St. Henry beats Minster

MINSTER - St. Henry looked like a team that knew its season was on the line against the Minster Wildcats.

The Redskins seized the momentum from the opening kickoff and, with one slight hiccup, maintained it throughout the first half as they build a 34-7 halftime lead and then held on for a 34-14 win Friday night at Memorial Field.
   "They put in a lot of preparation the last two weeks, a lot of film," explained St. Henry coach Brad Luthman. "They really got after the mental game. I think it showed in the first half. Obviously, we are hanging our heads a bit about getting beaten in the second half, but thank God we came out on fire in the first."
   The Redskins dominated on both sides of the ball, compiling 336 yards of first half offense, while holding the Wildcats to just 71 yards. Especially effective was the passing game, as at one point Daylon Lange completed 13-of-14 passes for 224 yards.
   "The interesting thing is the problems the offense for Minster presents in terms of being in that single wing and having a pretty good receiver, Schmiesing, who has burnt us more than a few times over the years," added Luthman. "It was a bad math problem for us but luckily our kids came out and did the game plan."
   The opposing coach, of course, was not as happy with the contest. 

"We're just not executing, not competing," Minster coach Geron Stokes said. "Until we do that as a program, we are going to continue to get drilled."
   St. Henry received the opening kickoff and used 13 plays to get to the Minster five-yard line. A field goal was attempted and missed, but Minster was penalized for running into the kicker, one of three times that penalty was called in the contest. With another chance at the two-yard line, Blake Hoyng attempted to rush for a touchdown but was stopped by the Minster defense. It was the only one of the Redskins' seven first-half drives that did not to result in points.

After the Wildcats lost a yard in three plays, the ball was returned to St. Henry on a punt. This time, the Redskins completed the drive with a one-yard Hoyng scoring run for the early 7-0 lead.

The opening period would end with that score, but early in the second quarter Ryan Luttmer expanded the lead to 10-0 with a 21-yard field goal. A few minutes later, Luttmer ran for a four-yard touchdown to make the lead 17-0. The rout appeared to be on.
   Minster responded with its only effective offensive play of the half. On the first play after the kickoff, Jared Huelsman found Jonathan Niemeyer deep for a 61-yard touchdown catch, reducing the Wildcat deficit to 17-7.
   But St. Henry did not let that play slow down its offense.  Lange uncorked a long pass of his own, a 30-yard strike to Luttmer to bring the lead back up to 17 points. Luttmer added another two-yard scoring run and a 39-yard field goal before half to give the Redskins their commanding 34-7 advantage at the break.
   The second half was more of a defensive struggle. The only score came late in the third quarter when the Huelsman-to-Niemeyer combination struck for a seven-yard touchdown to make the final score 34-14.
   St. Henry (4-2, 3-1 MAC) wraps up a two-game road trip next Friday at Anna. Minster (2-4, 0-4 MAC) remains at home to face unbeaten Coldwater.