Lack Of Offense, Turnovers Costly In 29-12 UMAC Loss

Duluth, Minn. – The story of Westminster College's 29-12 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference road loss to College of St. Scholastica Saturday came down to a season-low 149 yards of offense and a school record seven turnovers.

The Blue Jays (5-2, 4-2 UMAC) fell behind 9-0 after one quarter and trailed 16-6 at intermission. A fourth-quarter score cut the deficit to 22-12, but that is as close as it would get for a Westminster squad which managed only five yards rushing against host and league-leading St. Scholastica (6-0, 5-0 UMAC).

Sophomore quarterback Scott Rodgers (Centralia, Mo./Centralia) was 6-of-11 for 69 yards passing with four interceptions before being replaced by junior Kurt Gould (Fulton, Mo./Camdenton), who went 12-of-20 with an interception and one score. Gould led all rushers with 20 yards on four carries and senior Carl Givens (Chesterfield, Mo./Chaminade) pulled down seven passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Clearly the highlight of the contest was the 100-yard interception return for a score by Westminster senior Shane Harris (St. Louis, Mo./Collinsville, Ill.). With St. Scholastica leading 9-0 in the second quarter and threatening, Harris made the interception and the school-record return. Harris finished with a team-high seven tackles.

Record Watch: Westminster now trails the all-time series with St. Scholastica 2-0…Despite the loss, the last time Westminster started 5-2 was during the 2003 season…The school-record seven turnovers bested the previous record of six turnovers which occurred seven times.