Minster Wins 7-2 Defensive Struggle over St. Henry

By Bruce Monnin

ST. HENRY - The Minster Wildcats scored first and then relied on their defense to hold on for a 7-2 win over the St. Henry Redskins. Both defenses dominated the opposition’s offenses which were run by backup quarterbacks.

Playing their first full game without injured quarterback Brogan Stephey, Minster received the opening kickoff and marched 67 yards for the only offensive score of the evening. A 35-yard pass from James Niemeyer to Noah Schwieterman set up a four-yard pass to Adam Rindler, completing the nine-play drive. Caleb Couse’s extra point made the score 7-0.

The Wildcat offense would be held to only 83 more yards for the rest of the game. St. Henry’s offense would move the ball 249 total yards, but a blocked field goal and three takeaways allowed the Minster defense to keep the Redskins off the scoreboard.

“The kids were tough tonight, and gritty, and did what they had to do to get the job done,” complimented Minster coach Seth Whiting, “I can’t talk enough about how well our defense and our special teams played. There are three phases in the game, and we might not have kicked butt on offense, but our defense and special teams were outstanding tonight. It was fantastic how Charlie Winner flipped field position on his punts.”

“Our defense played their hearts out,” stated St. Henry coach Brad Luthman, “I just didn’t have the players in a good enough position to succeed offensively.”

On the sixth play of the Redskins’ opening drive, quarterback Charlie Werling was injured on a running play. Jack Huelsman took his place and led the team to the Minster 15-yard line, where a field goal attempt was blocked by John Keller.

“Jack has played a lot of meaningful snaps this season,” added Luthman, “He and Charlie, the last three games, have basically split the snaps.”

All three second quarter drives ended in punts, as did St. Henry’s opening drive of the third quarter. Owen Zimmerman’s punt pinned the Wildcats at their own eight-yard line. The Redskins threw Minster for a two-yard loss, then the pass rush of Logan Dehan forced a safety on the next play, cutting the Wildcat lead to 7-2.

For their next three drives, St. Henry threatened to take the lead but were halted by Minster takeaways. The Redskins took the ball into Wildcat territory midway through the third quarter until Connor Schmiesing grabbed an interception at the 38-yard line. As the period drew to a close, Ian Homan forced a fumble which was recovered by Gabe Bornhorst at the Minster 29-yard line to end another threat.

Early in the final period St. Henry put together an 11-play, 70-yard drive which reached the Wildcat six-yard line. Homan forced another fumble which was covered by Adam Rindler to save the lead.

The Redskins had one last opportunity with 1:30 remaining in the contest. The Minster defense recorded a 10-yard sack by Homan and forced three incompletions to seal the victory.

The Wildcats would end the game with just 46 yards rushing and 104 yards through the air but won the turnover battle 3-0. Huelsman rushed 12 times for 59 Redskin yards and completed 15 passes for another 149 yards. Curtis Puthoff was his favorite receiver with seven catches for 65 yards.

Minster’s record is now 5-1 (3-1 MAC), and they return home for an Oktoberfest matchup against 2-4 (1-3 MAC) Parkway next Friday. St. Henry’s record drops to 1-5 (0-4 MAC), and the Redskins remain at home to host 3-3 (2-2 MAC) New Bremen.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 0 0 0 7

St. Henry 0 0 2 0 2

First Quarter:

MIN – Adam Rindler 4 yd pass from James Niemeyer (Caleb Couse kick), 6:41

Third Quarter:

SH – Logan Dehan safety, 7:55

Team statistics MIN SH

First downs 9 15

Rushes – yards 23-46 26-100

Passing yards 104 149

Comp - att – int 12-21-0 15-30-1

Total yards 150 249

Punts – average 6-39.3 2-35.5

Fumbles – lost 0-0 2-2

Penalties – yards 5-51 4-32

Time of possession 23:11 24:49

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Co. Schmiesing 13-36, Ch. Schmiesing 1-6, Niemeyer 9-4; St. Henry, Huelsman 12-59, Wehrley 9-29, Werling 3-9, Horstman 2-3

Passing: Minster, Niemeyer 12-21-0-104; St. Henry, Huelsman 13-28-1-138, Werling 2-2-0-11

Receiving: Minster, Schwieterman 5-74, Richard 4-17, Rindler 2-10, Co. Schmiesing 1-3; St. Henry, Puthoff 7-65, Nietfeld 4-44, Schwartz 2-20, Boeckman 2-20