FULTON, Mo. – The nearly 500 mile return trip home will seem a bit longer after the University of Northwestern's 24-13 loss to Westminster College (Mo.) on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles, who trailed 17-7 at halftime, came within four points of the home team before a pair of UNW turnovers and a Blue Jays touchdown in the fourth quarter handed Northwestern its second loss of the 2014 season.

Josh Sinnen (Waconia, Minn./Waconia)'s 13-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter put the Eagles on the scoreboard first, capping off a 10-play drive. Westminster answered with a field goal and two touchdowns, taking what would be a lead for good on a 47-yard run by Latif Adams and a five-yard TD pass from Joe Plassmeyer to Mike Washington.

Statistics-wise, the first half was colored in blue as Westminster owned a 105-78 advantage in rushing and a 147-30 buffer in passing. While the Eagles improved on those numbers in the second half, UNW struggled to maintain possession of the football when it mattered most. Ben Lyons (North Olmstead, Ohio/Ohio Distance & Electronic Learning Academy) hit a pair of field goals to bring Northwestern closer at 17-13, but three of the Eagles' last four drives ended with turnovers before the final effort concluded with a turnover on downs.

Plassmeyer connected with Austin Kempker for a 37-yard scoring play to put the icing on Westminster's homecoming cake in what turned out to be an 11-point victory for the Blue Jays.

UNW finished with 145 yards on the ground while the Purple and Gold defense held Westminster to minus-1 yard rushing in the second half. The Eagles limited the Blue Jays' passing efforts in the final 30 minutes too, but quarterback Jacob Fletcher (Moorhead, Minn./Park Christian) was only able to complete nine of his 22 passes for 135 yards while being sacked three times.

All three of Westminster's touchdown plays all came on first or second downs. When the down and distance scenario got to third down, the Eagles contained the Blue Jays on nine of 11 attempts. Nathan Van Zee (Moose Lake, Minn./Moose Lake) had a part in that effort, finishing the day with a team-high 11 tackles, which included 3.5 tackles for a loss.

The loss drops UNW to 6-2 overall (5-2 UMAC), and nearly dashes any hope that the Eagles had of sharing the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) championship with two games remaining on the calendar. Head coach Kirk Talley and the rest of the Northwestern squad will try and resume their winning ways next Saturday, Nov. 1, when the Eagles host MacMurray at 12 p.m. at Reynolds Field.