Minster Defense Shuts Down Delphos St. John’s in 21-10 Victory

By Bruce Monnin

DELPHOS - On a wet, windy night, the Minster Wildcats used a suffocating defense to hold the Delphos St. John’s Blue Jays to only 106 total yards. Combined with a solid offensive performance, Minster earned a 21-10 victory to improve their record to 7-1 (5-1 in MAC play).

Minster coach Seth Whiting was effusive about his team. “We found a way to get the job done. I’m alright with that. Our defense has been playing really, really well. We’re going to keep pushing that side of the ball to take care of games for us. Our line played really well up front tonight and our backs protected the ball. The receivers, when they have the opportunity to do it, are making plays. Our defense is big time right now. They are playing great, as are our special teams. Our injured guys are chomping at the bit to get back to playing, but they are doing a heck of a job helping break down film and coaching guys up in practice.”

Both teams started slowly on offense. On Minster’s second possession, a bad snap pinned the Wildcats at their own five-yard line. A punt netted only 13 yards, giving St. John’s a short field. The Minster defense kept the Blue Jays out of the end zone; forcing them to settle for a 29-yard Braylon Metzger field goal.

“We punted and that ball went up and came straight backwards into that wind,” described Whiting. “Our defense did a great job holding them to three there. That’s a big play in the game.”

It took two plays for the Wildcats to answer. James Niemeyer broke a tackle and ran free for a 62-yard touchdown to give Minster the 7-3 lead after one period.

With the wind at their back in the second quarter, the Wildcats opened up their passing attack. Drew Boggs intercepted a pass at the Minster 26-yard line. Fortunately for the Wildcats, their defense again stood tall and stopped the Blue Jays on a fourth own play.

On the next Minster series, quarterback James Niemeyer connected with five different receivers, including a spectacular catch of a 32-yard pass by Connor Schmiesing. Schmiesing then posted the score on a one-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 14-3. Minster would threaten again just before half, but a 31-yard field goal attempt was unsuccessful.

Halftime stats showed the Wildcat defense allowing only 41 yards and one first down.

Minster unleashed their ground attack on their first series of the third quarter. Six running plays covered the 66 yards on the drive, highlighted by a 38-yard run by Schmiesing and a two-yard score by Niemeyer.

St. John’s next series started with two T.J. Werts runs where he appeared to be stopped near the line of scrimmage, but broke free for gains of 22 and 37 yards (over half of the Blue Jays total yardage for the game). The Wildcat defense seemed poised to frustrated St. John’s once again, but a fourth down Boggs pass traveled through a Minster defender’s hands and was caught for a 17-yard touchdown by Hank Walpole.

Both offenses were stymied for the rest of the third quarter and all of the fourth, resulting in the final 21-10 Minster victory.

Minster quarterback James Niemeyer was the game’s leading rusher with 145 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. He also passed for 100 yards under windy conditions.

“James Niemeyer is really starting to come into his own,” complimented Whiting. “(Injured starting quarterback) Brogan (Stephey) and James are attached at the hip talking to each other. You talk about two incredibly smart football players; we are very lucky to have those two.”

Next Friday Minster will host 3-5 New Bremen. Delphos St. John’s drops to 3-5 (1-5 in the MAC) and will host 2-6 Parkway next week.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 7 7 0 21

Delphos St. John’s 3 0 7 0 10

First Quarter:

DSJ – Braylon Metzger 29 yd field goal, 2:15

MIN – James Niemeyer 62 yd run (Caleb Couse kick), 1:14

Second Quarter:

MIN – Connor Schmiesing 1 yd run (Caleb Couse kick), 3:42

Third Quarter:

MIN – James Niemeyer 2 yd run (Caleb Couse kick), 8:03

DSJ – Hank Walpole 17 yd pass from Drew Boggs (Braylon Metzger kick), 3:56

Team statistics MIN DSJ

First downs 17 4

Rushes – yards 40-243 21-83

Passing yards 100 23

Comp - att – int 11-20-1 3-14-0

Total yards 343 106

Punts – average 4-24.0 6-34.5

Fumbles – lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties – yards 5-40 4-20

Time of possession 30:27 17:33

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Niemeyer 16-145, Schmiesing 13-69, Bergman 10-40, Team 1-(minus 11); Delphos St. John’s, Werts 11-70, Boggs 6-8, Feathers 3-8, Lindeman 1-(minus 3)

Passing: Minster, Niemeyer 11-20-1-100; Delphos St. John’s, Boggs 3-14-0-23, Werts 0-0-0-0

Receiving: Minster, Schmiesing 3-29, Richard 2-21, Rindler 2-17, Albers 2-11, Couse 1-16, Schwieterman 1-6; Delphos St. John’s, Walpole 1-17, Martz 1-6, Metzger 1-0