Unstoppable St. Henry Offense Outscores Minster 40-28

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER  -  The punters took the night off as the offenses of both the St. Henry Redskins and the Minster Wildcats either scored or turned the ball over trying every possession on the night.  St. Henry, with an almost unstoppable ground game, scored on two more possessions than Minster, and walked off the field with a 40-28 victory.

The Redskins received the opening kickoff and set about establishing their dominance on the line of scrimmage with a 16-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.  Owen Lefeld carried the ball eight times on the series, including the five-yard scoring run.  Lefeld would end up with 179 yards rushing on the evening, reaching paydirt on four of his 24 carries.

“I thought that we ran the ball really well,” explained St. Henry coach Brad Luthman, “We know that Owen’s a good, tough runner.  We’re bringing our line along, trying to get hats on hats and get a little push.  It’s just a work in progress.”

On Minster’s first play, their pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and then intercepted by Brandon Keller.  This time the Redskins only needed one play to extend the lead to 13-0, a 27-yard pass from Bryce Brookhart to Bennett Gels.

The Wildcats responded, as they would all night.  On a fourth down and 1 play, Brogan Stephey broke through the line of scrimmage and outran the defense for a 58-yard touchdown, cutting their deficit to 13-7.

The teams proceeded to trade scores.  St. Henry scored early in the second quarter on a Lefeld 13-yard run.  Minster answered with a 33-yard pass from Stephey to Jack Kohne.  The Redskins hit right back, this time going through the air with a 46-yard strike from Brookhart to Elijah Horstman, extending the St. Henry lead to 27-14.

Minster tried to answer again, driving to the Redskin 41-yard line before the Redskin defense sacked Stephey twice, including on fourth down to end the threat before half.

The offenses kept rolling in the second half.  The Wildcats received the second half kickoff and closed the gap to 27-21 with Stephey throw to Devan Wuebker for a nine-yard score.  The St. Henry offense refused to let Minster stay that close, as a Lefeld 28-yard run set up his subsequent 31-yard scoring jaunt.

This time the Redskin defense stood firm, again sacking Stephey on a fourth down play.  It appeared the Minster defense would get its first stop of the night, as they forced St. Henry into a fourth-and-12 situation.  But Brookhart connected with Harrison Wendel for a first down, and Lefeld again finished off the drive to increase the Redskin lead to 40-21.

“I was impressed with Bryce extending a few plays,” added Luthman.  “There was a big fourth down here along our sidelines.  He didn’t see anybody open, but then found Harrison (Wendel) and made a huge play.”

The Wildcats had one last gasp.  They put together a 17-play, 72-yard drive which was finished off when Stephey muscled over the goal line from one yard out on fourth down.  Down 40-28, Minster successfully executed an onside kick, and with almost eight minutes remaining, still had a shot at victory.

The Wildcats went straight for the long hitter, running a reverse with a pitch back to the quarterback.  But the St. Henry defense was ready, hitting the passer as he attempted to throw deep, resulting in an interception by Brookhart which sealed the win.

Lefeld’s 179 yards on 24 carries led all rushers, with Brookhart tacking on 111 yards through the air.  Stephey led the Wildcats with 94 rushing yards and 162 more through the air. 

While Minster was unable to slow the St. Henry offense, the Wildcats did have their highest scoring output of the young season.  “Credit Minster, because we’re going to go in there as a defensive staff and defensive players with a sour taste in our mouth,” added Luthman.  “They had a good game plan and we didn’t play very well.”

St. Henry’s record is now 2-1, and they will host 3-0 Marion Local next Friday.  Minster’s record drops to 1-2, and the Wildcats will travel to face 0-3 Delphos St. John’s on Saturday. 

Score by quarter           1 2        3 4 Total

St. Henry                      13  14  13  0 40

Minster                         7         7         7         7          28

First Quarter:

SH – Owen Lefeld 5 yd run (pass failed), 3:55

SH – Bennett Gels 27 yd pass from Bryce Brookhart (Michael Gonzalez kick), 3:36

MIN – Brogan Stephey 58 yd run (Brogan Stephey kick), 1:31

Second Quarter:

SH – Owen Lefeld 13 yd run (Michael Gonzalez kick), 8:26

MIN – Jack Kohne 33 yd pass from Brogan Stephy (Brogan Stephey kick), 6:28

SH – Elijah Horstman 46 yd pass from Bryce Brookhart (Michael Gonzalez kick), 3:49

Third Quarter:

MIN – Devan Wuebker 9 yd pass from Brogan Stephy (Brogan Stephey kick), 8:29

SH – Owen Lefeld 31 yd run (Michael Gonzalez kick), 6:36

SH – Owen Lefeld 2 yd run (kick failed), 0:56

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 58 yd run (Brogan Stephey kick), 8:02

Team statistics             SH                    MIN

First downs                   21                     16

Rushes – yards             45-273              32-127

Passing yards               111                   162

Comp - att – int             9-14-1               13-27-2

Total yards                    384                   289

Punts – average            0-0.0                 0-0.0

Fumbles – lost              0-0                    0-0

Penalties – yards          4-34                  1-15

Time of possession       28:18                19:42

Individual statistics

Rushing:  St. Henry, Lefeld 24-179, Brookhart 9-38, Wendel 7-36, Horstman 5-20; Minster, Stephey 17-94, Wellman 15-33

Passing:  St. Henry, Brookhart 9-14-1-111; Minster, Stephey 13-27-2-162

Receiving:  St. Henry, Lange 4-18, Horstman 2-49, Gels 2-30, Wendel 1-14; Minster, Wellman 4-36, Wuebker 3-43, Kohne 2-40, Nixon 2-24, Rindler 1-14, Schmiesing 1-5