The Westminster College Blue Jays football team couldn't compensate for St. Scholastica's scoring spree.
The Saints put up 21 points in the third quarter and Westminster wasted a 14-point lead in succumbing to unbeaten St. Scholastica in a 31-24 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference loss at Priest Field on Saturday.
The Blue Jays - who were up 17-3 midway through the second quarter - dropped to the .500 mark at 2-2 overall and are now 2-1 in the UMAC. Senior quarterback Joe Plassmeyer threw two touchdown passes and also ran for a score to guide Westminster.
The Saints broke a 24-24 tie with what proved to be the decisive score on Tyler Harper's 4-yard touchdown pass to Nick Murphy with 6 minutes, 23 seconds to play in the third quarter. St. Scholastica is now 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.
The Blue Jays got off to a strong start in the first quarter, building a 10-0 advantage. Junior kicker Kevin Ludwig booted a 20-yard field goal at the 10:00 mark and Plassmeyer scored on a 3-yard keeper with 4:29 to go in the quarter.
The Saints produced their first points on a Mike Theismann 20-yard field goal with 12:47 left in the first half. Westminster, though, was able to push its lead to 17-3 when Plassmeyer flipped a 1-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Austin Kempker at the 6:43 mark.
St. Scholastica trimmed its deficit to a touchdown a little more than a minute later when Harper hooked up with Preston Robinson on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 5:40 remaining.
Westminster carried its 17-10 edge into halftime and received the ball to start the third quarter, but fumbled the kickoff and the Saints recovered at the Blue Jays' 28-yard line. After five plays and a holding penalty netted minus-1 yard and left St. Scholastica in a third-and-25, Harper found Shane Finnegan on a 29-yard touchdown pass to tie the game with 12:22 to play in the quarter.
The Saints then took their first lead of the game less than 2 minutes later when Mitch O'Neil's 1-yard touchdown burst made it 24-17 at the 10:31 mark. Westminster answered immediately on its next series to pull even, scoring just 19 seconds later when Plassmeyer connected with sophomore wide receiver Mike Washington on an 83-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown.
St. Scholastica then proceeded to move 65 yards in 10 plays, going in front to stay on Harper's touchdown pass to Murphy.
Plassmeyer completed 24-of-48 passes for 346 yards with the two scores and two interceptions as the Blue Jays outgained the Saints in total net yards, 495-417. Washington finished with three catches for 110 yards and a touchdown, while Kempker had a team-high five receptions for 57 yards and a score.
Freshman running back Latif Adams gained 77 yards on 14 carries as Westminster rushed for 149 yards as a team. Freshman running back Brendan Dallas followed with 38 yards in seven attempts and Plassmeyer picked up 26 yards on seven touches.
Harper was 25-of-39 passing for 313 yards and the three touchdowns, while the Blue Jays' defense intercepted him twice and sacked him four times. O'Neil paced St. Scholastica with nine catches for 93 yards, while Robinson finished with a game-high 89 yards rushing on 15 carries.
The Blue Jays return to the road for a UMAC encounter at Minnesota-Morris at noon Saturday. The Cougars are 0-4 overall and 0-3 in conference play after a 17-10 loss at Eureka (Illinois) College on Saturday.