Fulton, Mo. - The Westminster football team opened the 2014 season on Saturday, September 6, with a home match-up with Hendrix College. The Blue Jays were unable to top the Hendrix Warriors and fell 42-28.
Hendrix scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, leaving the Blue Jays down 14-0 heading into the second quarter. The Blue Jays started the second quarter with 1st and 10 on their own 45 and pushed the ball up the field throughout the next four minutes. With 11:52 remaining in the second quarter, senior quarterback Joe Plassmeyer (St. Louis, Mo. /Oakville) threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to freshman Kai Silbermann (Erlangen, Germany) to put the Blue Jays on the board. Junior Kevin Ludwig's (Manchester, Mo. /Priory) PAT was good, cutting the Blue Jays' deficit to 14-7.
The Warriors scored on their next two drives, bringing their lead to 28-7 heading into halftime.
The Blue Jays received the second half, and on the first drive of the half, the Blue Jays scored with a 12-yard pass from Plassmeyer to Silbermann, but the PAT was not good. The Blue Jays sacked Hendrix while on the Westminster 1-yard line to stop them from scoring with 7:09 left in the 3rd. The Blue Jays pushed the ball down the field, but was intercepted by Hendrix on the 1-yard line with 1:42 left in the quarter.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth game between the Blue Jays and the Warriors. The Warriors' Dayton Winn rushed for 32 yards in the start of the fourth quarter to get a touchdown. The PAT was good, bringing their lead to 35-13.
The Blue Jays answered back with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Plassmeyer to Silbermann less than three minutes later. They attempted the two-point conversion and the pass attempt was good from Plassmeyer to junior Austin Kempker (Wardsville, Mo. /Blair Oaks) put the Blue Jays down 35-21.
Hendrix scored on the following drive, but Blue Jays' junior CJ Vaughan (Jefferson City, Mo. /Jefferson City) returned the ball for 64 yards on the kick return before being forced out of bounds on the Hendrix 19-yard line. Plassmeyer rushed the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown, and Ludwig's PAT was good to put the score at 42-28, Hendrix.
Junior Bret Robertson (California, Mo. /California) intercepted the Warriors' pass on the Westminster 4-yard line and returned the ball 56-yards before being brought down. The Blue Jays got stuck on the 18-yard line, and could not convert, giving Hendrix the ball on their own 18-yard line with 7 seconds remaining in the game. The Warriors took a team rush, ending the game with a Blue Jay 42-28 loss.
Plassmeyer went 33-54 with 356 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sophomore Mike Washington (Holts Summit, Mo. /Jefferson City) finished with 12 receptions for 125 yards, followed by Silbermann with 7 receptions for 73 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Vaughan had seven kickoff returns for 216 yards. Ludwig had five kickoffs for 272 yards, two punts for 65 yards and went 2-2 on PATs.
Robertson led the Blue Jay defense with 12 solo tackles, 10 assisted tackles and an interception.
The Blue Jays spend the following two weeks on the road, visiting Crown College for their first conference match-up next Saturday, September 13.