DULUTH, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica football team will travel over 10 hours to Fulton, Missouri when it takes on Westminster College on Saturday.
Where:
Priest Field
When:
Saturday at 1 p.m.
Live Video: http://www.westminster-mo.edu/athletics/live/Pages/default.aspx
Social Media:
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CSSSAINTSFB
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St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 3-0, 2-0 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
The Saints had a season-high 468 yards of total offense in a 48-14 victory over Crown College last weekend at Public Schools Stadium … The CSS defense held the Storm to 77 yards passing and forced three turnovers … Andrew Smith (Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS) also returned a punt 59 yards for a touchdown.
UMAC Success: The Saints have won 14 straight UMAC games; a streak dating back to October 20, 2012 … CSS has lost only one UMAC game in the last three seasons.
Road Warriors: CSS has won 15 straight conference road games, dating back to the 2010 season … The last conference road loss came to Martin Luther College on Sept. 25, 2010 (21-7).
Mid-Game Dominance: In the second and third quarters of the first three games, the Saints have out-scored their opponents 103-12 … The last two weeks, CSS has blanked its opponents 82-0 in those quarters.
Opportunistic: The Saints have been able to capitalize off of opponent mistakes thus far this season, scoring 42 points off of opponents' turnovers … When entering the red zone, CSS has scored a touchdown all 13 times this season … The Saints and Wilkes University (Pa.) are the only two teams in NCAA Division III to score a touchdown on every red zone opportunity (7 minimum att.).
Harper Milestones: Tyler Harper (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) (329) is 10 completions shy of the program record for pass completions held by Alex Thiry (339) … He went over 4,000 yards passing last week for Crown, becoming only the second CSS QB to do so … Harper also passed Thiry for the program record for career total yards last week and is 111 yards shy of 5,000 for his career.
Passing O vs. Passing D: Saturday's game will feature the top passing team in the UMAC in Westminster against the top pass defense in the league in the Saints … Westminster quarterback Joe Plassmeyer is averaging 284 yards and 43 pass attempts per game. The CSS defense is allowing only 115 yards per game through the air and have recorded a conference-high 10 sacks.
Cedarleaf on the Edge: Senior defensive end Blake Cedarleaf (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) is 1.5 sacks shy of tying Christopher Doran's program record of 13.5 sacks in a career.
Series History: The Saints are 4-0 all-time against the Blue Jays … Both home contests against Westminster have been Homecoming for the Saints and the average margin of victory in those games has been 22.5 … In the two games at Priest Field, CSS' margin of victory has been 9.5 points.
Westminster College Blue Jays
After dropping their non-conference home opener to Hendrix College (Ark.), the Blue Jays have rattled off two straight road wins, beating Crown on the road 34-13 and then MacMurray College (Ill.) last week 27-21 … Senior quarterback Joe Plassmeyer has competed 62 percent of his passing attempts (80-130) … His favorite target has been sophomore Mike Washington, who has 22 receptions for 227 yards … The ground game is led by freshman running back Latif Adams, who is averaging 91 yards per game … He has gone over 100 yards each of the last two weeks … Junior safety Brett Robertson leads the leads the defense with 36 tackles, including 12 for a loss … He also has a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception … The Blue Jays were picked to finish seventh in the league this season.
Head Coach John Welty: Coach Welty is in his 15th season as head coach of Westminster … Welty joined the Westminster College football coaching staff as defensive coordinator in 1998 … He was named head football coach at the end of the season … Welty is a 1977 graduate of Benedictine University (Ill.) … He served as an assistant coach at North Central College and Simpson College before returning to his alma mater to serve as head football coach for eight years.
