Marion Local Runs Over and Shuts Down Minster 21-0

By Bruce Monnin

MARIA STEIN – The Marion Local Flyers faced their biggest test of the season to date with the Minster Wildcats coming to town. Marion Local ground out a touchdown in each of the first three quarters and held Minster out of the end zone throughout the contest for a 21-0 victory.

The Wildcat defense was able to neutralize the Flyer passing game, but Marion Local was able to gain 367 yards on the ground. In contrast, Minster gained 210 yards through the air, but the Marion Local defense shut down the Wildcat running game.

“Hard fought, good battle. It was good for us to be in one of those games because we hadn’t been in one all year,” stated Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin. “You have to bring a running game and a defense every week. I’ve been doing this too long to rely on the passing game.”

“As long as you are not giving up rushing yards, you win games,” agreed Minster coach Seth Whiting.

The Flyers got things started in the opening quarter with an eleven-play scoring drive. On a big third down, it appeared quarterback Justin Knouff was going to be sacked, but he spun free and ran 25 yards to the Wildcat 11-yard line. Four plays later, Knouff scored from four yards out on fourth down.

Marion Local was driving again later in the quarter, but a deep pass was intercepted by Kole Richard at the two-yard line.

Minster drove for eleven plays to start the second period but were forced to punt from midfield. The Flyers then ran the ball eight of the next nine plays to score a second time, with Drew Lause powering into the end zone for the 14-0 lead.

The half ended with the Wildcats reaching the Marion Local 20-yard line before the Flyer defense sacked quarterback Brogan Stephey on fourth down. Marion Local then reached the Minster 33-yard line before the arrival of halftime.

The Flyers extended their lead to 21-0 at the start of the third quarter when Knouff took off around the right end of the line and sprinted 53 yards for the score. Knouff would end the night with 169 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just fourteen carries. He had only carried the ball 29 times total in the previous eight games.

“He’s a good runner,” complimented Goodwin. “We don’t use him too much, but when we do, he is dynamic. We’re glad to have Justin’s running abilities in our hip pocket if we need them.”

Minster responded by driving deep into Marion Local territory, but Daniel Everman forced a fumble that was recovered by Ethan Heitkamp at the 19-yard line. Similarly, the Flyers drove to the Minster 25-yard line until they were stopped on fourth down.

As the game moved into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats again drove into Flyer territory, this time being stopped on fourth down at the 11-yard line.

“We’ve played them three times in the last two years and been in the red zone nine times and only scored twice,” noted Whiting. "We have to punch the ball into the end zone. You can’t be in the red zone against these guys and not put points up.”

Marion Local drove towards the Minster end zone one last time, getting stopped at the two-yard line on a fourth down run.

Besides Knouff, other Flyers contributed on the ground. Parker Hess gained 117 yards on 17 carries, while Kamden Eifert added 50 yards and Lause had 31 yards to go with his score.

The Wildcats did most of their damage through the air, with Stephey completing 17 of 26 passes for 209 yards. Connor Schmiesing caught 5 passes for 60 yards, as well as gaining 44 rushing yards on nine carries.

The victory was the 57th consecutive win for Marion Local, tying the state record currently held by the Delphos St. John’s Blue Jays. The Flyers travel to undefeated Coldwater next week in an attempt to secure the record.

“It (the record) is not a big thing we talk about, but now that we’re here it is nice, I guess,” added Goodwin. “We’re going to try to beat it next week, but that streak is not going to get anyone more excited than trying to beat your biggest rivals for the league trophy.”

7-2 Minster (5-2 MAC) returns home to end the regular season against 2-7 Fort Recovery (1-6 MAC) next Friday.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Marion Local 7 7 7 0 21

Minster 0 0 0 0 0

First Quarter:

ML – Justin Knouff 4 yd run (Thomas Winner kick), 5:18

Second Quarter:

ML – Drew Lause 5 yd run (Thomas Winner kick), 3:16

Third Quarter:

ML – Justin Knouff 53 yd run (Thomas Winner kick), 10:12

Team statistics ML MIN

First downs 23 16

Rushes - yards 48-367 25-62

Passing yards 81 210

Comp - att - int 7-17-1 17-26-0

Total yards 448 272

Punts - average 0-0.0 3-40.3

Fumbles - lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties - yards 1-10 2-10

Time of possession 26:23 21:37

Individual statistics

Rushing: Marion Local, Knouff 14-169, Hess 17-117, Eifert 10-50, Lause 7-31; Minster, Schmiesing 9-43, Stephey 13-17, Meyer 3-2

Passing: Marion Local, Knouff 7-17-1-81; Minster, Stephey 17-26-0-210

Receiving: Marion Local, Bruns 4-59, Hoelscher 2-12, Pohlman 1-10; Minster, Schmiesing 5-60, Bergman 3-57, Richard 3-27, Couse 3-18, Heitkamp 2-22, Albers 1-26