Saints Football Improves to 4-0

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

FULTON, Mo. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica football team came back from a 17-3 deficit to defeat Westminster College by a score of 31-24 Saturday afternoon.

The Saints would start the game with the ball, but the offense could not get anything going early as they had to punt after and three and out. Westminster took advantage of the good field position, scoring the first points of the game on a field goal. The Blue Jays would then take advantage of a CSS turnover driving 56 yards in eight plays, capped off by a Joe Plassmeyer 3-yard touchdown run, to take an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Saints offense would start to show life late in the first quarter and into the second quarter as they drove the ball all the way to the Westminster one-yard line but had to settle for a field goal from Mike Thiesmann. CSS would do the job defensively on the next drive, forcing the Blue Jays to a three and out of their own. But the offense would have another miscue by losing a fumble near midfield. Westminster would take advantage once again, scoring on a one yard pass from Plassmeyer to Austin Kempker to make it 17-3. The Saints would come right back in a big way, taking only three plays to score a touchdown coming on a 22-yard pass from Tyler Harper (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) to Preston Robinson (Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS) to cut into the Blue Jay lead. The CSS defense would get the job done again on the next possession, giving the offense the ball with just under two minutes left. The Saints would get deep into Blue Jay territory but would come up empty handed on an intercepted pass as the score remained 17-10 going into the locker room.

CSS came out of halftime kicking off to Westminster. During the return, Matt Pint (Anoka, Minn./Anoka HS) would force a fumble that would be recovered by Zach Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) to give the Saints an excellent opportunity to tie the game. The offense would do exactly that as Harper would find Shane Finnegan (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) for a 29-yard touchdown connection to make it 17-17. The Saints defense would come up big on the next possession as Brady Fish (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS ) would intercept a Westminster pass and return it all the way to the one-yard line. Mitch O’Neil (Otsego, Minn./Rogers HS) would punch it in on the next play to give the Saints their first lead of the game at 24-17. Westminster answered right back though, scoring on their next offensive play on an 83-yard touchdown pass to tie it back up at 24-24. CSS would take the lead for good on their next possession going 65 yards in 11 plays capped off by Harper’s third touchdown pass of the game, this one coming on a four-yard pass to Nick Murphy (Glendale, Ariz./Brophy College Prep ).

In the final quarter the CSS defense came up big again as they intercepted another pass in the middle of the quarter, this one by Xavier Rhodes (South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul HS). The offense could not convert on the turnover though, as Westminster got the ball back with just over four minutes left in the game. The Blue Jays started their drive at their own 20 and went all the way to the Saints four-yard line but the Saints stood them up on fourth down to seal the victory for the Saints.

Offensively, Harper finished the game going 25-39 for 313 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 12 carries for 38 yards. Robinson led the team on the ground with 89 yards on 15 carries. O’Neil led receivers with nine receptions for 93 yards. Defensively, Jared Moran (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) and Rhodes led the team with 11 tackles. Paul Olson (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) added nine tackles with Mitch Ejnik (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer HS ) getting eight of his own.

The Saints (4-0, 3-0 UMAC) will be back at home next weekend for Homecoming as they take on Northwestern on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. from Public Schools Stadium.