Minster Hangs on to Survive Fort Loramie 22-14

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER - Two young, inexperienced teams took to the field of battle for the first time this season, and much of the play was what you should expect in that situation. After a very rough start, the Minster Wildcat offense put up 22 points in the first half, then it was the job of the defense to hang on for dear life in Minster’s 22-14 win over the Fort Loramie Redskins.

“If you came and watched football tonight, you watched two really young football teams trying to figure life out together,” explained Wildcat coach Seth Whiting

“Our guys fought their butts off,” added Fort Loramie coach Spencer Wells. “Both sides looked pretty inexperienced.”

Minster’s opening drive ended when a snap went over their punter’s head and was recovered by the Redskins at the Wildcat 31-yard line. On the next play, Tanner Heckman connected with Tanner Eilerman for a touchdown. Christian Maxwell’s two-point conversion run gave Fort Loramie an early 8-0 lead.

On the first play of Minster’s next drive, a fumble returned the ball to the Redskins at the Wildcat 22-yard line. Just as it appeared the visitors could take control of the game early, the Minster defense stopped Fort Loramie around the ten-yard line to keep the deficit to one score.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever had a team start like that and be able to claw their way back in it,” explained Minster coach Seth Whiting. “Our guys that do have some experience stepped up tonight. I’m really proud of our group of seniors doing what they need to do to get the job done on the field tonight. We gifted them some really good field position, but our defense was able to step in and make plays.”

After the Wildcats were again stymied on their next drive, momentum switched when Noah Schwieterman intercepted a pass and returned it to near midfield. The Minster offense then came alive and eight plays later Carson Kaylor scored from nine yards out to cut the Redskin lead to 8-7.

The second quarter saw two long Wildcat scoring possessions. A 12-play drive featuring mostly running plays was capped with a 21-yard scoring toss from Kaylor to Schwieterman followed by a two-point conversion pass to John Inskeep. Just before half the Wildcats used fourteen snaps culminating with a Kaylor two-yard run to make the halftime score 22-8.

The second half saw the defenses dominate as the two offenses combined for just 82 yards. Midway into the third quarter a Fort Loramie sack resulted in a 22-yard Ray Hoying fumble return for a touchdown. A failed two-point run left Minster in the lead 22-14.

The remaining quarter and a half were mostly played in Minster territory with the Wildcats’ offense unable to move the ball while their defense allowed Fort Loramie negative six total yards on their next three drives.

With three and a half minutes remaining, the Redskins mounted their longest drive of the game. Starting at their own 20, Fort Loramie completed five passes to reach the Minster 21-yard line. On the next play, a Redskin receiver had beaten his defender down the left sideline. However, Schwieterman came off his man to step in front of the receiver in the end zone for his second interception of the night, this one sealing the Wildcat victory.

Kaylor was both the leading rusher and passer for the game. He carried the ball 18 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns, while also completing 15 passes for 171 yards and a score. Schwieterman was the top receiver with five catches for 99 yards and a touchdown, with Andrew Ketner also grabbing five passes for 46 yards.

Next week, 1-0 Minster will remain at home to host 1-0 Columbus Africentric, who defeated Cincinnati Woodward 72-0 in Week 1. 0-1 Fort Loramie will play their home opener against a Shelby County rival, the 1-0 Anna Rockets.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 15 0 0 22

Fort Loramie 8 0 6 0 14

First Quarter:

FL – Tanner Eilerman 31 yd pass from Tanner Heckman (Christian Maxwell run), 9:54

MIN – Carson Kaylor 9 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 1:22

Second Quarter:

MIN – Noah Schwieterman 21 yd pass Carson Kaylor (John Inskeep pass from Carson Kaylor), 5:09

MIN – Carson Kaylor 2 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 0:16

Third Quarter:

FL – Ray Hoying 22 yd fumble return (run failed), 6:52

Team statistics MIN FL

First downs 22 7

Rushes - yards 43-100 13-(-19)

Passing yards 171 118

Comp - att - int 15-26-1 15-29-2

Total yards 271 99

Punts - average 4-26.3 7-33.6

Fumbles - lost 2-2 1-0

Penalties - yards 6-41 7-65

Time of possession 28:20 19:40

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Kaylor 18-84, Meyer 19-52, Bergman 3-8, Hein 1-(-1), Team 2-(-43); Fort Loramie, Hoying 2-4, Maxwell 5-(-4), Heckman 6-(-19)

Passing: Minster, Kaylor 15-26-1-171; Fort Loramie, Heckman 15-28-2-118, Eilerman 0-1-0-0

Receiving: Minster, Schwieterman 5-99, Ketner 5-46, Bergman 2-17, Inskeep 2-16, Hein 1-(-7); Fort Loramie, Eilerman 8-75, Luthman 4-28, Boerger 2-9, Maxwell 1-6