Minster Rallies in Second Half to Overcome New Bremen 27-16

By Bruce Monnin

MINSTER - Sometimes it is said that football is a game of two halves. The New Bremen Cardinals controlled this game for the first 28 minutes as they built a 16-7 lead, but the Minster Wildcats owned the final 20 minutes, scoring 20 points to earn a 27-16 victory.

After Minster went three and out on their opening possession, New Bremen handed the ball off to Jacob Kelly six consecutive times for 55 yards including a 15-yard scoring jaunt for the early 6-0 lead.

“That was a good opening drive,” stated Cardinal coach Chris Schmidt. “Establish the run, that’s what we wanted to do. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t build on it from there.”

The ease of the New Bremen drive put the pressure on the Wildcat offense, and they responded with a hard nosed 13-play drive which covered 78 yards. Dominick Meyer scored from seven yards out, the beginning of an evening where he compiled 176 yards and two scores on 26 carries. Beckham Stephey made the extra point kick to give Minster a 7-6 lead after the first quarter.

The rest of the half was a defensive show. Late in the half the Cardinal defense stuffed Meyer and on fourth down play at the Wildcats’ own 37-yard line. After Gavin Dicke completed a beautiful 17-yard pass to Caleb Keller at the Minster one yard line, Kelly powered in to give the Cardinals a 13-7 advantage at intermission.

The second half started similarly to the first, as New Bremen drove the field, mostly on the ground, to reach second and goal at the Minster two-yard line. But the Wildcats defense stopped two running plays and forced an Aiden Eastham 20-yard field goal which gave the Cardinals a 16-7 lead.

“It felt like a missed opportunity,” admitted Schmidt. “There was a moment there where you think about going for it, but at that time you get the three points and you are up two scores.”

“That was incredible by our defense,” countered Wildcat coach Seth Whiting. “That was a big defensive stop for us.”

Much like in the opening period, the Minster offense answered the Cardinal score. Carson Kaylor connected with Noah Schwieterman on a 25-yard pass which set up an 11-yard touchdown toss to Cole Albers in the front corner of the end zone which closed the Wildcat deficit to 16-14.

New Bremen looked to increase their lead by driving deep into Minster territory, but Taylor Fancher intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the threat. The Wildcats then put the ball in the hands of Kaylor, who completed two passes and ran the ball five times, including a two-yard score to give Minster its first lead of the game, 20-16.

On the following Cardinal possession, Tyler Bergman intercepted a pass and returned it across midfield. It took Meyer three carries to cover the needed 36 yards and give the Wildcats a 27-16 cushion.

“When that ball is in the air in a jump ball situation, we have to be able to come down with it or get it on the ground,” added Whiting. “Taylor, Tyler and A.K. (Andrew Ketner, who broke up three big passes) did a really good job of that tonight.”

Minster ended the game with 240 yards rushing on 45 carries. “Tonight the guys up front really put it together,” complimented Whiting. “Our weekly goal is 200 rushing yards and I don’t know if we’ve even come close to it this year. We told them all week if we rush for 200, I promise you a win.”

While Meyer carried the greatest load for Minster, Kelly compiled 132 yards and two scores of his own on 25 carries for New Bremen. There was not a lot of activity through the air, though Kaylor threw for 100 yards and a touchdown for Minster while Dicke tossed for 76 Cardinal yards.

Minster’s record is now 4-3 (3-2 MAC), and they travel to face 4-3 (2-3 MAC) Versailles next Friday. New Bremen’s record drops to 4-3 (2-3 MAC), and the Cardinals host 5-2 (3-2 MAC) Coldwater.

Score by quarter 1 2 3 4 Total

Minster 7 0 7 13 27

New Bremen 6 7 3 0 16

First Quarter:

NB – Jacob Kelly 15 yd run (kick failed), 7:16

MIN – Dominick Meyer 7 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 2:04

Second Quarter:

NB – Jacob Kelly 1 yd run (Aiden Eastham kick), 1:07

Third Quarter:

NB – Aiden Eastham 20 yd field goal, 7:34

MIN – Cole Albers 11 yd pass from Carson Kaylor (Beckham Stephey kick), 4:52

Fourth Quarter:

MIN – Carson Kaylor 2 yd run (pass failed), 8:20

MIN – Dominick Meyer 16 yd run (Beckham Stephey kick), 5:46

Team statistics MIN NB

First downs 20 15

Rushes - yards 45-240 36-169

Passing yards 100 76

Comp - att - int 10-16-1 6-17-2

Total yards 340 245

Punts - average 2-32.5 2-34.0

Fumbles - lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties - yards 5-50 7-56

Time of possession 25:13 22:47

Individual statistics

Rushing: Minster, Meyer 26-176, Kaylor 17-56, Bergman 2-8; New Bremen, Kelly 25-132, Dicke 9-35, Wuebker 2-2

Passing: Minster, Kaylor 10-16-1-100; New Bremen, Dicke 6-17-2-76

Receiving: Minster, Schwieterman 4-48, Albers 2-32, Ketner 2-17, Bergman 2-3; New Bremen, Wuebker 2-23, Quellhorst 1-20, Keller 1-17, Dwenger 1-8, Lozier 1-8