FULTON, Mo. - Westminster fell at home 24-20, falling in the final minutes against a strong Greenville Panthers squad.
The Blue Jays fall to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.
The Panthers opened up the first quarter strong, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive, but missing the extra point to go up 6-0.
Westminster answered on the following drive with a 59-yard rush from quarterback Trent White. The drive was just three plays and took 1:28. The Brad Hammel extra point was good to give Westminster the 7-6 advantage.
The Panthers again scored on their next drive, marching down the field in 65 yards in 10 plays, but again missed the extra point to go up 12-7.
Greenville scored first in the second quarter on their opening drive, missing their third straight extra point for the 18-7 advantage.
Westminster answered with a long pass from White to Alec Fleetwood that was called back for holding, but White still made the connection happen several plays later for a 29-yard reception. The touchdown was Fleetwood's first of his career. The Hammel extra point was again good to make the score 18-14 going into the half.
Both teams went scoreless in the third quarter, but Westminster opened up the fourth quarter scoring with another White to Fleetwood connection, this time for 49 yards, to take the 20-18 lead after the Hammel kick was blocked.
The Westminster defense held strong for the final six minutes, and gave Westminster the ball back with five minutes to play, including stopping a red zone Greenville offense from getting in the end zone and forcing the Panthers to miss the go-ahead field goal attempt. The Blue Jays were unable to convert a first down, giving the ball back to the Panthers with under two minutes on the clock. Greenville punched in a touchdown with 38 seconds to play, going up 24-20.
Despite earning two first downs on the drive, the long passes from White yielded incomplete passes and Greenville took the UMAC win.
White earned 167 passing yards on 10-26 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. White added 147 yards rushing on 19 attempts, including a touchdown.
Kalyn Davis led the way in rushing with 152 yards on 27 attempts. Fleetwood was the top receiver with 95 yards on three catches, including two touchdowns, a career day for the sophomore.
Westminster travels to MacMurray Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup.
