Sewanee, TN 9/17/2022- The Westminster football team traveled to Tennessee to take on Sewanee in a rematch from last season. The Blue Jays won the 2021 game 30-29 to walk away with the victory after a missed field goal by the Tigers with time running down. Westminster was looking for history to repeat itself on Saturday. The Blue Jays have had a tough start on the season going 0-2 thru the first two weeks. It is not all bad though, as coming into the game the Blue Jay defense had forced ten turnovers on the season, tied for most in the nation.
Both offenses would get off to a slow start with three punts on the first three drives of the game. The Blue Jay offense would start with a good field position at the Sewanee forty-three-yard line after forcing the Tigers to punt for the second time in the game. Disaster would strike on 2nd and 9 after freshman quarterback Reece Davidsons' (Lake St.Louis, MO / Liberty) pass was intercepted by the Tigers and was returned forty yards to the Blue Jay thirty-yard line. The Tiger would start with excellent field position and would score the first touchdown of the game to take an early 7-0 lead with 3:27 remaining in the first quarter. The Blue Jay defense would make them work for it, forcing the tigers to run eight plays from inside the RedZone and two plays from the goal line.
The Sewanee offense would explode for twenty-one points in the second quarter to take a 28-0 lead at halftime.
The Blue Jays would get the ball with 14:16 remaining in the game after the Tigers scored to begin the fourth quarter. Down 35-0, the Blue Jay offense marched down the field and scored off a three-yard rushing touchdown by junior running back Jorden Kern ( St. Louis, MO / Parkway North) to avoid the shutout. The Tigers would score again with four minutes left to play to run the score up to 41-6.
The Blue Jay continued to fight, and freshman running back Cole Yancey (Davenport, OK / Davenport) exploded for a thirty-yard rush to get the ball near midfield. Westminster was threatening to score before the end of the game. They got the ball down to the Sewanee twenty-six-yard as time expired with the Tigers defeating the Blue Jays to a final score of 41-6.
Kern led the Blue Jay offense with forty-five yards on ten carries and the touchdown. Yancey would pick up forty-two yards on the ground on five rushes. Senior wideout Dylan Clapsaddle (St. Peters, Mo. / Fort Zumwalt South) had two catches for twenty-one yards.
Defensive lineman Justin Scales (St. Louis, Mo. / Trinity Catholic) and Devin Miller (Paris, Mo/ Paris) would each get a sack on the day. Scales would tie for a team in tackles with six alongside Dawson Brandt (Eldon, Mo. / Eldon), Cameron Offerman (Cedar Hill, MO / Luther South), and David Fenton (Shelbina, MO / South Shelby).
The Blue Jays will be back in action next Saturday, September. 24th when they travel back to Tennessee to take on Rhodes College.
