ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of Northwestern football team took on and defeated the Westminster College Blue Jays on Saturday at Reynolds Field. Special teams made a huge impact in the game as the Eagles scored two touchdowns on two blocked punts in the 45-28 win.
 
The UNW defense made the first splash play of the day within the first five minutes as George Obitz (Florence, Ariz./Florence) strip sacked the Blue Jay's quarterback on their first drive of the game. Nic Schultz (Fontana, Calif./Etiwanda) recovered the ball on Westminster's 20-yard line to set up the Eagles offense in the red zone. The offense capitalized on the opportunity afforded them by the defense when Damon Clapper (Dallas Center, Iowa/Dallas Center - Grimes) rushed the ball in from a yard out to put Northwestern up 7-0.
 
Westminster responded with a pair of touchdown drives to take the lead. Quarterback Wyatt Ellis hit Trey King on a 47-yard downfield pass for a touchdown to tie it in the first quarter, then found Ross Trittler from 11-yards out to take a 14-7 lead in the second.
 
With 10:09 remaining in the half, Northwestern swung the momentum of the game completely in their direction when Gavin Bowser (Roseville, Minn./Roseville) blocked a Blue Jay punt and returned it 38-yards for a touchdown, tying the game and sending the sideline and all of UNW Nation into a frenzy.
 
The Eagles retook the lead less than five minutes later. Damon Clapper (Dallas Center, Iowa/Dallas Center - Grimes), already having scored on a rushing play earlier in the game, hauled in a 6-yard pass from Nick Drinken (Randolph, Minn./Randolph) for another touchdown, putting UNW up 21-14 over Westminster.
 
Even though Clapper had now scored on the ground and through the air, he wasn't done yet. His biggest play came just two minutes after his receiving touchdown as he burst through the line to block a punt. The second blocked punt of the day for the Eagles would result in another touchdown as the senior grabbed the ball and ran it in, doubling Northwestern's lead and scoring his third touchdown of the day by a third different means.
 
At the half, UNW led the Blue Jays 28-14. The Eagles weren't content with their lead and added to it in the third with a fantastic catch and run by Keegan James (Brooklyn, Iowa/IBGM). As Drinken was being pressured, he found Keegan open a few yards away. The senior halfback caught the ball, turned up field, and proceeded to outrun the Westminster defenders for a 28-yard touchdown to put Northwestern up 35-14.
 
Now in a three touchdown deficit, the Blue Jays responded with an eight play, 71-yard drive later in the third to cut the UNW lead down to 14.
 
Northwestern led 35-21 heading in to the final quarter. The Eagles stayed aggressive on offense, and increased their lead to 17 with a Blake Mitchell (Watertown, S.D./Watertown) 32-yard field goal less than two minutes into the fourth.

UNW landed the knock-out punch with 6:05 remaining in the game. Starting at their own 16-yard line, the Eagles marched down the field for 84-yards on nine plays, killing over five minutes of the valuable remaining time. On a 3^rd and 10, Drinken launched a perfect ball to the back right of the end zone to find Beau Burk (Ogilvie, Minn. / Ogilvie) for the 16-yard score, effectively icing the game for Northwestern.
 
Westminster would score one more touchdown in the final two-minutes, but it was too little far too late as Northwestern improved to 2-1 in UMAC play with the 45-28 victory.
 
Drinken went 18-for-25 with 205 yards and three touchdowns, and added 17 yards on the ground with his legs. James led the Eagle backfield with nine carries for 36 yards. Clapper hauled in nine receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown. Burk had 71 yards on four catches.
 
Brad Kulinkski led the defense with 10 total tackles with a tackle for loss and two quarterback hits. Obitz had seven tackles with two for loss and a strip sack. Jefferey Marvicka II had seven tackles as well with a tackle for loss.
 
Mitchell was a perfect 6-for-6 in point-after attempts, drilled his 32-yard field goal, and averaged 51.6 yards per kickoff for 413 total yards. KJ Downey (Blaine, Minn./Blaine HS) punted for 190 yards with an average of 38.0 per punt.
 
Next up for the Eagles is a road game at the University of Minnesota Morris on Saturday, October 30. The away game has a 6:00 p.m. start time. The next home game for UNW is on November 6 when the Eagles take on the Crown College Storm for Senior Night.