FULTON, Mo. - Westminster football dropped a 35-6 decision against the Gusties of Gustavus Adolphus at home to start the season.
"A college team makes bigger improvements from game one to game two than other other time of the year," said Westminster Head Coach John Welty. "We got a feel for our new players today. I'm very optimistic."
The Gusties picked up an early lead with their first drive of the game, scoring a touchdown in six plays for 45 yards after three minutes of play.
Gustavus Apolphus added another touchdown to their score with a quartback rush with just over four minutes to play. After the point-after attempt, Westminster trailed 14-0
The Blue Jays ended the quarter with a drive with began by a fumble recovery from Antoine Harris at the 50 yardline with just over two minutes of play. Trent White competed a 31-yard pass to Mike Washington to get the Blue Jays to the Gusties' three-yardline, but Westminster couldn't convert it to a score.
Gustavus Adpolphus added another touchdown after five minutes of play in the second quarter with a 13-yard completion into the endzone. The Blue Jays closed out the half with a 21-0 deficit.
The Gusties scored twice more in the third quarter, but not before Ayo Oyesanya came up with the first and only sack of the game for a Gusties' loss of six yards.
Westminster added themselves to the scoreboard in the fourth quarter with a touchdown drive of 10 plays for 74 yards that lasted 4:26. White completed a pass for 14 yards to Sam Freeman, who fumbled but recovered the ball for a first down. Latif Adams added a carry for a gain, and White completed two more passes to Washington and Teddy Deas on the drive.
Washington totaled 104 receiving yards on the game while White added 143 passing yards of his own. Adams recorded 29 rushing yards while White added 49.
"We started three freshman in the offensive line today and they did a phenomenal job," said Welty. "They exceed my expectations. Our defensive line did a great job as well. We weren't happy about the loss, but I saw things to build on."
Westminster travels to Iowa Wesleyan Saturday, Sept. 10 for a 1 p.m. UMAC matchup.
