Minster Outruns Fort Loramie 49-21

By Bruce Monnin

FORT LORAMIE - After a rough scrimmage for the offensive line last week, the Minster Wildcats rode their running game for 346 yards and five touchdowns as they defeated the Fort Loramie Redskins 49-21. Minster averaged almost ten yards per carry while holding Fort Loramie to negative rushing yardage.

“Wapak physically beat on us last week, which was disappointing for us because of how hard our kids work,” explained Minster coach Seth Whiting. “We still have a lot of things to clean up and fix, but I thought our guys up front played exceptional tonight.”

The Redskins received the opening kickoff and used a 42-yard pass from Gabe Hart to Maxwell Maurer to get deep into Wildcat territory. The Minster defense made a stand with their backs to the goal line, stopping Fort Loramie on fourth down at the nine-yard line.

The Wildcats scored late in the opening stanza when Connor Schmiesing sliced through the defense for a 52-yard scoring run. The lead was extended early in the second quarter when a 43-yard run by Brogan Stephey set up a later one-yard scoring plunge by the Minster signal caller. It appeared the rout may be on later in the period when Connor Schmiesing ran in from seven yards out to make the score 21-0.

The Redskins closed the deficit to 21-7 with 55 seconds remaining in the half when Hart connected with Thomas Hoying for a 34-yard strike. The Wildcats used the remaining time to run seven plays for the seeming score on a 22-yard Stephey scramble, but an inadvertent whistle stopped the play at the 11-yard line. Fort Loramie then appeared to stop Minster twice, but the Wildcats were awarded extra plays after the clock had expired thanks to holding and facemask penalties by the Redskins. Finally, Stephey was stopped on a run at the three-yard line to end the first half.

Both offenses came out on fire in the second half. On the third play after intermission, Stephey broke off a 45-yard touchdown scamper to increase the Minster lead to 28-7. Fort Loramie responded with a 16-yard scoring pass from Hart to Carter Eilerman to again make the deficit two touchdowns.

The Wildcats broke the game open late in the third with a drive consisting of six running plays, capped by a Schmiesing one-yard run. After Max Knapke sacked Hart and forced a fumble which was recovered by Isaac Larger, Stephey threw a 29-yard pass to Dylan Heitkamp to make the lead 42-14.

The fourth quarter saw each side tack on one more score. Hart found Hoying for a 20-yard touchdown reception, then Stephey connected with Cole Albers from 22 yards out for the final 49-21 tally.

“We had some guys get thrown in on the fly tonight because we had some unexpected injuries, and those guys jumped in and did a great job,” complimented Whiting. “Beckham Stephey, a freshman kicker, went 7 for 7 on extra points. James Niemeyer went down and he’s our holder, and our backup holder was also out today. We grabbed Carson Kaylor fresh off the sidelines. He went in, fielded a snap and went for the rest of the night.”

Stephey was the leading rusher in the game with 188 yards and two touchdowns on just 17 carries. Schmiesing was equally effective, compiling 98 yards and three scores on eleven carries.

Stephey also threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns, completing 11 of 17 attempts, while Hart was even better for Fort Loramie, completing 16 of 23 passes for 286 yards and three scores.

Next week, 1-0 Minster will travel to face 1-0 Columbus Africentric, who defeated West Jefferson 38-14 in Week 1. “Columbus Africentric, from the film I’ve watched, is a very talented football team. They’re big, physical and going to be a tough opponent for us,” added Whiting.

0-1 Fort Loramie will also travel to face the 1-0 Versailles Tigers.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 14 21 7 49

Fort Loramie 0 7 7 7 21

First Quarter:

MIN – Connor Schmiesing 52 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 0:10

Second Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 1 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 9:16

MIN – Connor Schmiesing 7 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 4:17

FL – Thomas Hoying 34 yd pass from Gabe Hart (Thomas Hoying kick), 0:55

Third Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 45 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 10:40

FL – Carter Eilerman 16 yd pass from Gabe Hart (Thomas Hoying kick), 7:01

MIN – Connor Schmiesing 1 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 4:59

MIN – Dylan Heitkamp 29 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Beckham Stephey kick), 3:55

Fourth Quarter:

FL – Thomas Hoying 26 yd pass from Gabe Hart (Thomas Hoying kick), 11:15

MIN – Cole Albers 22 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Beckham Stephey kick), 6:41

Team statistics MIN FL

First downs 26 14

Rushes - yards 36-347 27-(-8)

Passing yards 182 286

Comp - att - int 11-17-0 16-23-0

Total yards 529 278

Punts - average 1-41.0 4-36.0

Fumbles - lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties - yards 7-65 7-53

Time of possession 20:21 27:39

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Stephey 17-188, Schmiesing 11-97, Meyer 6-38, Couse 1-21, Fancher 1-3; Fort Loramie, R Hoying 12-22, Cantwil 3-5, Hart 12-(-35)

Passing: Minster, Stephey 11-17-0-182; Fort Loramie, Hart 16-23-0-286

Receiving: Minster, Bergman 4-44, Heitkamp 2-46, Schmiesing 2-46, Albers 2-32, Niemeyer 1-14; Fort Loramie, T Hoying 5-80, Eilerman 4-59, Maurer 3-102, Dues 1-23, Pleiman 1-8, R Hoying 1-7, Barhorst 1-7