The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Friday Flashback: Knights top Minster

Note: This week’s Friday Flashback takes us back to Week No. 12 of the 2018 high school football season, when the Crestview Knights willed their way to a playoff victory over Minster. Below is the story as it appeared on the VW independent Sports page.

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

WAPAKONETA — Wade Sheets returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown, Drew Kline intercepted two fourth quarter passes and the Crestview Knights knocked off the defending state champion Minster Wildcats 28-14 in the Division VII Region 28 semifinals at Wapakoneta’s Harmon Field on Saturday.

The victory avenged a 35-32 loss to the Wildcats in last year’s regional semifinals.

Wade Sheets makes a key catch against Minster. Wyatt Richardson/Van Wert independent

Crestview (11-1) will play Fort Loramie for the regional championship at Lima Spartan Stadium on Saturday.  Minster’s season ended at 8-4.

“We talked about week zero a lot in our scouting report the past couple of weeks, meaning that if we didn’t get the job done there would be no more weeks ahead,” Crestview head coach Jared Owens said. “Our kids really bought into that mentality.”

With the score tied at 14 at halftime, Minster received the second half kickoff but had to punt after four plays. Sheets grabbed the kick at the Crestview 11 and won a footrace down the sideline for a touchdown. Kline tossed a two point conversion pass to Brody Brecht to give the Knights a 22-14 lead with 10:37 left in the third quarter.

“It gave us some momentum,” Owens said of the punt return and two point conversion. “In the playoffs when you get some momentum on your side that can give you some energy, and I thought that energized our whole team.”

The two teams traded punts for the remainder of the quarter, and Crestview took possession of the ball at the Knight 31 with 11:45 left in the game. Kline led the offense on a nine play drive that ended with a three yard touchdown run. Kline retreated as far back as the Minster 25 before snaking his way to the end zone and a 28-14 lead with 6:30 left in the game.

On the ensuing possession, Minster drove to the Crestview 13 before Kline intercepted a Jacob Niemeyer pass at the goal line and ran it back to the 16. The Knights picked up two first downs and had to punt. Minster drove again, but Kline came up with his second interception to preserve the win.

When all was said and done, Crestview’s defense held Minster to 194 yards of total offense. Niemeyer was 7 of 16 for 82 yards and intercepted twice, and the Wildcats converted just one of nine first downs in the game.

“When we had a play to make, guys made plays,” Owens said. “In the second half we were the more physical team and we started to wear them down and work on the clock.”

“Our offensive and defensive lines had a great performance tonight and I can’t say enough about them and how hard they played,” Owens added.

Kline completed 15 of 22 passes for 184 yards and had 19 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown. Sheets finished with eight receptions for 97 yards and Griffin Painter and Brecht each had three catches for 32 and 28 yards respectively. Brecht also had 26 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, and the Knights finished with 322 yards of offense.

Minster’s first touchdown came with 6:30 left in the first quarter when Alex Schmitmeyer capped a nine play, 61 yard drive with a five yard touchdown run. The junior running back had seven carries for 43 yards on the drive, and finished the game with 23 carries for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Crestview responded with an 11 play 73 yard drive that ended with a one yard touchdown run by Brecht, who also tacked on the two point conversion for an 8-7 lead with 1:40 remaining in the first quarter. Kline completed four passes for 48 yards on the drive, including a 27 yarder to Derick Dealey.

The Knights took a 14-7 lead on Brecht’s second touchdown of the night, a two yarder with 4:38 left in the second quarter, but Minster stormed back with a nine play 53 yard drive that ended with Schmitmeyer’s four yard touchdown run with :55 left until halftime.

Fort Loramie (11-1), the No. 1 seed in Region 28 defeated Sidney Lehman Catholic 35-0.

Scoring summary

Crestview 8 6 8 6 – 28
Minster    7 7 0 0 – 14

6:30 1st qtr: Alex Schmitmeyer 5 yard run (Bryan Falk kick)
1:40 1st qtr: Brody Brecht 1 yard run (Brecht run)
4:38 2nd qtr: Brody Brecht 2 yard run (pass failed)
0:55 2nd qtr: Alex Schmitmeyer 4 yard run (Bryan Falk kick)
10:37 3rd qtr: Wade Sheets 89 yard punt return (Kline to Brecht pass)
6:30 4th qtr: Drew Kline 3 yard run (pass failed)

POSTED: 10/30/20 at 3:51 am. FILED UNDER: Sports