Brogan Stephey gives his signal for the touchdown as teammate Connor Schmiesing crosses the goal line. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
Dominant offensive and defensive line play made things easy for Brogan Stephey & Company as Minster raced to a 28-0 halftime lead. The Wildcats improved to 7-1 (6-1 in the MAC) and are playing their best football with a trip to Maria Stein around the corner.
Minster, Ohio – The lights went out at halftime for the Minster band’s glow-in-the-dark performance. But they’d already been out for Versailles after falling behind 28-0 in the waning moments of the second quarter. And they never came back on.
Alan Brads is a contributing columnist and writes sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.
Minster’s defense clamped down early and never let go. On 19 rush attempts, they allowed -1 yard.
Senior lineman Will Frimel led the charge on the defensive front, gobbling up Ross Francis and Ethan Wilker in the backfield, even when double-teamed.
Two assistant coaches for Minster insisted that despite the anonymity that often comes with playing in the trenches, he’s the best player on the roster.
Minster’s Dominick Meyer rushed for two touchdowns and Brogan Stephey made remarkable plays, which by his standards, have become ordinary.
Stephey completed 16 of 20 passes for two touchdowns and one interception and led all players in rushing yards with 64. He connected with eight different receivers on his 16 completions, and somehow, this isn’t even the A-squad of pass catchers.
Minster’s Dominick Meyer falls into the endzone for a score.
“Our receivers around Brogan are doing a really nice job,” Minster Coach Seth Whiting said. “What’s nice is Noah Schwieterman got back in the lineup tonight and got a catch. He only played a little bit since he just got cleared. And in the next few weeks we should have James Niemeyer back so we should be a little bit more dangerous.”
Minster (7-1, 6-1) proved yet again that in any other Division VII region, they’d be massive threats, or even favorites, to play in Canton. But in Region 28, that remains to be proved next week when they travel to Marion Local’s house, where the Flyers will hunt for their 57th consecutive win, a mark that would tie the all-time state record.
Whiting, Stephey and Frimel all said their week of preparation won’t look any different as they draw up the battle plan for Marion Local as it would any other week.
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“We gotta continue to build,” Frimel said. “There’s always stuff to work on. Marion’s obviously gonna be a big game, that’s not gonna change anything. We gotta go into it with a full head of steam and just go.”
Candidly, tonight did not look pretty for the Tigers (5-3, 4-3). The sky isn’t falling quite yet … But the ceiling certainly appears to be sliding downward. Versailles’ three-game losing streak has come at the hands of worthy opponents, but it doesn’t get any easier next week when they host 8-0 Coldwater. The Tigers aren’t in position to host a playoff game at the moment (9th place by a hair), but the more pressing concern than playoff seeding is how Minster manhandled them on Friday.
Tyler Bergman clutches a pass from quarterback Brogan Stephey for a Minster touchdown.
Minster took the opening kick and made offense look so easy, it seemed like they could’ve picked plays at random and anything would’ve worked. Connor Schmiesing chugged for first downs and Stephey distributed the ball on time and on target. Schmieising plunged in from the 1-yard line for a 7-0 lead.
While Minster picked up extra yards on every play, Versailles had to fight tooth and nail for every inch. The Wildcats stuffed Versailles on 4th & 1, and Minster’s offense went right back to imposing their will. Stephey made accurate throws at all depths, and the offensive line shoved Versailles around. Left guard Grady Hein, among others, plowed a path for running back Dominick Meyer to score from the 24-yard line.
Another Versailles three-and-out and the Wildcats drove to the red zone, but Drake Ahrens stepped in front of a late throw and picked Stephey off, postponing the three-possession lead … but not for long.
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“You just gotta tell yourself ‘screw it, next play,’” Stephey said. “It’s bound to happen. When you play quarterback you’re gonna throw interceptions, that’s just part of it. That’s why we emphasize the next play.”
Another fourth-down stuff put the ball back in Minster’s hands, and it wouldn’t be denied this time. Stephey went for a chunk run on a read option where he hurdled a scrum in the middle of the field then outran two more tackles. Meyer scored his second TD to push the lead to 21-0.
Cole Albers hangs on to a touchdown catch from quarterback Brogan Stephey.
Dylan Heitkamp, one of Stephey’s favorite targets tonight, intercepted Wilker to set up a final first-half drive. With 0:08 left, Stephey nailed Tyler Bergman for a 9-yard completion in the end zone. Lights out.
The Tigers found occasional sparks through the passing game, Ethan Wilker completed 13 of 19 for 139, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the four-headed monster that was Minster’s defensive line. Not to mention the linebackers flying in from behind to lay some heavy hits.
“We executed the gameplan really well,” Frimel said. “We stopped the run up front and the secondary let a few plays through but turned things around with a couple of interceptions.”
The second pick belonged to Caleb Couse.
“We tackled really well tonight, and that’s been a huge point of emphasis,” Whiting said. “We’ve had some things happen this year where we miss tackles at key moments … Our kids played in their gaps really well and made plays when we needed to tonight.”
Minster lineman Will Frimel looks for someone to block during Friday’s win over Versailles.
A select few things can be counted as sure at a high school football game. The student section of the losing team will boo the refs. The marching band won’t get as much attention as it likely deserves. And if a team dominates the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, they’re gonna win the football game.
“Versailles sent a bunch of pressure tonight and our offensive line picked everything up. As far as where credit’s at, obviously Brogan made a ton of plays, but our offensive and defensive line played exceptional.”
Oh, and by the way, the Minster band’s lights-out glow-in-the-dark “Script ‘Cats” was phenomenal.
The second half flew by after Cole Albers used his 6’8” 230 Lb. frame to fence off a defender and haul in a TD to make it 35-0, prompting the running clock for the remaining 15:14, and allowing the lights to turn back off for good.
That is until next week. At Marion Local, #1 vs. #2 in Region 28, the Flyers gunning for a state record … The lights will be very, very bright.
Versailles’ Will Frimel (57) and Ian Homan (50) toss Versailles quarterback Ethan Wilker to the ground.
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