Second Half Surge Gives Marion Local 42-7 Win over Minster

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER – At first glance, the game between the Marion Local Flyers and the Minster Wildcats was simple. Minster scored the opening touchdown and then Marion Local reeled off 42 unanswered points for the win. However, especially in the first half, the game was much more complicated.

The Wildcats received the kickoff and drove 65 yards in eight plays, with quarterback Brogan Stephey scrambling 14 yards for the opening score. The Flyers responded in kind, needing just seven plays to cover 79 yards. A 52-yard pass from Justin Knouff to Andrew Pohlman set up the eventual three-yard scoring run by Drew Lause to tie the game at 7-7.

Minster then ran 23 of the next 24 plays but failed to penetrate the goal line. A 14-play series reached the Marion Local seven-yard line, but a three-yard loss on a running play and two incomplete passes ended the threat.

The Flyers went straight for the big play, but Knouff’s deep pass was intercepted by James Niemeyer near midfield. The Wildcat offense worked their way to the Flyer 25-yard line, but a fourth down and 20 to go pass to Kole Richard came up one yard short of the first down.

“Minster’s offense is a handful,” explained Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin. “We kept playing and made a few adjustments personnel-wise. It’s a process.”

The Flyer offense also drove into Wildcat territory and faced a fourth down play. Unlike Minster, Marion Local converted the opportunity, as Knouff found Victor Hoelscher for a 23-yard score and a 14-7 halftime lead.

The Flyers received the second half kickoff and turned to the power run game to march down the field before scoring on a ten-yard pass from Knouff to Hoelscher. The Marion Local defense then stuffed the Wildcat offense on the next series. After a 27-yard punt return by Griffin Bruns, the Flyers scored three plays later on a one-yard Lause run.

Minster clawed back one more time, driving to the Marion Local seven-yard line. But Kamden Eifert forced a Wildcat fumble which was recovered by Ethan Heitkamp to end yet another Minster drive.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Knouff threw a dagger into the Wildcats with a beautiful deep throw for an 81-yard score to Hoelscher. Ethan Heitkamp would later break a 74-yard touchdown run for the final 42-7 score.

“Justin’s a good kid. He’s worked really hard with Adam Bertke and Chad Otte in the offseason,” added Goodwin. “And Victor is a good athlete. The nice thing for us is we have Andrew and we have Griffin and we have Daniel. They did some things to Vic and Justin made some right decisions and our other guys aren’t chopped liver.”

“I’m really proud of the kids and how they fought,” stated Minster coach Seth Whiting, "but we just have to continue to correct little mistakes. There were four or five really critical plays that turned the game. It was not a 42-7 type football game. Hopefully we work really hard and get an opportunity to play them again.”

Undefeated 3-0 Marion Local (1-0 MAC) next returns home to face 2-1 Delphos St. John’s. 2-1 Minster (0-1 MAC) will travel to face 0-3 Fort Recovery next Friday.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Marion Local 7 7 14 14 42

Minster 7 0 0 0 7

First Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 14 yd run (Caleb Couse kick), 7:03

ML – Drew Lause 3 yd run (Carson Bills kick), 3:56

Second Quarter:

ML – Victor Hoelscher 23 yd pass from Justin Knouff (Carson Bills kick), 1:23

Third Quarter:

ML – Victor Hoelscher 10 yd pass from Justin Knouff (Carson Bills kick), 7:19

ML – Drew Lause 1 yd run (Carson Bills kick), 4:59

Fourth Quarter:

ML – Victor Hoelscher 81 yd pass from Justin Knouff (Carson Bills kick), 11:48

ML – Ethan Heitkamp 74 yd run (Carson Bills kick), 6:22

Team statistics ML MIN

First downs 15 17

Rushes - yards 28-226 31-80

Passing yards 198 210

Comp - att - int 6-12-1 16-28-1

Total yards 424 290

Punts - average 0-0.0 2-27.5

Fumbles - lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties - yards 2-10 4-35

Time of possession 17:13 30:47

Individual statistics

Rushing: Marion Local, Heitkamp 6-107, Knouff 3-42, Hess 9-42, Lause 5-16, Otte 2-10, Knapke 2-5, Eifert 1-4; Minster, Co Schmiesing 13-37, Stephey 14-34, Ch Schmiesing 4-9

Passing: Marion Local, Knouff 6-12-1-198; Minster, Stephey 16-28-1-210