Minster Defense Stifles Graham, 35-0

By Bruce Monnin

ST. PARIS - It was a game guaranteed to frustrate a coach. The Minster Wildcats offense suffered penalties, dropped passes, fourth down failures and various other minor miscues. But they made the plays when they were needed and won a decisive 35-0 victory over the Graham Falcons.

“We got the job done. I’m never going to knock the kids for getting a win,” stated Minster coach Seth Whiting. “Our execution was poor. We thought we had a really good week of practice, but that’s not what showed tonight. I’m still proud of our kids, because they do what they have to do to get the job done. We got the win. We’re 2-0. This week’s done. It’s time to get ready for next week.”

Coach Whiting could not be disappointed in the Wildcat defense, as they put on a dominating show. Graham netted just 14 yards on the 24 plays they ran and netted no first downs on the evening.

Minster drove into Falcon territory on their opening drive but were stopped at the 20-yard line on fourth down, just one yard short of a first down.

On the Wildcat’s second drive, they managed to convert a fourth down from the Falcon 26-yard line, then on the initial play of the second quarter Brogan Stephey connected with James Niemeyer for the first of two 20-yard touchdown passes of the game.

The Minster offense had three more second quarter opportunities. Once they were again stopped on fourth down in Graham territory, but the other two drives ended in an 11-yard strike to Connor Schmiesing and another 20-yard pass to Niemeyer, giving the Wildcats a 21-0 lead at intermission.

Minster turned to the running game in the second half, led by Justin Bergman who carried the ball 12 times for 87 yards. Bergman scored on a two-yard plunge midway through the third quarter, and Stephey capped the scoring with a five-yard run early in the fourth period.

With the running clock in play, the reserves came in. The defensive reserves were only in the game for one play, a diving interception by Tyler Bergman to help preserve the 35-0 shutout.

Stephey complimented Bergman’s running with 11 carries for 89 yards. Stephey added 136 yards passing and three touchdowns on just nine completions, with Niemeyer receiving the ball three times for 69 yards and two scores.

Next Friday 2-0 Minster returns home to face 2-0 Marion Local. 0-2 Graham goes on the road, playing 2-0 Brookville, who defeated Anna 28-21.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 0 21 7 7 35

St. Paris Graham 0 0 0 0 0

Second Quarter:

MIN - James Niemeyer 20 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Justin Bergman kick), 11:52

MIN - Connor Schmiesing 11 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Justin Bergman kick), 7:45

MIN - James Niemeyer 20 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Justin Bergman kick), 1:33

Third Quarter:

MIN - Justin Bergman 2 yd run (Justin Bergman kick), 6:05

Fourth Quarter:

MIN - Brogan Stephey 5 yd run (Adam Rindler kick), 10:19

Team statistics MIN SPG

First downs 22 0

Rushes - yards 41-253 15-(-16)

Passing yards 136 30

Comp - att - int 9-21-0 5-9-1

Total yards 389 14

Punts - average 0-0.0 4-32.3

Fumbles - lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties - yards 6-55 4-25

Time of possession 30:57 17:03

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Stephey 11-89, Bergman 12-87, Schmiesing 7-31, Meyer 4-27, Bishop 3-13, Keller 1-5, Morrow 1-2, Fancher 1-(-1); Graham, Hardwick 9-3, Korte 1-1, Albaugh 1-0, Stull 3-(-2); Team 1-(-18)

Passing: Minster, Stephey 9-21-0-136; Graham, Stull 4-8-1-30, Jenkins 1-1-0-0

Receiving: Minster, Niemeyer 3-69, Schmiesing 3-33, Richard 2-25, Albers 1-9; Graham, Hardwick 2-23, Levy 2-7, Stull 1-0