Parkway Explodes for 53-29 Win over Minster

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER  -  The Parkway Panthers used an explosive offense and a stingy first half defense to grab a 27-0 halftime lead and then traded second half scores with the Minster Wildcats in earning their first win of the season, 53-29. 

“We executed well on offense.  Defensively, the scores haven’t been reflecting how well we’ve been getting the last couple of weeks,” said Parkway coach Joel Henkle.  “We’ve really improved on that side of the ball.  We’re both young teams and I think both programs have a bright future.  It’s just nice to see our guys get a little bit of success.”

This high scoring contest started out slowly.  Minster’s first two drives each reached Parkway territory before being stopped on downs.  The Panthers were also stopped on their opening couple of possessions.

After the Parkway defense forced a Minster punt from their own three-yard line, the Panthers took advantage of the field position with a 28-yard touchdown run by Fletcher Smith, making the lead 7-0 after the opening quarter.

The second period was all Parkway.  The scoring started when Smith connected with Grant Bollenbacher on a short pass, after which Bollenbacher turned on the jets and slice through the Wildcat defense for an 84-yard score.

After Minster fumbled the snap on a punt attempt, it took just four plays until Logan Green ran for a nine-yard score.  With less than a minute remaining in the half, Smith found Bollenbacher for another short pass which the receiver again broke for a back-breaking 78-yard score, making the Panther lead 27-0 at intermission.

Minster got on the board early in the second half when Chase Couse fielded a punt at full speed near midfield.  He sprinted untouched down the middle of the field to cut the deficit to 27-7.  Parkway responded six plays later, with Eddie Nichols scoring from four yards out.  The Wildcats answered by putting together a nine-play drive polished off by a Brogan Stephey two-yard run, but Minster still trailed 33-14 at the end of the third stanza.

The teams combined for five more fourth quarter scores.  The first four touchdowns came quickly through the air.  Parkway started with a 36-yard pass from Smith to Aiden Anderson.  Minster followed with a 30-yard strike from Stephey to Chase Couse.  Three plays later, Smith found Anderson for a 45-yard touchdown.  The Wildcats answered with three straight completions, the last a 23-yard catch by James Niemeyer.

A late interception by Zach Hawk was returned to the Minster five-yard line.  This set up Landon Hamrick for the last touchdown of the game, a six-yard run to make the final score 53-29.

The Parkway offense scored from an average of 36 yards away on their eight touchdowns.  The Panthers ended the night with 532 yards of total offense compared to 227 for Minster.  Smith completed 19 of 29 passes for 377 yards and four touchdowns.  Bollenbacher had a monster receiving night, compiling 244 yards on his seven catches, including two touchdowns. 

Just as impressive was the Parkway defense, which held Minster to negative rushing yardage in the first half and only 34 yards on 31 carries for the game.  “We have some bigger interior guys that if they fire out low, they can handle their own,” added Henkle.  “I’m pretty happy with our run defense.  We have to shore up our pass defense for Delphos next week.”

The win is the first for Parkway against Minster since 2009 and improves their 2021 season record to 1-5 (1-3 MAC).  The Panthers host 1-5 (1-3 MAC) Delphos St. John’s next week.  Minster’s record falls to 1-5 (0-4 MAC).  The Wildcats will host 4-2 (2-2 MAC) New Bremen next Friday.

Score by quarter          1 2 3 4 Total

Parkway                       7         20 6         20  53

Minster                         0          0         14        15         29

First Quarter:

PW – Fletcher Smith 28 yd run (Zach Hawk kick), 1:40

Second Quarter:

PW – Grant Bollenbacher 84 yd pass from Fletcher Smith (kick failed), 5:59

PW – Logan Green 9 yd run (Zach Hawk kick), 1:36

PW – Grant Bollenbacher 78 yd pass from Fletcher Smith (Zach Hawk kick), 0:20

Third Quarter:

MIN – Chase Couse 48 yd punt return (Brogan Stephey kick), 10:11

PW – Eddie Nichols 4 yd run (kick blocked), 7:42

MIN – Brogan Stephey 2 yd run (Brogan Stephey kick), 3:57

Fourth Quarter:

PW – Aiden Anderson 36 yd pass from Fletcher Smith (pass failed), 10:26

MIN – Chase Couse 30 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Brogan Stephey kick), 7:59

PW – Aiden Anderson 45 yd pass from Fletcher Smith (Zach Hawk kick), 6:18

MIN – James Niemeyer 23 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Brogan Stephey kick), 5:18

PW – Landon Hamrick 6 yd run (Zach Hawk kick), 0:52

Team statistics             PW                   MIN

First downs                   14                     14

Rushes - yards              30-155              31-34

Passing yards               377                   227

Comp - att - int              19-29-1             15-26-2

Total yards                    532                   261

Punts - average             4-17.8               4-38.0

Fumbles - lost               0-0                    2-0

Penalties - yards           5-26                  1-6

Time of possession       25:01                22:59

Individual statistics

Rushing:  Parkway, Smith 7-70, Nichols 13-45, Green 6-20, Crouch 1-12, Hamrick 3-8; Minster, Wellman 9-36, Stephey 17-19, Schmiesing 1-7, Gehret 1-3, Harrod 1-(minus 1), Team 2-(minus 30)

Passing:  Parkway, Fletcher 19-29-1-377; Minster, Stephey 15-26-2-227

Receiving:  Parkway, Bollenbacher 7-244, Nichols 4-18, Green 3-25, Anderson 2-81, May 2-10, Hamrick 1-(minus 1); Minster, Couse 6-122, Niemeyer 3-43, Rindler 3-32, Kohne 2-28, Schmiesing 1-2