Minster Takes to the Air to Defeat Parkway 49-20

By Bruce Monnin

ROCKFORD - The Minster Wildcats scored on their first five possessions to take a 35-0 lead over the homestanding Parkway Panthers. Parkway responded with a late second quarter drive and another score to start the second half to reduce the deficit to 35-13, but the Wildcats tacked on two more third quarter scores in a 49-20 victory.

“The kids jumped out right away, did what they were supposed to do,” stated Minster coach Seth Whiting, “and then we got to play a lot of people.”

The Wildcats amassed a school record tying six of their scores through the air, as Carson Kaylor completed 16 of 20 passes for 258 yards, while also adding a four-yard scoring run.

“The way they were playing up front, they left some things open,” explained Whiting. “We really wanted to work on some things in the run game, but when they are packing eight or nine people in the box, you take what they give you.”

The game started with Tyler Bergman returning the kickoff 47 yards to just past midfield. Seven plays later, Kaylor ran the ball in from five yards out for the 7-0 lead. Two minutes later, after a Panther punt, Kaylor found Noah Schwieterman for a 44-yard touchdown.

An Andrew Ketner interception set up the third Minster score of the opening period. A ten-yard completion to Tyler Bergman on fourth down and nine to go kept the drive alive, leading to a ten-yard scoring pass to Schwieterman.

The second quarter started with two touchdown passes to Cole Albers, one 25 yards in length, and the other a 52-yard bomb. The rout appeared to be on with the Wildcats ahead 35-0.

Parkway responded with a 16-play, 67-yard drive to end the half. Jacoby Triplett completed eight passes on the drive, including a one-yard scoring toss to Jack Yoder as time expired in the half.

The second half saw the momentum remain with the Panthers as Triplett connected with Cohen Korte for a 62-yard pass which set up a Luke Booher nine-yard touchdown run, reducing their deficit to 35-13. But Minster seized back control when Bergman returned the ensuing kickoff 49 yards to the Parkway 44. Kaylor tossed a 22-yard touchdown to Andrew Ketner to bring the lead back to 42-13.

On Parkway’s next possession, Carter Korte forced a fumble that was recovered by Schwieterman near midfield. After converting a long fourth down to start the drive, Kaylor threw 23 yards to Bergman for the final Wildcat score.

Early in the fourth quarter, Jaden Green recovered an errant Minster snap and returned it 46 yards for the final score of the 49-20 game.

Dominick Meyer was the top runner for the game, tallying 93 yards on 12 carries. Bergman led all receivers with six catches for 67 yards, though teammates Schwieterman and Albers had more receiving yards (70 and 77, respectively) on fewer receptions.

For the Panthers, Triplett completed 16 of 31 passes for 159 yards and was also the leading rusher with 46 yards on five carries. Cohen Korte led the receiving corps with four catches for 82 yards.

Minster’s record improves to 3-1 (2-0 MAC). The Wildcats remain on the road to face 2-2 Coldwater (1-1 MAC) next Friday. Parkway’s record drops to 0-4 (0-2 MAC). The Panthers also travel to face 3-1 (1-1 MAC) Versailles next week.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 21 14 14 0 49

Parkway 0 6 7 7 20

First Quarter:

MIN – Carson Kaylor 4 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 9:39

MIN – Noah Schwieterman 44 yd pass from Carson Kaylor (Beckham Stephey kick), 7:19

MIN – Noah Schwieterman 10 yd pass from Carson Kaylor (Beckham Stephey kick), 1:11

Second Quarter:

MIN – Cole Albers 25 yd pass from Carson Kaylor (Beckham Stephey kick), 10:30

MIN – Cole Albers 52 yd pass from Carson Kaylor (Beckham Stephey kick), 5:47

PW – Jack Yoder 1 yd pass from Jacoby Triplett (kick failed), 0:00

Third Quarter:

PW – Luke Booher 9 yd run (Bosten Korte kick), 11:18

MIN – Andrew Ketner 22 yd pass from Carson Kaylor (Beckham Stephey kick), 9:58

MIN – Tyler Bergman 23 yd pass from Carson Kaylor (Beckham Stephey kick), 4:13

Fourth Quarter:

PW – Jaden Green 45 yd fumble recovery (Bosten Korte kick), 8:57

Team statistics MIN PW

First downs 21 11

Rushes - yards 31-161 21-89

Passing yards 258 159

Comp - att - int 16-21-0 16-31-1

Total yards 419 248

Punts - average 1-34.0 4-39.0

Fumbles - lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties - yards 2-15 8-65

Time of possession 31:17 16:43

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Meyer 12-93, Kaylor 7-41, Bishop 8-38, Fancher 2-5, Team 2-(minus 16); Parkway, Triplett 5-46, Booher 11-38, Green 4-6, Yoder 1-(minus 1)

Passing: Minster, Kaylor 16-20-0-258, Fancher 0-1-0-0; Parkway, Triplett 16-31-1-159

Receiving: Minster, Bergman 6-67, Schwieterman 4-70, Albers 2-77, Ketner 2-28, Fancher 2-16; Parkway, C. Korte 4-82, Carpenter 3-23, Green 2-18, Yoder 2-14, Booher 2-12, Beverage 2-5, Ross 1-5