Fulton, Missouri 10/22/2022- The Westminster College football team hosted the University of Northwestern- St. Paul on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles would score a minute and a half into the game on their opening drive and did not look back. They would shut out the Blue Jays and go on to win 36-0. Northwestern remains undefeated in the UMAC at 3-0 and is 3-4 on the season. The Blue Jays are still searching for their first win of the season at 0-6 and 0-3 in the UMAC.
Westminster won the coin toss and deferred to the second half giving Northwestern the ball to start the game. They would score on the third play of the game scoring on a fifty-seven-yard shovel pass. The Blue Jays would fumble the ball on the ensuing kickoff, and it would be recovered by the Eagles. They would start their second drive of the game from the Westminster twenty-two-yard line and were looking to get a quick 14-0 lead. The Blue Jay defense would not allow that to happen as Devin Miller (Paris, MO/ Paris) forced a fumble and would recover the ball on the fifteen-yard line, giving the ball back to the Jays.
Westminster would get the ball to midfield before the Eagles forced a fumble of their own and they would recover it with eight minutes left to play in the first quarter. They would take advantage of this fumble and went on to score on a one-yard rushing touchdown. Chandler Taylor (Kickapoo, MO / Kickapoo) would block the extra point attempt and hold Northwestern to just six points.
The Blue Jays would march the ball down into Eagles territory after a fifteen-yard catch and run by freshman wide receiver Aden Campbell (Slater, MO / Slater) and a seventeen-yard run by running back Jorden Kern (St. Louis, MO / Parkway North). Unfortunately, the Eagles would incept a pass from Peyton Byerly (Mountain Grove, MO / Cabool) at the fifteen-yard line. Ending what was a promising drive by the Blue Jay offense with ten seconds left in the first quarter.
The Eagles would score again after the Blue Jays fumbled on a punt attempt and take a 19-0 lead into halftime.
Westminster would go three and out on their opening drive of the second half. With Blue Jays forced to punt from their own fifteen-yard line, Northwestern would send everyone and block the punt attempt for another touchdown to take a commanding 26-0 lead.
Northwestern would score a field goal and one more touchdown in the 36-0 victory over Westminster College.
Miller led the Blue Jay defense and was creating havoc in the backfield all day getting two sacks and forcing the fumble. He would also have six tackles in the game. Dawson Brandt (Eldon, Mo. / Eldon), Kylan Carter (Memphis, TN / Mitchell) and Garrett Burger (California, MO / California R-1) led the team in tackles with eight each.
Kern led the Blue Jay offense getting fifty-two yards on the ground on thirteen rush attempts. Dante Billups (Mexico, MO/Mexico) would rack up forty yards rushing on ten attempts. Byerly would go 9-18 for sixty yards in the air. Taylor had four receptions for thirty-four yards to go along with his blocked extra-point attempt.
The Blue Jays will be in action next week when they travel to Hancock, Michigan in the upper peninsula to take on Finlandia University. That game is scheduled to kick off at 1:00 PM.
