White, Blue Jays prevail in debut on new field

Westminster senior quarterback Trent White gives a stiff-arm to Iowa Wesleyan junior linebacker Marco Ventura during the Blue Jays' 35-10 win against the Tigers in Saturday's home and UMAC opener. White ran for three touchdowns and also threw for a score.
Westminster senior quarterback Trent White gives a stiff-arm to Iowa Wesleyan junior linebacker Marco Ventura during the Blue Jays' 35-10 win against the Tigers in Saturday's home and UMAC opener. White ran for three touchdowns and also threw for a score.

The Westminster College Blue Jays football team didn't disappoint in breaking in its brand-new FieldTurf surface.

Westminster senior quarterback Trent White ran for three touchdowns and also passed for a score as the Blue Jays rolled past Iowa Wesleyan 35-10 in their home and Upper Midwest Athletic Conference openers Saturday.

Westminster erupted for 21 points in the first quarter and made that early advantage stand as the Blue Jays evened their season record at 1-1. Westminster's defense forced six Iowa Wesleyan turnovers and recorded five sacks.

The field upgrade was made possible through a donation by Westminster alumnus Kent Mueller and his wife, Judy.

"This was a great day for me personally, as well as our players," Blue Jays head coach John Welty said. "I'm so happy with how it turned out for Kent and Judy.

"It was a great win on our new home field."

White quickly put Westminster on the scoreboard on a 6-yard touchdown run with 11 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first quarter. The Blue Jays then went up 14-0 on White's 57-yard scoring strike to senior wide receiver Matt Quarles at the 8:51 mark.

White closed out the quarter and extended Westminster's lead on a 4-yard touchdown run with 2:17 to go.

The Blue Jays went scoreless for the next two quarters before White's 5-yard touchdown run increased Westminster's advantage to 28-3 with 13:52 remaining in the game. Senior running back Kalyn Davis supplied the Blue Jays' final score on an 8-yard touchdown run with 9:25 to play.

White logged a game-high 106 yards rushing on 18 carries and Davis followed closely with 104 yards in 15 attempts as Westminster produced 225 yards on the ground. White was 7-of-15 passing for 86 yards and an interception, while Quarles had three catches for 61 yards.