Minster running back Taylor Fancher celebrates the Wildcats’ first touchdown on a 32-yard pass play. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Jeff Gilbert)
Minster junior quarterback Carson Kaylor went to quarterback school in January, and it paid off Friday night with three clutch completions to beat New Bremen.
New Bremen, OH – Carson Kaylor’s bring-his-team-from-behind performance on the football field Friday night didn’t begin in the second quarter.
Go back in time – nine months to be exact.
The knowledge, the execution and the confidence it took to rally Minster from deficits of 14 and 11 points began in January when Kaylor went to football school.
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Sitting through those lessons, Kaylor began to learn everything he needed to know to complete three big pass plays – twice on difficult down-and-distances – that lifted the Wildcats to a 28-21 victory over New Bremen and to 3-0 on opening night in the Midwest Athletic Conference.
“When we finish our seasons, we meet with the kids and talk about what they want from us or what they need more from us,” Minster coach Seth Whiting said. “And at the end of last season, one of the big things from Carson was more time with us during the week with film.”
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So in January, barely more than a month from a first-round playoff exit, Kaylor, Whiting and quarterback coach Bill Smith got to know each other a lot better. Whiting says they’re hard on Kaylor, but he takes it well and is coachable. He doesn’t want another uncharacteristic, un-MAC-like, one-and-done playoff experience.
“He spends an incredible amount of time breaking down film,” Whiting said, “going through game plan stuff, how we want to attack, what we’re going to look for.”
Kaylor’s statistical results against New Bremen: 9 completions in 14 attempts for 175 yards and two touchdowns. And a play-of-the-game pass to Beckhem Stephey to set up the winning score.
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“I just feel so much more confident in the decisions I’m making, and when stuff goes wrong, I just feel like I know how to handle it now, and it’s a great feeling,” said Kaylor, a 5-foot-10 junior who throws with his left hand and runs in out of trouble with two stout legs.
Kaylor wasn’t bothered by New Bremen’s pass rush that sacked him five times. He still managed 76 rushing yards on 18 attempts, and that kind of abuse from defensive lines is normal in the MAC. But when Kaylor had three timely moments to look downfield, he made the Cardinals pay.
Minster quarterback Carson Kaylor threw two touchdown passes and passed for 175 yards.
Down 14-0 and struggling to generate much offense in the first half, running back Taylor Fancher found an open seam down the middle, got behind the defense and caught Kaylor’s pass in stride on third-and-8 for a 32-yard touchdown 2:35 before halftime.
Finally, the Wildcats felt like they were in the game. The good feeling grew when the Wildcats forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that was recovered by Tyler Bergman. With nine seconds left, Stephey kicked a 34-yard field goal to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 14-10.
This big hit and New Bremen fumble on a kickoff set up a Minster field goal just before halftime.
Kaylor and his receivers were just getting started. Down 21-10 late in the third quarter, Fancher returned a kickoff 54 yards to the New Bremen 36.
The film study, the game plan, the moment, told Kaylor what to do.
On a first-down call, Brendan Halpin ran a wheel route that spun the Cardinals’ secondary in a circle. He stopped, turned, looked at Kaylor, then spun up the right sideline and was wide open at the goal line for a 25-yard touchdown on a perfect throw. Kaylor’s two-point pass failed, and the Wildcats trailed 21-16 heading into the fourth quarter.
New Bremen’s hold on the scoreboard was slipping away. When a punt snap sailed over the punter’s head, the Wildcats got a safety and the two points back they didn’t get after their previous touchdown.
The Wildcats pounced on the opportunity and drove into New Bremen territory. But the Cardinals’ defense put them in a fourth-and-9 hole at the 37. And something in all that film study, gave Kaylor the confidence to execute the play of the game.
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Kaylor threw deep down the left sideline to Stephey, who laid out and made a diving catch at the two. Three plays later Kaylor scored from the two for a 25-21 lead. Stephey added a 20-yard field goal with 1:30 left.
“Contested catch for sure,” Kaylor said. “He’s a battler. He tells me every day in practice, just throw him the ball, he’ll catch it. And sometimes it’s annoying, but he always seems to catch it.”
Falling behind 14-0 didn’t bother the Wildcats. They focused on the details that Whiting says he harps on, found things that worked on offense, and found ways to slow down New Bremen’s running attack, led by quarterback Gavin Dicke with 92 yards on 18 carries and running back Jacob Kelly with 74 yards on 15 carries.
New Bremen quarterback Gavin Dicke led three touchdown drives and rushed for a game-high 92 yards.
“We push with our kids so hard the idea that when people play us, we get their biggest and best punch every week,” Whiting said. “MAC teams are so well-coached, and their kids are so talented that our kids know they’re going to get everybody’s best punch. We just have to weather the storm and keep swinging.”
The Cardinals (2-1) drove 70 yards to a Dicke three-yard touchdown run and 60 yards to a Kelly 18-yard touchdown run to lead 14-0 midway through the second quarter. And after Minster’s surge before halftime, they drove 65 yards to Kelly’s five-yard touchdown and a 21-10 lead.
But in the MAC nothing is guaranteed, and a bulk of the games come down to the fourth quarter. New Bremen coach Chris Schmidt has been on both sides of games like this one.
“It’s like banging your head against the wall,” he said. “The competitive nature of it is awesome, but it’s a grind and it’s tough. Each week you try to learn from it. And the coaches in this league, and the players are so good that you just you know you got to continue to get better. That’s why, obviously, MAC teams have such success in the playoffs.”
The Cardinals and Wildcats are together in Division VII this year.
They could meet again. That would be very MAC-like.
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