Turnovers Key as Minster Defeats Columbus Africentric 41-14

By Bruce Monnin

COLUMBUS - In a game that featured two teams whose offenses were able to move the ball, two factors made the difference. One was the ability of the Minster Wildcat offense to finish off drives. The second was the knack of the Minster defense to force turnovers before the Columbus Africentric Nubians could cross the goal line. Minster scored every time they reached the Africentric red zone, and conversely forced a Nubian turnover five times in the first half, each time inside the Wildcat 15-yard line. The result was a 41-14 Wildcat victory.

After receiving the opening kickoff, Minster used a 55-yard run by Brogan Stephey to penetrate deep into Africentric territory. Stephey would later throw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Connor Schmiesing to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

The Nubians drove all the way to the Minster 15-yard line on their opening possession, but a fumbled snap was recovered by Schmiesing to end the threat. Minster took advantage with a 43-yard pass from Stephey to Dylan Heitkamp which set up a later eight-yard scoring pass to Tyler Bergman. A two-point conversion pass from Carson Kaylor to Dominick Meyer increased the lead to 15-0.

Africentric moved the ball well once again, reaching the Wildcat 30-yard line before Caleb Couse was able to snag an interception in the end zone to end another threat. Minster again responded with a 44-yard pass from Stephey to Heitkamp, then scored on a Stephey six-yard run, increasing the lead to 22-0.

The Nubians returned the kickoff to near midfield and quarterback Joshua Smith ran for 21 yards to the Wildcat 30-yard line. After two of their seven false start penalties of the contest forced Africentric to return to their passing game, Kole Richard undercut the receiver to intercept a pass at the Minster one-yard line.

After a Wildcat fumble, the Nubians completed a pass to the Minster ten-yard line where Heitkamp forced a fumble which was recovered by Max Knapke. The Wildcats methodically drove the field using nine running plays, capped off by a Stephey 10-yard effort. A failed two-point conversion made the score 28-0 and a second interception by Couse took the game to halftime.

Africentric came out of the locker room and drove for a touchdown which reduced their deficit to 28-8. An eight-yard run by Charles Jennings-Griffin capped the seven-play drive. Minster responded in just five plays, with Stephey scoring from 39 yards away to bring the lead back to 34-8.

Later in the third quarter the Wildcats stopped the Nubians on fourth down just four yards from scoring. Afterwards,the teams traded scores in the fourth quarter. Minster drained the clock with a 16-play drive, with Schmiesing scoring on a four-yard run. Africentric scored on a 30-yard pass from Smith to Caleb Anthony with only 14 seconds left in the game for the final 41-14 score.

Stephey was the leading rusher in the game with 140 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries. Schmiesing added 110 yards on 19 carries while Meyer tacked on 51 yards in ten attempts.

Stephey also threw for 174 yards and two touchdowns, completing 10 of 16 attempts. Heitkamp was his top target, catching three balls for 90 yards. Africentric’s Smith completed 15 of 23 passes for 235 yards, but the three Wildcat interceptions thwarted most of the effectiveness of the Nubian pass attack.

Next week, 2-0 Minster will travel to face the 2-0 Anna Rockets to begin MAC play.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 15 13 6 7 41

Columbus Africentric 0 0 8 6 14

First Quarter:

MIN – Connor Schmiesing 7 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Beckham Stephey kick), 9:14

MIN – Tyler Bergman 8 yd pass from Brogan Stephey (Dominick Meyer pass from Carson Kaylor), 1:07

Second Quarter:

MIN – Brogan Stephey 6 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 8:38

MIN – Brogan Stephey 10 yd run (pass failed), 0:54

Third Quarter:

AFR – Charles Jennings-Griffin 8 yd run (Chris Cooper-Patton run), 9:03

MIN – Brogan Stephey 39 yd run (run failed), 5:40

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Connor Schmiesing 4 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 5:00

AFR – Caleb Anthony 30 yd pass from Joshua Smith (pass failed), 0:14

Team statistics MIN AFR

First downs 23 16

Rushes - yards 40-301 25-120

Passing yards 174 235

Comp - att - int 10-16-0 15-23-3

Total yards 475 355

Punts - average 0-0.0 0-0.0

Fumbles - lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties - yards 2-20 10-60

Time of possession 26:16 21:44

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Stephey 11-140, Schmiesing 19-110, Meyer 10-51; Columbus Africentric, Smith 15-87, Jennings-Griffin 6-25, Anthony 2-7, Hairston 1-1, Carlisle Jr. 1-0

Passing: Minster, Stephey 10-16-0-174; Columbus Africentric, Smith 15-23-3-235

Receiving: Minster, Heitkamp 3-90, Schmiesing 3-34, Couse 2-33, Bergman 2-17; Columbus Africentric, Gray 6-126, Anthony 5-77, Turner 2-14, Cooper-Patton 1-9, Crawford 1-9