Minster Defense Delivers 37-14 Win Over Delphos St. John’s

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER - Last week it was the Minster Wildcat offense that led the way to victory. This week it was the special teams and especially the defense, as they forced six turnovers and sacked the Delphos St. John’s Blue Jays six times. The resulting 37-14 win gives Minster a five-game winning streak in MAC play.

Minster coach Seth Whiting was complimentary of a defense that only allowed 44 yards in the second half. “Our defense played excellent and gave us tons of opportunities in the first half, and we did not capitalize on them. Proud of our second half. Hats off to our defense, they forced three picks in the second half.”

The Wildcats jumped out to a fast start when Chase Couse received the opening kickoff and returned it 89 yards for the score. This was Couse’s third career return for a touchdown, tying him for the most in school history.

Minster drove into Delphos territory late in the quarter but was stymied on downs. The defense provided another opportunity when Brady Wolf sacked the Delphos quarterback, forcing a fumble which was recovered by Charlie Schmiesing at the 12-yard line. The Blue Jay defense made another stand, and the Wildcats settled for a Brogan Stephey 22-yard field goal to increase their lead to 9-0.

The Blue Jays started the second period with a big play of their own, a 65-yard run up the middle by Clay Paddubny to close the gap to 9-7. Both teams followed with touchdowns. First, Minster tallied a 19-yard scoring run by Stephey, then Delphos followed with a 12-yard pass from Grant Ulm to Nathan Ditto in the end zone, making Minster’s lead 16-14 at intermission.

A Will Knapke interception at midfield and return to the Blue Jay 31-yard line got the Wildcats started in the second half. Stephey then ran the ball six times for 28 yards, including a five-yard scoring plunge to up the advantage to 23-14.

Knapke also ended the next Delphos series with his second pick of a pass that was tipped by Wolf. A 34-yard pass from Stephey to Couse set up a seven-yard scoring throw to Wolf, and the Wildcat lead was 30-14 after three quarters. After an interception by James Niemeyer, Stephey tacked on a last two-yard touchdown for the final 37-14 score.

Minster quarterback Brogan Stephey was the games’ leading rusher with 121 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. Defensively, James Niemeyer and Will Knapke each grabbed two interceptions.

With the win, Minster improves to 6-2 for the season (5-1 MAC). Next Friday the Wildcats visit 6-2 New Bremen. Delphos St. John’s drops to 2-6 (1-5 in the MAC) and will travel to face 2-6 Parkway next week.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 9 7 14 7 37

Delphos St. John’s 0 14 0 0 14

First Quarter:

MIN – Chase Couse 89 yd kickoff return (run failed), 11:47

MIN – Brogan Stephey 22 yd field goal, 1:57

Second Quarter:

DSJ – Clay Paddubny 65 yd run (Braylon Metzger kick), 11:48

MIN – Brogan Stephey 19 yd run (Brogan Stephey kick), 8:11

DSJ – Nathan Ditto 12 yd pass from Grant Ulm (Braylon Metzger kick), 2:20

Third Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 5 yd run (Brogan Stephey kick), 6:12

MIN – Brady Wolf 7 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Brogan Stephey kick), 3:39

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 2 yd run (Brogan Stephey kick), 11:47

Team statistics MIN DSJ

First downs 13 9

Rushes – yards 30-133 32-133

Passing yards 123 92

Comp - att – int 13-31-0 8-18-4

Total yards 256 225

Punts – average 5-24.4 5-30.0

Fumbles – lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties – yards 3-25 7-58

Time of possession 22:56 25:04

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Stephey 20-121, Bergamn 5-15, Meyer 3-7, Keller 1-1, Couse 1-(minus 11); Delphos St. John’s, Paddubny 14-90, Schwinnen 4-49, Reynolds 3-14, Gaynier 2-6, Gonzalez 1-5, Ulm 8-(minus 31)

Passing: Minster, Stephey 13-31-0-123; Delphos St. John’s, Ulm 8-18-4-92

Receiving: Minster, Wuebker 4-40, Niemeyer 3-35, Co Schmiesing 2-12, Wolf 2-5, Couse 1-34, Wellman 2-19, Ch Schmiesing 1-(minus 3); Delphos St. John’s, Ditto 4-39, Gaynier 2-32, Metzger 1-12, Boggs 1-9