Minster’s Tyler Bergman makes one of his four catches against Coldwater’s Karter Freed on a big night of big plays for Bergman. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Jeff Gilbert)
When Ty Hein burst into the backfield for the game-winning tackle, years of frustration against Coldwater ended for unbeaten Minster.
Minster, OH – The football team at Minster High School heard the talk this week, saw more than one two-touchdown spread published online and knew their difficult history against Coldwater.
The Wildcats didn’t care.
The Wildcats’ field was too wet for practice this week, so they practiced in a backyard, dodging trees.
Minster Bank is the official banking resource for Press Pros Magazine.com.
The Wildcats weren’t deterred.
Then Coldwater’s John Pohlman ran back Friday night’s opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com. Follow on X @jw_gilbert
The Wildcats didn’t flinch.
“I don’t think you could start a game much rougher mentally than the opening kickoff getting run back on you,” Minster coach Seth Whiting said.
But the Wildcats built a 10-point lead. Lost that lead. Got it back. And with under two minutes to play, they were doing everything they could to keep Coldwater from scoring a winning touchdown. But the Cavaliers were driving.
The Cavaliers reached the Minster 17 and faced fourth-down-and-six with just under two minutes to play. A Minster penalty turned the situation into fourth-and-one at the 12. The biggest play in a game full of big plays was forthcoming.
Minster Dental is proud to sponsor the best in area sports stories on Press Pros Magazine.com.
Coldwater quarterback Karsyn Homan turned and handed off to Braxton Taylor. But Minster junior linebacker Ty Hein shot through the right side of the line on a run blitz and dropped Taylor for a three-yard loss.
One of the smallest players on the field – Hein is 5-foot-6 and a 155 pounds – made the giant play that allowed Minster to survive for a 24-21 victory in the game of the night, and so far the year, in the Midwest Athletic Conference.
“I told myself I just got to do my own job, and I knew that all my brothers behind me will do their job,” Hein said. “Let’s make this stop and let’s have fun tonight and let’s let the crowd roar.”
Minster’s Tyler Bergman heads for the end zone on a 40-yard fumble return to tie the score 7-7 while Coldwater’s Austin Uhlenhake has no chance of catching him.
And the offense easily ran the final 1:42 off the clock.
Defensive back Tyler Bergman – the purveyor of the three big plays that were part of each Minster touchdown – was up at the line in run support and saw Hein make the play of the game.
“Quite honestly, I wasn’t expecting it to come out to our side,” he said. “I was expecting it to go up in the middle. As soon as I saw that, Ty just shoots through and makes the tackle. What a crazy atmosphere, and then everyone’s just going berserk.”
During the timeout before Hein’s big stop, Whiting reminded his team what the moment meant.
“We brought the kids over and we talked very quickly about the pillars of our program and how those pillars were made for this moment,” he said. “And they went out and did their job.”
Great sports, great food, and a great place to meet with friends. Come to McSobers after the game.
Coldwater coach Chip Otten felt confident in the call to hand off to Taylor.
“Same play we scored earlier on, and we didn’t execute it,” he said. “If we execute it correctly, it’s a walk-in touchdown around the edge, but we didn’t. We didn’t block it correctly.”
The Wildcats (5-0, 3-0 MAC) beat Coldwater (4-1, 2-1) for the first time since 2016 and second time this century. The Cavaliers lead the all-time series 55-14 dating to 1949.
Coldwater’s John Pohlman cuts across the field on his way to an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game.
“No one thought Minster was going to win,” Hein said. “We had no pressure coming into this game. We just had to be Minster and play.”
The Wildcats also had to flush the memory of last year’s 34-7 loss at Coldwater, especially after the kickoff return.
“From the start, everyone’s like, ‘Hey, it’s Coldwater,’ and they’re counting us out,” Bergman said. “But we knew all week, we’re not going to replicate what happened last year. After the kickoff return, we did not flinch. We knew coming into this game, we can’t back down.”
The Wildcats, a team with only five seniors, are also 5-0 for the first time since 1991. A startling stat considering they’ve won two state championships since then.
The Mr. Shoppe proudly sponsors the best in high school sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.
“We talked to them a lot this week that this wasn’t the Super Bowl, this wasn’t the state title game,” Whiting said. “This is a big bump or a hurdle on our path to trying to get where we want to go. We still got a heck of a schedule left. The MAC’s the MAC for a reason.”
Whiting found out what his team is made of the rest of the first half. The defense shut out the Cavaliers and scored a touchdown.
Karsyn Homan didn’t start, but returned from injury at quarterback to lead Coldwater from behind in the second half.
After a short completion, Minster’s Brendan Halpin separated Coldwater’s Karter Freed from the football. Bergman picked up the football and sprinted down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown to tie the score, 7-7.
“Huge props to Halpin, and he made one heck of a hit,” Bergman said. “And then just by all odds, it lands right in front of me with green grass, and I got a blocker on my right, and I’m just looking, seeing who’s chasing me. Then it was just off to the races.”
With quarterback Carson Kaylor doing most of the running and hitting Bergman for a 35-yard pass, the Wildcats drove to a Beckhem Stephey 20-yard field goal with 57 seconds left in the half for a 10-7 halftime lead.
On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Bergman scored on a 62-yard end around for a 17-7 lead. Before the play he returned the kickoff 30 yards, and Kaylor asked Bergman an important question.
“He walks up and he’s like, ‘Hey, you got gas,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to go,’” Bergman said. “Got the outside zone and I just see a couple blocks. I cut it back and once again it’s just green grass in front of me.”
Dorsten Contracting proudly supports Shelby County League sports on Press Pros.
Coldwater, as any MAC opponent would expect, figured out how to advance the football in the second half and ended up outgaining Minster 296-229. The return of injured quarterback Homan, who did not start, found rhythm running the football, opening up plays for receivers and running backs Taylor and Derek Dues. Homan carried 14 times for 71 yards.
Coldwater’s Derek Dues is tackled by Minster’s Beckhem Stephey for a short gain in the first half.
Taylor scored on runs of three and two yards to cap drives of 13 and nine plays. With 9:28 left, Coldwater led 21-17.
“Karsyn felt like he could go, and he made some good runs and just got things going,” Otten said.
Minster answered with a nine-play, 72-yard touchdown drive. The big plays were Kaylor completions of 24 yards to Halpin and 27 yards to Bergman to reach the Coldwater six. Those plays capped big nights for all three. Kaylor finished 9 of 14 for 124 yards, Halpin caught four passes for 67 yards, and Bergman caught four passes and totaled 116 all-purpose yards.
Two players after the big throw to Bergman, Kaylor followed his blockers in from the four for the winning touchdown with 5:31 left.
Follow the best in area sports with Darke County’s on-air voice…Scott Ward on 97.5 FM, WTGR.
“They score again – we can’t flinch,” Bergman said of the big-answer touchdown. “We know we have to make a play, and props to Carson for putting on the dime all these passes down the field. And then O line finishing it off, giving us great blocks for Carson to finish it.”
Three minutes later Hein made the big stop and the celebration of a hard-fought and rare win against Coldwater commenced on the field with players, coaches, parents and fans.
“I’m really proud of their progress, but we still are far from scraping what they’re capable of,” Whiting said. “We’re not the biggest team, but we’re also not little. We got enough to do what we need to do, and they keep getting better week by week.”
All wins feel good, but this one felt different, one that will feel good for a long time.
At least it did until midnight.
“Feels good, but like coach said, when it hits 12 o’clock, it’s next game,” Hein said. “We got to keep on going. This game wasn’t a championship game. This was just another speed bump from the journey.”
Wilson Health/Orthopedics proudly sponsors the best in area sports and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Press Pros.