Minster Outscores Fort Loramie 41-28

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER - Last year the Fort Loramie Redskins was a more experienced squad than the Minster Wildcats, and it showed as they defeated Minster twice, 39-27 and 35-19. This year Minster starts the season with the more experienced team, and the Wildcats achieved a 41-28 victory in a game punctuated by big plays.

Minster started off the scoring in the opening period. Just short of midfield, the Wildcats rolled the dice on fourth down and two yards to go. Quarterback Brogan Stephey kept the ball and ran through the middle for a 53-yard score, the first of his four rushing scores on the evening. Stephey would compile 146 rushing yards on those four scoring plays.

The Redskins needed just 20 seconds to even the score as Thomas Hoying fielded the ensuing kickoff and returned it 88 yards to tie the game at 7-7.

The Wildcats dominated the second quarter. Stephey connected with James Niemeyer for a 16-yard touchdown, then Minster recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Two plays later Stephey scampered 30 yards to increase the lead to 20-7. But Fort Loramie responded with a long drive ending in a three-yard pass from Maxwell Maurer to Carter Eilerman to close the gap to 20-14 with 2:37 remaining before intermission.

Minster appeared content to run out the clock, then Stephey avoided a sack thanks to a great block by Gabe Bornhorst and found Kole Richard 35 yards downfield as he tip-toed along the sideline. On fourth down as the half expired, Stephey tossed the ball deep and Noah Schwieterman went up over his defender to grab the score along the back of the end zone. The score gave the Wildcats a little breathing room at half, 27-14.

Minster opened up a 34-14 lead early in the third quarter on a 45-yard Stephey run. But the Redskins refused to die, and followed with a 65-yard scoring drive, capped off with a 14-yard pass from Maurer to Cole Barhorst. Stephey answered with an 18-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter, but Fort Loramie also scored again, this time on a 29-yard pass from backup quarterback Gabe Hart to Spencer Knouff to reduce Minster’s advantage to 41-28.

With only 3:29 remaining in the game, the Redskins executed a perfect onside kick and were back in business at the Minster 38-yard line. After a Charlie Schmiesing sack sent Fort Loramie back eight yards, Hart heaved a pass to a seemingly open receiver near the goal line. Schwieterman outjumped the Fort Loramie receiver to intercept the pass on the one-yard line and seal the victory.

“The plan was to attack them vertically, as we thought we had an advantage in the secondary with our receivers,” explained Minster coach Seth Whiting. “But we were able to pound the football, so we stuck with that. We were able to score on some fourth downs to save ourselves.”

“We have some exception kids,” continued Whiting. “Noah Schwieterman jumps up and takes the ball out of the air at the end of the half, then jumps up at the end of the game, covered a lot of ground on that last play and intercepted the football. And obviously, you can’t say enough about how talented Brogan Stephey is.”

Stephey was the leading rusher in the game, as his teammates Connor Schmiesing and Justin Bergman ran effectively up the middle, leaving Stephey free to keep the ball on 13 occasions for 197 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Stephey also completed 12 of 20 passes for 154 yards and two more scores. Overall, Minster nearly doubled Fort Loramie in total offense with 430 yards to just 220 for the Redskins.

Next week, 1-0 Minster will travel to face 0-1 St. Paris Graham. 0-1 Fort Loramie will return home to face the 1-0 Versailles Tigers.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 20 7 7 41

Fort Loramie 7 7 7 7 28

First Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 53 yd run (Justin Bergman kick), 6:33

FL – Thomas Hoying 88 yd kickoff return (Aden Bolen kick), 6:18

Second Quarter:

MIN – James Niemeyer 16 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Justin Bergman kick), 8:05

MIN – Brogan Stephey 30 yd run (kick blocked), 7:45

FL – Carter Eilerman 3 yd pass from Maxwell Maurer (Aden Bolin kick), 2:37

MIN – Noah Sdhwieterman 27 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Justin Bergman kick), 0:00

Third Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 45 yd run (Justin Bergman kick), 7:45

FL – Cole Barhorst 14 yd pass from Maxwell Maurer (Aden Bolin kick), 3:48

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 18 yd run (Justin Bergman kick), 5:54

FL – Spencer Knouff 29 yd pass from Gabe Hart (Aden Bolin kick), 3:29

Team statistics MIN FL

First downs 19 13

Rushes - yards 36-276 24-99

Passing yards 154 121

Comp - att - int 12-20-0 10-16-1

Total yards 430 220

Punts - average 0-0.0 2-35.5

Fumbles - lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties - yards 3-31 5-35

Time of possession 29:13 18:47

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Stephey 13-197, Schmiesing 16-44, Bergman 7-35; Fort Loramie, Maurer 10-54, Holland 9-33, Hart 3-8, Hoying 1-2

Passing: Minster, Stephey 12-20-0-154; Fort Loramie, Maurer 7-10-0-65, Hart 3-6-1-56

Receiving: Minster, Schwieterman 4-56, Niemeyer 4-44, Richard 2-40, Schmiesing 2-14; Fort Loramie, Barhorst 4-55, Eilerman 3-12, Hoying 2-25, Knouff 1-29