FULTON, Mo. – The Westminster football team was defeated by the Martin Luther College Knights 24-14 on Saturday. The Blue Jays now drop to 2-5 overall and 2-3 in UMAC play.
The Blue Jays opened the game on defense and forced a turnover on downs to take over at their own 24-yard line. However, the offense could not capitalize on the turnover went three-and-out. The Knights proceeded to score the first touchdown of the game on a 54-yard rush.
Later in the first quarter, Martin Luther ran the ball deep into Westminster territory and looked to double their lead. The Blue Jays ended the scoring threat when Clayton Bristol forced a fumble and Ben Heimann jumped on the loose ball to give Westminster possession.
After the fumble, Wyatt Ellis completed a 47-yard pass to Alec Fleetwood to bring the Blue Jays into Martin Luther territory. Westminster got moved up an additional 15 yards on a roughing the passer penalty by the Knights defense. Following rushes of three and five yards by Taylor Dobbins, Ellis found Travion Mosby in the endzone for an 18-yard touchdown. Brad Hammel tied the game at 7-7 with the extra point.
The Knights quickly regained the lead on a 79-yard touchdown rush. Westminster tied the game with a 5 play, 54-yard touchdown drive capped off with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Ellis to Mosby. Dobbins carried the ball three times for 23 yards on the drive. The next two drives for each team ended in punts and the teams entered halftime tied at 14.
Bryce Moorman entered the game at quarterback for the Blue Jays in the third quarter. Moorman ran two times on the drive for eight yards before Westminster was forced to punt. Following the punt, the Westminster defense held strong and forced another turnover on downs.
Martin Luther broke the tie late in the third quarter on a 5 play, 54-yard scoring drive aided by a pair of penalties against the Westminster defense. The Knights extended their lead to 10 with a field goal with just under nine minutes left in the game. The Blue Jays struggled to gain yards on their next two possessions and the Knights held on to win 24-14.
Ellis threw for 139 yards and two touchdowns before exiting the game due to injury. Mosby caught five passes for 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Alec Fleetwood hauled in two passes for 50 yards.
Heimann led the Blue Jay defense with 15 total tackles while Kobe Kaminski finished second with 14 tackles. Kaminski also recorded a sack in the game. Bryce McKinnon was the third Blue Jay defender to record double-digit tackles, finishing with 10.
Up next the Blue Jays will hit the road for an away game at Minnesota-Morris on Saturday Oct. 26.
