down on their first three drives and two later times forcing turnovers after the hosts had penetrated the Wildcat 20-yard line.

The Minster offense started slower, gaining a new negative nine yards total on their opening three possessions.  Their fourth possession started similarly, as the Wildcats faced a third down with 16 yards to go.  Freshman quarterback Brogan Stephey then found Devan Wuebker open over the middle for a 79-yard gain.  This led to a late first quarter Stephey one-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead.

The Crusaders responded with a drive of their own, but Eli Rindler forced a fumble at the Minster six-yard line which James Niemeyer recovered to end the threat.

A 28-yard touchdown pass from Jack South to Mohamed Kamara closed the Wildcat lead to 7-6, but a Chase Couse interception just before half set up a Stephey five-yard plunge to give Minster a 13-6 lead at intermission.

The squad from Columbus came out strong after halftime to reach the Wildcat 18-yard line, but Couse ended the threat with another interception, this time for a touchback in the end zone.  Minster struck back with 48 and 11-yard passes from Stephey to Jack Kohne leading to a 21-yard scoring strike to Wuebker. 

Stephey would add a ten-yard scoring run in the final quarter to cap off the 27-6 Minster victory.

While completing only about one-third of his passes, Stephey managed to throw for 248 yards with his ten completions.  He added another 69 yards on the ground and three rushing scores.  Zack Fortman was the leading target, catching four passes for 46 yards, while Wuebker compiled 100 receiving yards in his two catches, scoring one touchdown and receiving a two-point conversion toss.

Next Friday 1-1 Minster returns home to host 1-1 St. Henry. 

Score by quarter          1 2 3 4 Total

Minster                         7          6          6          8  27

Col. Crusaders             0          6          0          0         6

First Quarter:

MIN – Broghan Stephey 1 yd run (Brogan Stephey kick), 1:52

Second Quarter:

CC – Mohamed Kamara 28 yd pass from Jack South (kick blocked), 1:39

MIN – Broghan Stephey 5 yd run (kick failed), 0:25

Third Quarter:

MIN– Devan Wuebker 21 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (kick blocked), 6:15

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Broghan Stephey 10 yd run (Devan Wuebkeran pass from Brogan Stephey), 7:41

Team statistics             MIN                  CC

First downs                   14                     12

Rushes - yards              30-95                29-107

Passing yards               255                   140

Comp - att - int              12-31-0             10-24-2

Total yards                    350                   247

Punts - average             7-29.6               8-30.4

Fumbles - lost               2-1                    2-2

Penalties - yards           2-10                  5-33

Time of possession       22:11                25:49

Individual statistics

Rushing:  Minster, Stephey 12-69, Schmiesing 11-16, Sharp 4-16, Knapke 2-0, Wuebker 1-minus 6; Columbus Crusaders, Slater 6-44, Frazier 11-41, Rogers 2-12, Medas 2-7, Kamara 1-6, Etok 3-5, Sho-Sawyer 1-minus 1, South 3-minus 7

Passing:  Minster, Stephey 10-29-0-248, Sharp 2-2-0-7, Columbus Crusaders, South 9-23-2-107, Frazier 1-1-0-33

Receiving:  Minster, Fortman 4-46, Wuebker 2-100, Kohne 2-59, Rindler 1-38, Ca. Couse 1-7, Ch. Couse 1-5, Gehret 1-0; Columbus Crusaders, Kamara 4-94, Frazier 2-30, Heissner 2-13, Moses 1-6, Etok 1-minus 3