Three consecutive years, Marion Local High school has slugged it out with Midwest Athletic Conference rival Minster in the Division VI regional football playoffs.

Minster won two years ago, and Marion Local won last year en route to a state title. The two teams, separated by five miles on the Mercer and Auglaize County border, met again Friday with Marion Local holding back resilient Minster for a 41-34 win in the Region 24 semifinal at Piqua’s Alexander Field.

Marion Local led by as many as 21 points in the second half off three turnovers by Minster. But the Wildcats wouldn’t go away, thanks to quarterback Adam Niemeyer (a baseball commit to Ohio State), tight end Ethan Wolf and a solid group of receivers.

Minster scored on a flea flicker when Devon Poeppelman connected on a 44-yard pass to Jay Eilmernan with 9:50 left in the third. That cut the lead to two scores. Minster scored again when Poeppelman caught a 3-yard pass from Niemeyer.

Marion Local rushed for a touchdown while attempting to run out the clock on a fourth-and-1 call with 1:56 left in the game. The Flyers pitched on a sweep and Jacy Goettemoeller ran 41 yards to put the game back to two scores.

But Minster drove and scored again, on a 1-yard pass from Niemeyer to Wolf with 45 seconds left. Marion Local recovered the onside kick and finally put the game away.

“(Minster) never quit,” Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin said. “They have great skill with their quarterbacks and receivers. You can’t forget our secondary is three sophomores and a junior going against some very good seniors and one stud junior. Our kids battled and we came out ahead.”

Marion Local relied on Goettemoeller and quarterback Adam Bertke in the second half, alternating between the two in a power running game that kept the Minster offense off the field. Marion Local repeatedly ran the 6-foot-6, 200-pound Bertke up the middle for yardage.

“When you have a quarterback who can run, it gives you an extra hat,” Goodwin said. “We thought we could use that to our advantage. Adam is a horse. He’s a huge kid and he’s a physical kid for a quarterback.”

Bertke was 5-for-12 passing for 130 yards. He ran 23 times for 120 yards. Goettemoeller rushed 22 times for 172 yards.

Niemeyer was 25-of-48 for 250 yards and two interceptions.