Minerva football snaps EBC streak, guarantees .500 season

In a year peppered with accomplishments, the Minerva High football team added two more to its list Oct. 10.

By defeating Marlington 7-0, Minerva earned its first Eastern Buckeye Conference win since Sept. 27, 2019, when the Lions defeated West Branch 30-20. Since then, Minerva suffered 33 consecutive conference losses.

The second accomplishment, and one not many people expected to occur this soon in Zach Slates’ tenure as coach, is that the Lions can finish no worse than .500, something they haven’t done since 2011.

That year just so happens to be the last time the Dukes lost to Minerva as the Lions went undefeated in the now-defunct Northeast Buckeye Conference on their way to the second round of the state playoffs.

The game’s lone touchdown occurred when Minerva running back Skyler Lab forced his way into the end zone from two yards out with 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The rest of the game was a defensive struggle as both teams battled for field position.

The Dukes had several chances to tie the game, but each and every time, Minerva’s stout defense came up big. In the second quarter, Marlington had a first-and-goal at Minerva’s 8-yard line. The Dukes were hit with a string of penalties that backed them up to the 20. Deciding to go for it on fourth down, Marlington ended up turning the ball over.

Some drama was injected into the proceedings in the fourth quarter when Minerva had the Dukes pinned deep in their own territory, Marlington’s Blaize Horn took the handoff, found a hole, and sprinted 73 yards down the right sideline before being brought down at the Minerva 25. Again, however, the Lions’ defense stiffened and the Dukes again turned the ball over on downs at the 12-yard line following a well-defended incomplete pass.

Minerva (5-3, 1-2) held a 19-9 advantage in first downs and nearly doubled the Dukes (3-5, 0-3) in time of possession while outgaining them 315-224. He may not have scored the winning TD, but Timothy Kirkpatrick had a monster game for the Lions, rushing for 188 yards on 27 carries. Lane Hawk added 50 yards on six carries, Nate Linkous contributed 49 on 11 touches, and Lab had the lone touchdown plus 23 yards on four attempts.

Minerva quarterback Kannon Kirkpatrick was 2-of-3 for 44 yards and one interception, while Owen Shick had 33 yards on one reception.

Cross Country

The Lions flexed their running muscles at the EBC Cross-Country Championship, hosted by Marlington Oct. 11. As the last performance before the OSHAA Div. III District meet at Cambridge Oct. 18, Minerva turned in one last impressive show, claiming both the boys’ and girls’ team titles.

The boys dominated in scoring just 26 points as the Lions placed all five runners in the top 10. Salem was the only other team within range of Minerva as the Quakers placed second with 37 points. Marlington was a distant third with 105.

Leading the way in first place was senior Rowen Hoffee, who posted a blistering time of 16:10.5. Anderson Scott (16:47.7), Owen Yoder (16:58.8), and Tyson Fetty (17:05.9) then snared places four through six, while Fox Johnson capped the scoring in 10th place with a time of 17:36.0.

The Lady Lions also stood atop the podium, placing first with 32 points, 10 ahead of runner-up Marlington. Salem placed third with 49 points.

Minerva did not have the winning runner; that honor went to Marlington’s Irelyn Johnson. However, the Lady Lions did claim the next four spots, led by Tateum Richard’s time of 19:23.0, good for second place. Makenzie Beavers (19:23.4) finished third, Charlie Galley (20:16.8) was fourth, and Addison Keyser (20:17.4) took fifth. Freshman Chloe Carson capped the scoring for Minerva as she placed 18th in 21:50.1.

Volleyball

Talk about being in the zone. As the Lady Lions prepare for their Div. IV East 2 District sectional game, they only had one game on the calendar for the last week, a home nonconference game versus St. Thomas Aquinas Oct. 8. Minerva made it six in a row to close out the regular season as they defeated the Knights 3-0 (25-7, 25-9, 25-12).

On Senior Night, it was only fitting that senior Becca Jackson have a big game. And that she did, as she posted totals of nine kills, 13 serving points to go with four aces, and 12 digs. Ayla Shellenbarger also had a strong game with 14 kills, 14 points, seven aces, and eight digs, while Jenna Dowell added 14 points, four aces, and 14 digs. Gracie Momirov-Dierick logged four kills, seven points, and an ace, and Adrianna Kashdan recorded eight kills for Minerva (13-9).

Girls Soccer

Minerva picked up its fifth consecutive win to close out the regular season as the Lions defeated visiting New Philadelphia 6-0 Oct. 8 in a nonconference match.

On Senior Night, the Lions were led by two seniors: Ireland Kirkpatrick, who scored two goals and notched an assist, and Kyleigh Lippincott, who bagged a goal while dishing out four assists. Other goals were scored by Alexa Lippincott, Tateum Richard, and Sophia Burick, who also added an assist.

Ally Sullivan played the entire match in goal for Minerva (9-6-2) and picked up the shutout to go with her four saves. It was Sullivan’s fifth shutout on the season.

Boys Soccer

The Lions dropped their final regular season match Oct. 7, an 8-2 loss to on the road to United. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a commanding 6-0 lead in the first half, and according to coach Tyler Stewart, some damage was self-inflicted while some was due to inhospitable weather conditions.

“Got off to a very poor start with allowing United to dribble the baseline and be able to put several in the back of the net early on,” he said. “There were very wet conditions tonight which didn't help. At halftime we tweaked our lineup and looked a lot better getting more offensive opportunities.”

Minerva righted the ship, and played United evenly for the remainder of the match, but the deficit was insurmountable.

Jeremiah Boone broke the ice on a corner kick from Colton Fetty about 12 minutes into the second half. Boone also assisted on Noah Morckel’s goal. Talan Murphy recorded seven saves manning the net for Minerva (2-12-3)